MultiCell Enters into a Joint Venture with Living Cell Technologies to Develop Adult Liver Cell Technologies for Drug Discovery, Protein Production and Therapeutic Clinical Applications
Tuesday October 4, 8:16 am ET
LINCOLN, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 4, 2005--MultiCell Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: MCET - News), a leading adult stem cell company and supplier of immortalized non-tumorigenic human hepatocytes for drug discovery and Living Cell Technologies Limited (LCT), a developer of injectable live cell therapy products to treat life threatening diseases, announced today that the parties have entered into a joint venture to develop therapeutic liver cell applications.
The collaboration will focus on creating novel liver-cell based technologies and products that lead to the development of new medicines and treatments for a variety of liver-related diseases.
Under the terms of the collaboration, MultiCell will develop extended functionality of its adult liver stem cells and immortalized human hepatocytes using LCT's encapsulation technology (biocapsules). The resulting products will be used for drug discovery, protein production and therapeutic clinical applications.
The 'biocapsule', made from a purified form of alginate, enables LCT to regulate what factors and nutrients can pass through the wall of the capsule, protecting and nurturing the cells within.
Under the terms of the agreement, jointly developed intellectual property will be co-owned, with MultiCell retaining commercialization rights for its current business areas. MultiCell recently announced that it was developing a new therapeutic platform to capitalize on the intellectual property it has developed in the stem cell area.
"MultiCell is very excited to combine our liver cell based technologies with LCT's proven encapsulation platform. We envision that this combinatorial approach will be key to scaling up a family of liver cell products," said Dr. Stephen Chang, President of MultiCell Technologies Inc.
"We've known that LCT's technology will play a significant role in furthering stems cells and cell lines as a viable therapeutic product, but we are particularly excited about working with one of the fields leaders," said Dr. Alfred Vasconcellos, President and CEO, LCT BioPharma Inc., the wholly-owned US subsidiary of LCT.
"The agreement will enable us to evaluate liver stem cells and immortalized human liver cells for use in both drug development and therapeutic applications," said Vasconcellos. "There is the potential to build a significant drug and stem cell delivery from this venture."
LCT has demonstrated the potential of its technology to treat diseases caused by a lack or loss of cell function. The company is currently preparing US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Investigational New Drug (IND) applications for phase 1 clinical trials for its Huntington's disease and diabetes portfolio products, NeurotrophinCell and DiabeCell.
About Living Cell Technologies: www.lctglobal.com
Living Cell Technologies Ltd develops live cell therapy products to treat life threatening human diseases. The ASX listed (ASX:LCT - News), vertically integrated company operates globally through offices in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.
LCT develops treatments where healthy living cells are injected into patients to replace or repair damaged tissue, without requiring the use of toxic drugs to prevent rejection. The company's product portfolio focuses on treatments for people with Huntington's disease, insulin-dependent diabetes and hemophilia.
About MultiCell Technologies, Inc.
MultiCell Technologies is a leading adult stem cell company and supplier of immortalized cell lines validated for drug discovery applications. With its subsidiary MultiCell Immunotherapeutics (MCTI), MultiCell intends to commercialize new therapeutics for the treatment of degenerative neurological disease, metabolic and endocrinological disorders and more. MultiCell holds key patents relating to novel strategies for the isolation of adult human liver cells, and cell clusters or doublets as well as additional patents in the areas of stem cell technology, the Sybiol(TM) synthetic bio-liver therapeutic liver assist device, and immortalized human hepatocytes. MultiCell's stem cells are derived from adult tissues, which avoids the ethical and contamination issues associated with embryonic stem cells. MultiCell's headquarters and research laboratories are at 701 George Washington Highway, Lincoln, Rhode Island 02865. For more information about MultiCell see www.multicelltech.com.
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements in this press release about MultiCell's expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not historical facts and are forward-looking statements for purposes of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as "believe," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "plan," and "would." MultiCell bases these forward-looking statements on current expectations about future events. They involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statement. Some of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimates or projections in the forward-looking statement include, but are not limited to, the risk that the market for our products will not grow as expected, and the risk that our products will not achieve expectations. For additional information about risks and uncertainties we face, see documents we file with the SEC, including our Report on Form 10-KSB for the fiscal year ended November 30, 2004 and all our quarterly and other periodic SEC filings. MultiCell claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements under the Act and assumes no obligation and expressly disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release or to reflect the occurrence of subsequent events.
Contact: MultiCell Technologies, Inc.
Jerry Newmin, 401-333-0610
or
CEOcast, Inc.
Ed Lewis, 212-732-4300
or
LCT BioPharma Inc.
Alfred Vasconcellos, 401-821-3500
Source: MultiCell Technologies, Inc.
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