PrimeGen will continue to pursue regenerative therapies, while new entity — PrimeCell Therapeutics LLC — develops PrimeCell as its most promising therapeutic candidate
May 16, 2006 — /BUSINESS WIRE/ — IRVINE, Calif. — PrimeGen Biotech LLC (http://www.primegenbiotech.com) today announced that it has created a wholly owned subsidiary — PrimeCell Therapeutics LLC — to work exclusively on the therapeutic development of PrimeCell(TM), the first adult, non-embryonic stem cell capable of transforming into any cell type found in the body.
PrimeCell Therapeutics will focus solely on adult stem cell reprogramming, and preparing PrimeCell for therapeutic development and application. To date, using therapeutic reprogramming technology, human germ cells have been successfully transformed into human heart, brain, bone and cartilage cells. The PrimeCell findings currently are undergoing peer review, and the company has introduced its murine model and initial human results for PrimeCell at several global stem cell conferences.
Consolidating PrimeCell operations under a separate entity is designed to help the company move quickly from research to therapy, as researchers work to provide reprogrammed PrimeCells for cell-based therapies to treat a range of life-threatening conditions.
“Work on PrimeCell has progressed remarkably fast, and we believe the establishment of PrimeCell Therapeutics will help us expedite our efforts to provide PrimeCells for a host of cell-based therapies,” said Thomas C.K. Yuen, PrimeGen chairman and CEO. “PrimeGen will continue its pursuit of the best approaches across the range of regenerative medicine, while PrimeCell Therapeutics will focus entirely on what we believe to be the most promising methodology yet — a germ line stem cell reprogrammed to be pluripotent.”
PrimeGen will license to PrimeCell Therapeutics all of the intellectual property assets as necessary for the new company to develop the PrimeCell technology.
Francisco Silva, lead researcher for PrimeCell, will serve as the new company’s vice president of research and development. He is a principal contributor to the PrimeCell intellectual property portfolio, and oversees the development of all of the research platforms. Chauncey Sayre, PrimeGen’s president since its inception, will become the new company’s president and chief scientific officer.
Those members of PrimeGen’s research team who work on PrimeCell will continue their work as employees of PrimeCell Therapeutics. The new company will operate in PrimeGen’s state-of-the-art 28,000-square foot research facility in Irvine, Calif., which houses an advanced Flow Cytometry Core, Imaging Core, Molecular and Microbiology laboratories, and a Cell Culture facility equipped with Class 1 Clean Room.
Composition of each company’s respective boards of directors and scientific advisory boards is forthcoming.
About PrimeGen Biotech LLC
PrimeGen Biotech LLC is a privately held biotechnology company dedicated to providing the most potent regenerative cells for use in diverse therapeutic applications. Its wholly owned subsidiary, PrimeCell(TM) Therapeutics LLC, has developed the first adult, non-embryonic stem cell capable of transforming into any cell type found in the body — known as PrimeCell(TM). PrimeGen’s chairman and CEO Thomas C.K. Yuen is renowned for turning technological promise into successful, leading-edge companies — first as co-founder, co-chairman and COO of AST Research, Inc., then as chairman, CEO and president of SRS Labs.
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