ITI Life Sciences licenses stem cell technology to Cellartis

Licensing agreement

Scotland-based ITI Life Sciences has signed a licensing agreement with Cellartis AB, granting the company a worldwide licence to develop and commercialise specific assets to academia and industry. The assets were generated from ITI’s £9.5 million Stem Cell Technology (SCT) Programme.

Eleanor Mitchell, Managing Director of ITI Life Sciences, said: “The ability to produce large numbers of high quality stem cells is a massive advantage and something which was not commercially available until now. We are delighted to license this technology to Cellartis, the first licence to come out of our Stem Cell Technology Programme, so it’s a major milestone and hugely exciting for everyone involved. This is ITI Life Sciences’ seventh licensing agreement and the tenth for ITI Scotland.”

ITI’s ongoing, three-year programme was launched in January 2007 to develop an automated process for producing large volumes of high-quality, ethically derived human embryonic stem cell lines. These stem cells are capable of becoming any type of cell.

According to ITI Life Sciences, this technology has the potential of driving unprecedented innovation in drug discovery and regenerative medicine today and in the future.

In addition to Cellartis, the ITI programme involves the University of Glasgow, Dundee University and Heriot Watt University as R&D providers. Under the terms of the deal, ITI will receive royalties on the sale of products produced using this technology. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: “This is a positive development – both for the Scottish economy and for public health. Not only do ITI Scotland’s commercial licence deals create new revenue streams for the economy, but they also help to stimulate growth and create new jobs.”

Cellartis, which claims to be the world’s largest provider of ethically derived human embryonic stem cell lines, expanded into a new R&D and manufacturing facility in Scotland from Sweden to be part of the ITI programme in 2007. Mats Lundwall, CEO of Cellartis, said: “We are very proud of our involvement in ITI’s Stem Cell Technology Programme and delighted that we have secured this licensing deal. Our involvement in the programme has been a strong catalyst for our growth and we look forward to delivering more success together, in Scotland and beyond.”