Medistem and Superview Biotechnology Co. Ltd. Initiate Collaboration on Therapeutics Development Using Antibody and …

By raymumme

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Medistem Inc (Pink Sheets:MEDS) announced today the initiation of a collaboration with Superview Biotechnology Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of Yinhuan Holding Co from Yixing, China. The joint work will be aimed at using proprietary stem cell lines developed by Medistem for screening of monoclonal antibodies for therapeutic activity in the area of regenerative medicine. As part of the collaboration, the two companies will evaluate various candidates jointly, as well as apply for grants and share research data.

To date, the majority of stem cell companies are focusing on the stem cell itself being a product. By collaborating with Superview Biotechnology, we aim to assess the feasibility of developing antibodies that can modulate the activity of stem cells that already exist in the body, said Thomas Ichim, CEO of Medistem. This approach not only provides methods of activating stem cells but also allows for the development of stem cell adjuvant therapies that could be used to resurrect stem cell candidates that failed in clinical trials.

Superview Biotechnology has developed proprietary methods of rapidly generating monoclonal antibodies to esoteric protein targets. Medistem has a history of success in the area of stem cells, being the only company to take a stem cell product from discovery to FDA clearance in the short span of 4 years.

One of the significant driving forces behind our company is to develop innovative targets for our monoclonal antibodies. Although monoclonal antibodies have generated sales of billions of dollars in areas ranging from rheumatoid arthritis, to cancer, to preventing blindness, we feel that the potential of this therapeutic tool is only beginning to be recognized, said Jiong Wu, CEO of Superview Biotechnology. Our opinion is that the barriers to entry for monoclonal antibody-based therapies modulating endogenous stem cells is lower than stem cell based therapies. We are eager to work with the Medistem team at exploring this hypothesis.

A joint grant is expected to be filed with the National Natural Science Foundation of China to support part of the proposed collaboration by end of October, 2012.

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