Ascendance Biotechnology Licenses the Right to Manufacture, Market and Sell Cytiva Cardiomyocytes
December 28 2016 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
Agreement Provides Ascendance Worldwide Rights
for Stem Cell-Derived Cytiva® Heart Muscle Cells Used for
Toxicology Testing
Today, Ascendance Biotechnology, Inc. (“Ascendance”), a leader
in the commercialization of in vitro cell-based products and stem
cell-related laboratory products, announced the execution of an
Agreement with GE Healthcare (NYSE:GE) providing Ascendance a right
to manufacture, market and sell the GE Healthcare Cytiva® brand of
human stem cell-derived heart muscle cells (“cardiomyocytes”) used
for evaluating potential cardiotoxicity. The Cytiva® product joins
the first Ascendance stem cell-derived product, VascuNetTM, which
is used for analyzing the capability of cancer drug candidates to
inhibit the formation of blood vessels (angiogenesis), and which is
also being evaluated as a tool for understanding the toxicologic
effects of drug candidates on the cells lining the walls of blood
vessels (endothelial cells).
This Smart News Release features multimedia.
View the full release here:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161228005182/en/
Existing Ascendance HepatoPac® and HepatoMune® products, which
contain liver cells (hepatocytes), and which are designed for in
vitro metabolite analysis, and toxicology and efficacy screening,
are already helping to address inefficiencies in the development of
pharmaceuticals, agro-chemicals and other products that may contain
new chemical entities. The addition of the Cytiva® cardiomyocytes
to the Ascendance product line is expected to further solidify the
Company’s leadership position in the in vitro toxicology testing
market, which may reach more than $17 billion by 2018 according to
the Market and Markets research and consulting firm.
“The execution of this Agreement represents another important
step in the broadening of current Ascendance product lines,” stated
Dr. Vincent Zurawski, Ascendance chief executive officer. Dr.
Zurawski added, “We are delighted to report on the establishment of
this important business relationship, which follows the completion
of the arrangement between Hepregen Corporation and the ESI BIO
division of BioTime, Inc. (NYSE MKT: BTX) that established the
foundational assets of Ascendance. We are confident that continuing
to establish important business partnerships will strengthen our
ability to accelerate the Company’s leadership position in a
rapidly growing cell biology market, while simultaneously
increasing Company value for Ascendance stakeholders.”
Jeffrey Janus, President of Ascendance, also commented, “The
execution of this Agreement with a company as prestigious as GE
Healthcare helps to validate our approach to new product
development and also to strengthen the breadth of our global
footprint. The continued expansion of the Company’s offerings
beyond liver cell-based products to include both products and
services based on multiple cell types, is expected to augment
revenue growth for Ascendance, which is currently driven primarily
by our line of HepatoPac® and HepatoMune® micro-patterned
co-culture products.”
About Ascendance Biotechnology, Inc.
Ascendance Biotechnology, Inc. (“Ascendance”) is a leader in
innovating unique and proprietary bioengineered in vitro assay
platforms and laboratory products for use in environmental testing,
preventive care, and product development in the pharmaceutical and
biopharmaceutical, diagnostic, cosmetics, and chemical industries.
The Company’s application-directed micro-liver and micropatterned
co-culture, cell-based assay kits are intended to drive a paradigm
shift in drug development. The utility of the Company’s human, rat,
monkey, dog, and multi-species/multi-donor HepatoPac® and
HepatoMune® products has been validated in collaboration with
investigators at several well-known pharmaceutical companies.
Ascendance was founded as a successor to Hepregen Corporation
(“Hepregen”) and the ESI BIO Division of BioTime, Inc. (“BioTime”).
Ascendance develops its own proprietary intellectual property and
has also licensed technology from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (“MIT”), Colorado State University, BioTime, and also ES
Cell International PTE Ltd. (“ESI”) and ReCyte Therapeutics, Inc.,
both wholly owned subsidiaries of BioTime.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Such
forward-looking statements reflect Ascendance expectations about
future operating results, performance and opportunities that
involve substantial risk and uncertainties. These statements
include but are not limited to statements regarding the performance
and results of the company’s HepatoPac® and other kits. When used
herein, the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “upcoming,”
“plan,” “target,” “intend” and “expect” and similar expressions, as
they relate to Ascendance Biotechnology, Inc. or the management of
either company are intended to identify such forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements are based on
information currently available to the Company, and are subject to
a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause
the Company’s actual results, performance, prospects and
opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or
implied by, these forward-looking statements.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161228005182/en/
Ascendance Biotechnology, Inc.Deborah Bender,
1-781-391-0205, x100dbender@ascendancebio.comorGE Healthcare
Life SciencesSaara Nordenstr�m,
46-7386-81286saara.nordenstrom@ge.com
Brooklyn ImmunoTherapeut... (AMEX:BTX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Brooklyn ImmunoTherapeut... (AMEX:BTX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024