MADISON, Wis., April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Cellular Dynamics International (CDI) today announced that CDI’s development and commercialization of human cardiomyocytes for drug discovery and toxicity testing, based on the work of CDI co-founder and chief scientific officer, James A. Thomson, Ph.D., on induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSCs) technology, have been named to the MIT Technology Review’s Annual 10 Emerging Technologies List.
“Stem cell technology has significant potential to improve human health,” said James A. Thomson, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of CDI and director of Regenerative Biology at the Morgridge Institute for Research and professor of anatomy at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. “However, its application as a therapy could be a decade or more away. Our work at CDI is focused on applying stem cell technology to human health today. That is why we have concentrated our efforts on developing human cell-based systems to improve drug discovery and toxicity testing. Current cell models to test drugs are inadequate. They miss toxicities that might have been observed in a human cell model. We believe that drug candidates tested with our cells will face a more rigorous and valid pre-clinical evaluation. This should result in safer and potentially more efficacious compounds that will be made available to patients quicker and more efficiently.”
“The annual TR10 spotlights the emerging technologies we find most exciting. These are the innovations most likely to alter industries, fields of research, and even the way we live and work,” said Jason Pontin, editor-in-chief and publisher of Technology Review magazine. “We celebrate the innovators making these accomplishments possible and look forward to their continued advancement within their respective fields.”
About Cellular Dynamics International, Inc.
Cellular Dynamics International, Inc. (CDI) is a leading developer of next-generation stem cell technologies for drug development and personalized medicine applications. CDI harnesses the power of pluripotent stem cells and their ability to differentiate into any cell type for world-class drug development tools. In addition, it is the leader in iPS technology, the production of pluripotent stem cell lines from adult tissue. CDI was co-founded in 2004 by James Thomson, a pioneer in human embryonic stem cell research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Tactics II Ventures, a Wisconsin-based venture capital fund. CDI’s facilities are located in Madison, Wisconsin. See www.cellulardynamics.com.
CONTACT: Joleen Rau, Senior Director, Marketing & Communications, Cellular
Dynamics International, Inc., +1-608-310-5142, jrau@cellulardynamics.com,
or Robert E. Flamm, Ph.D., Russo Partners LLC, +1-212-845-4226,
robert.flamm@russopartnersllc.com, or Tony Russo, Russo Partners LLC,
+1-212-845-4251, tony.russo@russopartnersllc.com, or for Technology Review:
Amy Lammers, +1-617-475-8077, amy.lammers@technologyreview.com
Web site: http://www.cellulardynamics.com/
