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news.Novocell, a stem cell engineering company, has announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office has issued two patents related to its stem cell encapsulation technology and has granted notice of allowance for a patent relating to the company's technology for the isolation of clinical-grade human embryonic stem cell lines.
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The issued patents include claims surrounding the composition and method of use for a biocompatible polyethylene glycol (PEG) coating and other stem cell encapsulation methods designed to enable implanted cells to survive and function.
The company has said that its technology eliminates the need for continuous immunosuppressant drugs and has been formulated to allow encapsulated pancreatic islet cells to release insulin in response to the recipient’s blood glucose concentration. Novocell has evaluated the safety and efficacy of implanting human pancreatic islets encapsulated with PEG into a subcutaneous site in patients with Type 1 diabetes.
The other allowed patent includes claims covering the isolation of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines as well as standard culturing techniques using a range of human feeder cells. Clinical-grade hESC lines need to be isolated with the use of mouse feeder cells for the development of stem cell-based therapies.
Novocell has also enhanced its patent holdings with the receipt of three foreign patents for stem cell encapsulation. Additionally, the company has received notice of allowance for a patent relating to production of neural stem cells.
Alan Lewis, president and CEO of Novocell, said: “Our encapsulation-based delivery technology and methods for manufacturing hESCs and generating functional endoderm from hESCs offer the potential for a treatment that would avoid immunosuppression and provide an unlimited cell source, the two primary barriers currently facing the widespread application of cell replacement therapies.”
Allan Robins, vice President and chief technical officer of Novocell, said: “Our landmark patent related to stem cell isolation covers the most reliable way to isolate clinical-grade hESC lines that can be used for the development of stem-cell based therapies.”