Charles River Laboratories has forged a partnership with US-based Pluristyx to expand its portfolio of human pluripotent stem cells.
Pluristyx provides tools, technologies, and services for the development of cell therapies.
Using its panCELLa platform, the company offers a range of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)-based technologies, proprietary genetic engineering, and related tool-products and services.
The partnership agreement provides Charles River with broad access to highly characterised stem cell lines to aid in the development of new therapeutics.
The firm will have access to Pluristyx’s embryonic stem (ES) cells and iPSCs as research tools.
Charles River executive vice president and chief operating officer Birgit Girshick said: “We are thrilled to integrate Pluristyx into our robust portfolio of human cell products and services.
“This alliance provides our clients with access to high quality research tools, adding considerable value and helping to develop safe and effective therapies to patients across the globe.”
Charles River will supply Pluristyx’s wild-type and genetically engineered iPSCs along with a complete portfolio of normal and disease state ES cell lines.
The proprietary FailSafe safety-switch technology found in Pluristyx’s iPSC panCELLa platform is said to make it possible to create safer, next-generation cell therapies.
Additionally, Charles River will distribute a broad catalogue of Pluristyx’s ES and iPS cell lines for research usage.
The company will offer certain pluripotent stem cell lines produced under Good Tissue Practice to support a path to the clinic.
The partnership will also grant Charles River’s clients access to research tools to advance in vitro translational cell-based assays for drug discovery.
Pluristyx’s products are also complement Charles River’s selection of human cellular resources.
Pluristyx CEO Benjamin Fryer said: “We are honoured to work with Charles River as a worldwide distributor of our pluripotent stem cells, including our genetically modified iPSCs that provide an accelerated path to the clinic with development of safer cell therapies.
“Through this agreement, we can continue our mission to rapidly advance development of next generation therapies.”
