International Stem Cell Corporation Obtains Exclusive Rights in the US and Canada to Distribute Approved Human Skin Model for Toxicity Testing

OCEANSIDE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--International Stem Cell Corporation (OTCBB: ISCO) announced today that it has entered into an exclusive agreement with CellSystems Biotechnologie to distribute laboratory-cultured models of human skin useful for testing the hazardous properties of consumer products and for dermatological and pharmaceutical research. Such testing is likely to be soon required for certain types of consumer products sold into the European Union. According to International Stem Cell’s (ISCO) President Jeffrey Janus, “This agreement is another positive step in ISCO’s strategic plan to become the primary source of high quality human cells for the therapeutic and research markets by leveraging its manufacturing and distribution resources.” ISCO is the first company to develop a unique type of human stem cell line that promises to eliminate the immune rejection problems that plague cell-transplantation therapies and opens the potential to create the first true “Stem Cell Bank.” ISCO’s technology, called parthenogenesis, results in the creation of pluripotent human stem cell lines from unfertilized human eggs – a fact that alleviates many ethical issues.