SUMMIT, N.J., May 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Celgene Cellular Therapeutics (CCT), a wholly owned subsidiary of Celgene Corporation announced that its intellectual property estate was strengthened by the issuance of United States Patent No. 7,045,148 by the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO). This patent is the first issued by the USPTO that claims certain of CCT's proprietary methodologies for recovering a variety of placental-derived stem cells (PDSCs) from a human placenta following birth. PDSCs appear to be highly versatile and may have the potential to repair and regenerate a broad range of damaged or diseased tissues. CCT scientists have successfully differentiated PDSCs into a variety of specialized cells including, for example, neurons, adipocytes, chondrocytes, osteocytes, insulin-producing cells, and cardiac cells. CCT programs are targeting the development of PDSC populations for use in neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases. This patent is the first patent issued from a series of pending CCT applications.
CCT has established a leading role in discovering, characterizing, and researching PDSCs, cells that provide many advantages over cells derived from other sources. The collection and processing of the placenta presents little or no risk to the donor and is an ethical source of pluripotent cells. Placentas are widely available with over four million human placentas available through successful births annually.
Cells from the placenta are recovered under CCT's rigorous screening, testing and qualification programs. Deriving cells from placentas recovered from full-term, normal pregnancies takes advantage of nature's quality control system, a natural process designed to assure that there is a high rate of genomic integrity.
"We are extremely pleased to have received fundamental coverage for our placental-derived stem cell platform technology," said Robert J. Hariri, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Celgene Cellular Therapeutics. "Placental- derived stem cells represent a new and exciting class of stem cells which have the advantage of originating from a readily available, non-controversial tissue source. As we gain in our understanding of PDSCs we can see their therapeutic potential for treating patients with debilitating diseases and unmet medical needs. In addition, with over four million births per year in the U.S., this technology provides an ethical solution to the anticipated demand for large quantities of high quality, pluripotent stem cells for meaningful research and clinical use."
CCT has created an enrollment, procurement, processing, testing, and cryopreservation, monitoring and quality infrastructure to support the development of placental-derived stem cells for a variety of clinical indications. These systems are designed for and operated in compliance with the Good Tissue Practices and Good Manufacturing Practices of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The scope and focus of the programs at CCT are intended to meet the scale and standards necessary to provide cellular therapy products. CCT continues to invest in the basic and pre-clinical research and development necessary to support this very important and meaningful emerging field of cellular medicine.
About Celgene Cellular Therapeutics
Celgene Cellular Therapeutics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Celgene Corporation, is an innovative leader in stem cell therapy and biomaterials. CCT is devoted to research on stem cells derived from the human placenta and umbilical cord - both of which are non-controversial sources of stem cells. Research on placental-derived stem cells by CCT has uncovered a variety of critical biological activities creating opportunities in regenerative medicine. Cell-based therapy offers the possibility of providing disease-modifying outcomes that could potentially treat currently incurable diseases.
About LifebankUSA(TM)
LifebankUSA is a leading stem cell bank, providing services for thousands of families worldwide since 1998. LifebankUSA is the first stem cell bank in the world to provide its clients with storage of placental-derived stem cells (PDSCs). It is the only private bank with multiple fully equipped facilities that are ISO certified and accredited by the AABB (formerly known as the American Association of Blood Banks), and its comprehensive research operations are among the largest in the stem cell banking industry. For more information visit http://www.lifebankUSA.com.
About Celgene
Celgene Corporation , headquartered in Summit, New Jersey, is an integrated global pharmaceutical company engaged primarily in the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative therapies for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases through gene and protein regulation. For more information, please visit the Company's Website at http://www.celgene.com.
This release contains certain forward-looking statements which involve known and unknown risks, delays, uncertainties and other factors not under the Company's control, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from the results, performance or other expectations implied by these forward-looking statements. These factors include results of current or pending research and development activities, actions by the FDA and other regulatory authorities, and those factors detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission such as 10K, 10Q and 8K reports.
Celgene CorporationCONTACT: Robert Hariri, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of CelgeneCellular Therapeutics, +1-973-753-2530; or Brian P. Gill, Senior Directorof PR-IR of Celgene Corporation, +1-908-673-9530
