StemCells Inc. Broadens HuCNS-SC® Patent Portfolio With Key Patent in Japan

NEWARK, Calif., July 31, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- StemCells, Inc. (Nasdaq:STEM) today announced that the Japan Patent Office has granted to the Company Patent Number 5007003, titled "Enriched Central Nervous System Stem Cell and Progenitor Cell Populations, and Methods for Identifying, Isolating and Enriching for Such Populations." The patent broadly covers the prospective isolation and enrichment of neural stem and progenitor cells using antibody selection, as well as the use of these cells to treat disorders of the central nervous system. Some of the more noteworthy claims in the '003 patent include methods for isolating human neural stem cells, as well as compositions of matter comprising enriched neural stem cells, such as the Company's proprietary HuCNS-SC cells, and the use of enriched neural stem cells as a medicament for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, acute brain injury and dysfunction of the central nervous system. The invention claimed by the '003 patent was the result of groundbreaking research conducted by the Company's stem cell researchers, including Nobuko Uchida, Ph.D., Vice President of Stem Cell Biology at StemCells, Inc., who is a named inventor on the patent. The patent term of the '003 patent extends into 2020.

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