Tuesday April 16, 11:26 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (ACT)
Advanced Cell Technology Announces License of its Cloning Patents to Immerge BioTherapeutics, Inc., A Joint Venture Between Novartis Pharma AG and BioTransplant, Inc.
WORCESTER, Mass., April 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (ACT) announced today the license of animal cloning technology to Immerge BioTherapeutics, Inc. of Charlestown, MA. The worldwide nonexclusive license will cover Immerge's work in the development of genetically modified pigs for potential use in xenotransplantation (the use of animal organs to address human health issues).
``We are excited to participate in a program that offers such hope for thousands of people,'' said Michael D. West, Ph.D., President and C.E.O. of ACT. ``Xenotransplantation may one day offer life-saving technology for people with kidney, lung, and heart failure and other degenerative diseases.''
Immerge was formed as a joint venture between Novartis Pharma AG (NYSE: NVS - news) and BioTransplant, Incorporated (Nasdaq: BTRN - news) in September, 2000. Since that time, the company has reached two important milestones -- the development of inbred miniature swine that are incapable of transmitting porcine retrovirus that can infect human cells and the development of the first knock-out cloned miniature swine. Both of these milestones have moved xenotransplantation closer to the clinic. Immerge has also previously announced a collaboration in pig nuclear transfer cloning with Infigen, Inc. ``Cloning plays an important role in the further development of xenotransplantation and in the Immerge program,'' said Julia Greenstein, Ph.D. President and C.E.O. of Immerge. ``ACT's technology will be an important enhancement to the intellectual property supporting our work.''
The patents licensed to Immerge include U.S. Patent Nos. 6,235,970, 6,235,969, 6,215,041, and 5,945,577, the latter being the subject of an interference proceeding with Geron Corporation. Immerge will have the right to contract with third parties to manufacture product using ACT's cloning technology.
The need to find new sources for donor organs is a critical one, and the demand is growing each day. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), there are currently more than 79,000 people on the U.S. transplant waiting list and a new name is added to the list every 14 minutes. An equal number of prospective transplant patients never make the list because of the strict criteria needed to ensure that precious organs go to those candidates that are most likely to be successful recipients. Xenotransplantation offers the best hope for these people.
Advanced Cell Technology is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and commercialization of cloning technology for application in medicine and agriculture.
Contacts:
For Advanced Cell Technology: For Immerge Biotherapeutics, Inc:
Michael D. West, Ph.D. Susan Hayes
President and C.E.O. (212) 533-4472 or (917) 282-6862
Phone: (508) 756-1212
Fax: (508) 756-0931
www.advancedcell.com
SOURCE: Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (ACT) |
