Plasticell's CombiCult(TM) v2.0 Platform Wins International R&D 100 Award

London, UK, 23 June 2011: Plasticell, the biotechnology company specialising in high throughput technologies for directed stem cell differentiation, has won the prestigious R&D 100 Award for its CombiCult™v2.0 system. The CombiCult™ platform is a high-throughput combinatorial screening technology that allows scientists to discover optimal stem cell differentiation protocols in record time, revolutionizing stem cell research and opening new avenues of discovery. The introduction of CombiCult™ marked one of the most significant advancements in stem cell R&D as it targets a critical bottleneck in any stem cell research programme – developing protocols that optimally direct stem cells to develop into a differentiated cell type of choice. The terminally differentiated cells have numerous applications in biomedical research and regenerative medicine.

Innovations in the second generation platform, CombiCult™ 2.0, include a streamlined workflow with specially developed laboratory consumables and automation, and powerful proprietary bioinformatics software that result in marked improvements in speed and reliability compared to the first generation platform. CombiCult™ has been deployed successfully internally and by customers on a variety of adult and embryonic stem cells, to generate a wide range of tissue types including blood, neuron, bone, cartilage, liver and heart.

The R&D 100Awards, also known as the “Oscars of Innovation”, is now in its 49th year and recognizes the 100 most technologically significant products of the year. Many previous winners have since become household names with notable inventions including the artificial kidney (1970), the ATM (1973), the halogen lamp (1974), the fax machine (1975), liposome encapsulated drugs (1976), the LCD (1980),advanced wind turbine blades (1991), the nicotine patch (1992), Taxol anticancer drug (1993), HDTV (1998), clean diesel technology (1999) and Corning’s optical fiber (2008). Dr Yen Choo, Founder and Executive Chairman of Plasticell commented: “This is a tremendous achievement for everyone involved in the development of our CombiCult™ platform, and a significant endorsement of the product’s potential to revolutionise stem cell research and development of regenerative medicine. Plasticell is currently exploiting the technology in very exciting projects with big pharma and biotech companies which we expect to translate into notable medical advancements over the next few years. I am extremely pleased that my colleagues’ work in driving the technological breakthrough should receive such credit just as our system is gaining recognition as the state-of-the-art in stem cell research.”

Winners will be recognized at the R&D 100 Awards Banquet on Oct. 13, 2011, in Orlando, Fla. A list of winning innovations is on the R&D 100 Awards website, www.rdmag.com. Additional information, including registration for the Orlando event, will be available at that website on July 1, 2011.

About Plasticell

Plasticell is a biotechnology company that specialises in using massively parallel screens to differentiate stem cells.

The company’s proprietary technology, Combinatorial Cell Culture™ (CombiCultTM), allows testing of cell culture variables in random combinations to discover optimal laboratory protocols for the differentiation of adult or pluripotent stem cells.

Plasticell provides services to, and forms strategic alliances with, industry partners to produce high value cell lines for drug discovery and cell therapy applications.

For more information visit the Plasticell website: www.plasticell.co.uk

For confidential technical enquiries please contact Dr Lilian Hook on 00 44 7811 168 177 or email: lilian@plasticell.co.uk

For media enquiries, please contact Tristan Jervis on 00 44 207 861 3019 or e-mail: t.jervis@defacto.com.

About R&D Magazine

Since its founding in 1959 as Industrial Research, R&D Magazine has served research scientists, engineers and technical staff at laboratories around the world, providing timely, informative news and useful technical articles that broaden readers’ knowledge of the research and development industry and improve the quality of their work. R&D Magazine is a publication of Advantage Business Media.

(www.advantagebusinessmedia.com)

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