NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Intrexon today announced an agreement to acquire adult stem cell technology firm Medistem for about $26 million.
Based in San Diego, Medistem develops endometrial regenerative cells, which are universal donor adult stem cells that stimulate new blood vessel formation. ERCs can generate different tissues such as heart, brain, pancreas, liver, bone, cartilage, and lung, and Intrexon plans to use its synthetic biology platforms to "engineer a diverse array of cell-based therapeutic candidates using Medistem's multipotent ERCs," it said.
Medistem's ERCs combined with Intrexon's technologies, including the UltraVector multi-gene engineering system, "have the potential to provide treatments for conditions such as cancer, wound healing, and cardiovascular disease," the Germantown, Md.-based company added.
Under the terms of the agreement, Medistem's shareholders will receive, in exchange for each share of Medistem common stock, $.27 in cash and $1.08 worth of Intrexon common stock.
"We look forward to further refining ERCs to produce proteins and bioactive RNAs, both of which hold great promise to be used as therapeutics to treat conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer," Samuel Broder, Intrexon's Health Sector, said in a statement. "Through the use of our synthetic biology platforms, we anticipate unlocking the power of ERCs to safely advance therapeutic development from proof of concept to clinical research."