“The issuance of this patent highlights Lineage’s dominant position in the field of cell therapy,” stated Brian M. Culley, CEO of Lineage. “Our efforts to develop new treatments rely on well-characterized and NIH-approved human cell lines. These lines are not genetically manipulated, which avoids the safety concerns associated with genetic aberrations arising from the creation of iPS cells. We believe the Lineage cell lines provide the safest option for our current clinical-stage programs, particularly in immune-privileged anatomical sites such as the eye (OpRegen® for the treatment of dry AMD) and spinal cord (OPC1, for the treatment of spinal cord injury). However, the vast intellectual property estate which underlies our cell therapy platform has never been limited to these particular cell lines. As one example, this newly-issued patent provides us with proprietary methods for producing induced pluripotent stem cells, or, as it was practiced by us prior to Yamanaka, Analytical Reprogramming Technology (ART). In certain settings, an ART/iPS approach might offer important advantages, such as for an autologous treatment or when the selection of preferential attributes from a series of iPS lines is desirable. Questions as to which stem cell technology is preferred ultimately will be answered by clinical safety and efficacy and likely will be indication-specific, so we believe it is in the best interest of our shareholders to generate patented technology which enables us to pursue programs in either or both formats which we believe will ensure the highest probability of success.”
“This patent broadly describes multiple techniques for reprogramming cells of the body back to the all-powerful stem cell state,” said Dr Michael D West, CEO of AgeX and first inventor on the patent. “Perhaps more significantly, it includes certain factors that address some of the difficulties currently encountered with iPS cells. It also reflects the foundational work our scientists have undertaken to apply reprogramming technology to age-reversal, specifically, induced Tissue Regeneration (iTR) which is currently a focus of AgeX product development.”
Patent 10,501,723 covers induced pluripotent stem cells which includes methods to manufacture iPSs cells that are capable of becoming any cell within the body. This patent has an early priority date having been filed before the first scientific publication, and was assigned to Advanced Cell Technology of Marlborough, Massachusetts and licenced to Lineage as well as being sublicensed to Age X for defined fields of use.
