iZumi Bio and Kyoto University partner to advance iPS cell technology

Through the collaboration, iZumi and Kyoto University’s Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) will exchange part of their representative human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell lines derived by various methods. The two organizations also will conduct comparison and characterization studies independently but will share their results to determine which methods produce the most appropriate iPS cell lines for drug screening and development, and those most suitable for cell-based therapy.

iZumi and CiRA respectively offer the capability to take skin cells from a diseased patient with known genotypic and phenotypic information and reprogram the cells to behave similarly to human embryonic stem cells. These iPS cells can then be changed into various cell types in the body using directed differentiation. The differentiated cells are then transformed into cell-based, disease-specific assays to identify small molecules, biologics or other agents for drug discovery.

John Walker, CEO of iZumi, said: “This collaboration, which is focused on the advancement of iPS cell technology, will help us attain our goal of making drug discovery and development faster, more efficient and informed in order to create new therapeutics for unmet medical needs.

“We will initially focus on three neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, spinal muscular atrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, because these conditions currently have limited therapeutic treatments, and because scientists have demonstrated the ability to differentiate the affected cell types in these disorders. Through our collaboration with The Gladstone Institute, we also are focusing on cardiovascular disorders, including calcific aortic valve disease.”