Gene Editing Services Deliver Disease Relevant Cell Models to Improve Preclinical Drug Development

SAN DIEGO — iXCells Biotechnologies (“iXCells” or the “Company”), a provider of cell products and drug discovery services to the worldwide academic, biotech and pharmaceutical communities, today announced expansion of its CRISPR-Cas9 product and custom services offering, with special focus on induced pluripotent stem cell (“iPSC”) derived cell models.

iXCells’ team of scientific experts in gene editing have already introduced several iPSC derived human motor neuron disease models that include gene mutations useful for studying neurological diseases such as familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). For example, some of the company’s products include Human iPSC Motor Neurons derived from a genetically modified iPSC line carrying the A4V mutation in the SOD1 gene, and Human iPSC Motor Neurons derived from genetically modified iPSC lines carrying the different mutations in the TDP43 gene (N352S, Q331K and M337V). The company is also developing new iPSC derived disease models, such as Alzheimer’s, BFNE, DMD, Parkinson and Fragile X syndrome.

Dr Nianwei Lin, the company’s President and Co-Founder, commented, “iXCells can generate iPSC disease relevant cell models by reprogramming somatic cells like PBMCs, Fibroblasts, LCL, etc. using Yamanaka reprogramming factors set on materials supplied by our clients or ethically procured via iXCells. We also provide patient relevant isogenic cell products as controls for studying such diseases by allowing researchers to examine the effects of a mutation within a fixed genetic background. Such iPSC-derived motor neuron products are valuable tools for biochemical analysis, disease modeling and clinical application of diseases. Standard products are listed on our website with more products in our R&D pipeline, and our scientific team can quickly develop custom disease models for each client through our CRO services offering.”

“iXCells offers engineered cell products and related services for drug discovery and development using CRISPR-Cas9 technology under a global license agreement. As an innovator in human cell technology, iXCells uses CRISPR-Cas-9 to knock-in genetic elements (e.g., reporters, exon duplication, overexpression), knock-out genes (e.g., frameshift, stop codon, fragment deletions) or create point mutations (e.g., single nucleotide mutations, small fragment replacements) to enable our worldwide customers’ preclinical development workflows,” added Wayne Vaz, VP, Corporate Development & Commercial Operations.

About iXCells Biotechnologies

Founded in 2014 and based in San Diego, CA, iXCells Biotechnologies is an innovative cell biology and cell technology company that provides preclinical drug discovery solutions with the focus on disease relevant cellular models enabling technologies and services to the academic, biotech and pharma communities to accelerate the pace of drug discovery. iXCells offers customers access to high quality primary and iPSC derived cells, custom iPSC services, functional bioassay development and drug screening. To learn more about this innovative leader within the preclinical iPSC sector, visit www.ixcellsbiotech.com.

Follow iXCells Biotechnologies on Twitter, Facebook, and on LinkedIn.

Contacts

Nianwei Lin
President and Co-Founder
[email protected]