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Advanced Cell, Roslin to Team on Stem Cell Bank

By a GenomeWeb staff reporter

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Advanced Cell Technology and Roslin Cells, a non-profit organization established by the Roslin Institute, said yesterday that they have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on developing a stem cell bank.

The partners said that they intend to establish a bank of Good Manufacturing Practice-grade human embryonic stem cell lines using Advanced cell's "single-ceblastomere" technique for deriving embryonic stem cells without damage to the embryo. The cell lines will be created and stored using protocols that meet regulations of both the European Medicines Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration, according to Marlborough, Mass.-based Advanced Cell.

Scotland-based Roslin Cells will be responsible for maintaining the banked hESC lines, which will be made available for both research and commercial purposes. In addition, it will promote access to the hESC lines from the bank as research reagents to both academic and commercial entities.

The partners plan to publish a commercialization license "so that third parties will have a reasonable and predictable path to commercialization of products using the same hESC lines that they may use in animal model studies for preclinical data," the firms said in a statement.

Any proceeds from licenses will be shared by Advanced Cell and Roslin Cells. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

"Through the creation of hESC lines derived using our proprietary 'embryo-safe' technique, we fully expect Roslin Cells to quickly become a leading hESC bank for Europe, North America, and Asia," Advanced Cell Interim Chairman and CEO Gary Rabin said in a statement. "We foresee major demand for these embryonic stem cells from both researchers and commercial interests across the globe."