Stem Cell Company REPROCELL (Japan) Acquires 3D Cell Culture Company Reinnervate (UK) and Human Tissue Supplier BioServe (USA)

Location: REPROCELL Inc. (Yokohama, Japan)
Date: August 5, 2014

The Japanese regenerative medicine company REPROCELL Inc. has announced the acquisition of Reinnervate Ltd. (UK), one of the leading companies in the field of 3D cell culture. REPROCELL intends to combine its iPSC-derived cells with the Alvetex range of 3D cell culture products to produce and sell next-generation tools for drug toxicity testing, neuro-science and cancer research.

REPROCELL also announced the acquisition of BioServe Inc. of MD, USA, a leading supplier of human tissues and other biological samples with one of the largest commercial bio- repositories in the world. REPROCELL plans to use the unparalleled access to human tissues to generate a wide range of disease-related iPSC lines for production of human disease cell models.

Commenting on the deal, Reinnervate Ltd CEO. Richard Rowling, said ‘We are delighted to become part of the REPROCELL group of companies and look forward seeing Alvetex products combined with REPROCELL’s advanced stem cell derived cell products. Our customers are always looking for ways to improve the biological relevance of cell based assays and to move away from using cell lines. Combining the benefits offered by iPSC-derived cells and 3D cell culture will lead to exciting new product introductions.’

Chika Yokoyama, CEO of REPROCELL added, ‘The REPROCELL group of companies now offers products and services that span the 2D and 3D cell culture, stem cell culture media, iPSC-derived cells and human tissue samples. We can now help the global scientific community move their basic and pre-clinical research towards more sustainable and physiologically relevant models. Our customers can now move easily from testing monolayer culture to 3D culture to human tissue systems all with support from a single source.’

About Reinnervate Ltd. (UK) — Reinnervate is an innovative life sciences company dedicated to making routine 3D cell culture a reality for researchers in academia and in the pharmaceutical and related industries.

Reinnervate develops, manufactures and sells products for 3D cell culture. During 2013/14 Reinnervate has launched several new formats including 96 and 384 well plates, dynamic media perfusion systems and developed specialist applications for scientists working in the fields of cancer research, cell migration/invasion and stem cell expansion.

Reinnervate was founded in 2002 based on the pioneering research of Professor Stefan Przyborski and his lab at Durham University, UK.

About Alvetex® Scaffold — Alvetex® Scaffold is a unique polystyrene material that provides a robust and inert scaffold for cells to grow and form complex 3D structures in vitro, mimicking the normal growth and formation of tissues in the body. Reinnervate has extensively tested and validated Alvetex® Scaffold with a large number of cell types, including liver, skin, cancer and stem cells, all of which have important applications in basic research into cell development, disease modelling and drug safety screening.

Alvetex® Scaffold has been launched globally in several formats: a 12-well culture plate, 24-well culture plate, 96 well plate, 6-well and 12-well inserts. These formats enable scientists to con- struct different 3D cell culture models and assays. These include screening of novel drugs/ drug combinations on 3D culture and co-culture models, co-culture to study cell-cell or cell-matrix interactions, the growth of cells at the air-liquid interface and the long-term culture of cells. Visit reinnervate.com for a full list of applications.

About BioServe Inc. (USA) — BioServe’s “biomaterial to data” model offers one of the world’s largest commercial biorepositories of tissue samples. We also offer full suite of preclinical molecular services, like high quality genotyping services, and research tools to accelerate break- throughs in genetics, drug discovery, biomarker research, and molecular diagnostics.

BioServe’s Global BioRepository provides leading academic and industry researchers with access to over 600,000 human DNA, serum and tissue samples linked to detailed clinical and demographic data from 120,000 consented and anonymized patients on four continents.

Utilizing BioServe’s preclinical molecular services like our genotyping services, researchers can identify genetic markers, validate drug targets and correlate clinical and molecular data to accelerate the development of new and safer drugs.

BioServe’s customers include nearly every major pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, as well as top industry, academic, and government research institutions.
Founded in 1989, BioServe has corporate headquarters in Beltsville, Maryland and Hyderabad, India.

About REPROCELL Inc. (Japan) — Headquartered in Yokohama (Japan), REPROCELL is an integrated research and medical company. Serving the global market, the REPROCELL Discovery business unit is focused on providing drug discovery services and products including human tissues and cutting-edge iPS stem cell technologies. Leveraging this history and strength, the REPROCELL Medical business unit (formed 2017) is pioneering stem cell-based applications for regenerative medicine therapies and human diagnostics. REPROCELL (www.reprocell.com) is a public company traded on the JASDAQ market. For more information on this press release con- tact your regional REPROCELL office (phone numbers and e-mails provided on the website listed above).

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