NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Cryo-Cell International said today that it has signed distribution and research agreements with its Chinese partner S-Evans Biosciences related to Cryo-Cell's C'elle menstrual stem cell technology.
Under the distribution agreement, SEB will exclusively market and sell Cryo-Cell's C'elle menstrual stem cell service throughout Thailand. As part of the agreement, C'elle specimens collected from clients in Thailand will be shipped to SEB's laboratory in Hangzhou, China, for processing and storage.
As part of the research agreement, Cryo-Cell and SEB will use the C'elle technology to conduct pre-clinical studies of type 1 diabetes. In addition, SEB will study the global gene expression of C'elle menstrual stem cells in order to better understand cell development and differentiation mechanisms.
SEB anticipates that the study may potentially provide expansive data that may contribute to the possible development of novel therapies that utilize C'elle menstrual stem cells to treat a broad range of diseases.
Cryo-Cell said it anticipates receiving future royalties from the C'elle distribution agreement in Thailand, in addition to royalties expected from a previously announced exclusive license agreement with SEB for C'elle in mainland China.
The agreement also provides SEB with the option to obtain a license to the technology should it decide to establish a future laboratory operation in the country.
Cryo-Cell introduced its C'elle service in November 2007 to let women collect and cryopreserve menstrual flow containing undifferentiated adult stem cells for future potential utilization by the donor or possibly first-degree relatives in a manner similar to umbilical cord blood stem cells.
Cryo-Cell said that based on the success of MenSCs in the research setting, it is seeking to expand global licensing for the C'elle service and build its portfolio of research collaborations to study MenSCs for a broad range of regenerative therapeutic development.
SEB was founded in 2009 to provide products and services including processing and storage of menstrual stem cells, stem cell therapy, and gene testing and disease diagnosis using gene chips, high-throughput sequencing, and other molecular technologies.