IZumi Bio Inc. reached a collaboration deal with a Kyoto University stem cell research center on basic research, development and applications involving induced pluripotent stem cell technology.
South San Francisco’s IZumi — started in 2007 by venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Highland Capital Partners — and Kyoto University’s Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, or CIRA, will exchange part of their human induced pluripotent stem cell lines.
IZumi and CIRA will conduct independent comparison and characterization studies of the lines, derived by various methods, but will share results to determine which methods are most appropriate for iPS cell lines for drug screening and development as well as those best for cell-based therapies.
Embryonic stem cells are unspecialized, or pluripotent, making them different from adult stem cells that are designated for specific tasks. The ability to induce embryonic stem cells to take on specific functions makes the cells the most attractive option for many researchers, but that also has created a line in the sand for anti-abortion activists opposed to damaging or destroying human embryos to obtain those stem cells.
Induced pluripotent stem cell technology offers a possible way around those ethical issues. They are created from adult stem cells, like skin cells, but have embryonic-like pluripotent characteristics.
Supporters of embryonic stem cell research say they are anywhere from four to 10 years from using the cells to develop therapies for a wide range of health issues — from Parkinson’s disease to spinal cord injuries — as well as drug screening and diagnostics. Many researchers say induced pluripotent stem cell therapies will take even longer to develop, test and commercialize.
Still, the IZumi-CIRA partnership could be groundbreaking with its collaboration.
“The partnership between these two leading organizations is a critical step in furthering this research and turning stem cell research into therapeutic realities sooner,” said former Vice President Al Gore, a partner at Kleiner Perkins.
The IZumi-CIRA deal builds off Bay Area collaborations already in place in Japan. Most notably, Shinya Yamanaka, director of the Kyoto center, is a visiting scientist at the J. David Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco. The Gladstone Institutes’ cardiosvascular center and IZumi are working on potential cardiovascular disease targets.
Yamanaka’s lab at Kyoto created iPS cells in a mouse by using four transgenes in 2006. A year later, the lab said it created human iPS cells. He spends a quarter of his time at the Gladstone Institutes.
“To realize clinical applications of iPS cell technology as soon as possible, CIRA will form partnerships with research institutions both in and outside of Japan to promote global collaboration,” Yamanaka said.
rleuty@bizjournals.com / (415) 288-4939
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