Biotech Makes Available Stem Cell Lines to Researchers

Stem Cells (National Science Foundation)

BioTime Inc., a biotechnology company in Alameda, California said today it concluded an agreement to make five research-grade human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines available to University of California (UC) system researchers. These lines are genetically identical to the Good Management Practice (GMP)-compliant hES cell lines that will be made available to researchers in California under a recent agreement between BioTime and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).

The institutions covered by the agreement include:

• University of California, Berkeley
• University of California, Davis
• University of California, Irvine
• University of California, Los Angeles
• University of California, Merced
• University of California, Riverside
• University of California, San Diego
• University of California, San Francisco
• University of California, Santa Barbara
• University of California, Santa Cruz
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
• UC Davis Medical Center
• UC Irvine Medical Center
• UCLA Medical Center
• Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
• Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
• Olive View-UCLA Medical Center
• Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center
• UCSD Medical Center
• UCSF Medical Center

Under the agreement with CIRM, BioTime will first provide research grade cell lines, and within one year, if requested, BioTime will also make available GMP-grade cell lines along with documentation and complete genomic DNA sequence information. The use of the GMP grade cell lines may streamline the translation of basic science to human therapies.

The CIRM agreement also stipulates that if the users of the cell lines and BioTime eventually sign license agreements for commercial use of the cell lines, BioTime will receive a royalty on net sales. The agreement with the University of California System applies to the initial research-grade cell lines and is intended to simplify their distribution to researchers in the UC system.

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