StemCells licenses gene insertion technology to major pharma company

StemCells, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, has granted a non-exclusive license for the company’s recently acquired internal ribosome entry site technology to a major international pharmaceutical company.

According to StemCells, the internal ribosome entry site (IRES) technology enables the dual expression of a protein of interest and a selectable marker, thereby enabling researchers to genetically modify any mammalian cell and monitor the activity of a particular gene of interest in living cells or tissues without blocking the normal function of the gene.

The IRES technology is particularly important for evaluating the success of gene knock-outs or knock-ins in stem cells, as well as the successful creation of transgenic mouse and rat disease models. The IRES technology and related intellectual property were part of the company’s acquisition of the operating assets of Stem Cell Sciences (SCS).

The financial terms of the license are confidential. In the past seven months, SCS has entered into three non-exclusive license agreements with major pharmaceutical and research-based companies and revenues under these licenses are believed to exceed $1.2m.

Martin McGlynn, president and CEO of StemCells, said: We are pleased that the pharmaceutical industry continues to recognise the value of this enabling technology and its importance in their research and development efforts. We intend to continue actively licensing those in the field who are using this technology for their own R&D activities.