BRANFORD, Conn., July 24, 2012, /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- PhoenixSongs Biologicals, Inc. today announced the release of their novel state of the art neural cell culture media system optimized for the growth and differentiation of human, rat, and mouse neural stem cells isolated from donated tissue, induced pluripotency stem (iPS) cells, or embryonic stem (ES) cells. These unique media formulations enable expansion of neural stem cell populations to a scale never before achieved and reliably differentiate neural stem cells into functionally mature neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes, with electrically active neurons that have abundant and mature excitatory and inhibitory synapses.
Unlike larger manufactures of similar neural media products, all media products formulated and produced at PhoenixSongs are optimized to support specific lineage stages of cells from proliferation of the neural stem cells through development (in vitro differentiation) into mature cell fates focusing on functional endpoints of the mature terminally differentiated cell types. Each batch of media is put through rigorous quality control testing for sterility and function to ensure that each bottle of media meets the highest industry performance QC standards before it is released for sale. All media formulations are produced by PhoenixSongs with pre-qualified reagents for consistent performance across all batches. Each media is complete, including a basal liquid media, a frozen serum-free supplement, and all the growth factors required for growth and differentiation of the stem cells into neurons as well as maintenance and survival of the neurons in long-term culture.
These Neural Stem Cell Growth, Transition, and Differentiation Media were originally formulated using off-the-shelf products (such as Neural Basal and DMEM/F12 media, B27, and N2 supplements) to produce neural stem cells from mouse ES cells then differentiated into neural cultures that were used in an industry-first high throughput screen where 2.4 million compounds were screened to identify candidate drugs for treatment of schizophrenia. The growth media enabled expansion of the neural stem cells to a scale so that an entire screen was run in 384-well format from one batch of ES cell-derived neural stem cells that were differentiated into neurons. The Neural Differentiation media was formulated to include components that not only differentiated the stem cells into neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes, but also supported survival and function of the neurons in long-term culture. (published in <cite>J. Biol. Chem. </cite>2010 285:17209-17217).
PhoenixSongs further optimized the aforementioned media formulations making it possible to expand human neural stem cells isolated from all sources to the same scale achieved with the ES cell derived neural stem cells while maintaining the differentiation potential beyond passage 15. Since the PhoenixSongs' media are complete, there would be no need for researchers to source additional components.
Neuroscientists can now purchase these novel complete media from PhoenixSongs online. www.phoenixsongsbio.com.
"We are extremely pleased with the customer and collaborator feedback we have received year to date on our neural stem cell media products. Many neuroscientists have struggled with batch variation from their traditional media component vendors. In many cases suppliers have not pre-qualified their media for neural stem cell growth and differentiation, but at PhoenixSongs all media are tested with progenitor cells to ensure its performance. Not only does our neural stem cell media remove variation, but it allows neuroscience biologists to focus on their research and production." said Richard Malavarca, President of PhoenixSongs Biologicals, Inc. on the full scale release of their neural media portfolio.
About Richard Malavarca - Mr. Malavarca was a co-founder of Specialty Media, Inc. a recognized leader in custom media production that was purchased by Millipore in 2005. At Specialty Media, Rich lead the formulation and production of the first commercially available novel embryo culture media in the late 1980s. He also served as EVP of Media Development at GigaCyte & Triangle Research Labs, LLC for over 2 years, and now serves as President of Phoenix Songs Biologicals, Inc.
About PhoenixSongs Biologicals, Inc. Headquartered in Branford, Connecticut, Phoenix Songs was founded by Dr. Lola Reid in 2009 with a focus on stem cell research and a goal of making stem-cell models commercially available to the global research community.
PhoenixSongs Contact:
Marsha Roach
mroach@pheonixsongsbio.com
203-433-4329
Media Contact: Marsha Roach PhoenixSongs Biologicals, 860-608-0439, mroach@phoenixsongsbio.com
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SOURCE PhoenixSongs Biologicals, Inc.
