NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Roche announced today that it will team up with Cologne, Germany-based Axiogenesis to develop and distribute Axiogenesis’ Cor.At cell line — specialized heart muscle cells that were derived from embryonic stem cells — in conjunction with the Roche xCELLigence platform.
Under the agreement, Roche Applied Sciences will market cell systems based on the Cor.At cell line that have been customized for the xCELLigence system, a platform designed to measure a range of parameters, including short-term cellular kinetics, cell proliferation, and toxicity. Cor.At cells represent physiologically normal embryonic stem cell-derived neonate or adult heart cells that are pure, easily stored, and quality controlled, said Roche in a statement.
Roche Applied Science Head Manfred Baier said that the combination of the xCELLigence platform and the Axiogenesis cells and technology is aimed at expanding Roche’s organ-specific cell analysis portfolio. “We are convinced that [the] Axiogenesis cell and technology portfolio will lead to products for cell-based assays to strengthen our new industrial standard for life science cell analysis in the future,” he said.
Axiogenesis was founded in 2000 and listed on the German stock market last December. The company has developed methods for using embryonic stem cells to generate tissues that can be used in drug development assays targeted at specific organs, focusing on cardiac, liver, endothelium, cartilage, and neuronal cells.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.