Geron Announces License Agreement With Cambrex For Distribution Of Telomerase-Immortalized Human Cell Lines
Under the terms of the non-exclusive agreement, Cambrex Bio Science will develop telomerized cell lines and associated products such as media. Cambrex Bio Science will provide the telomerized cells under license to customers for life science research, including drug development activities such as toxicity testing and high throughput screening. Cambrex may also utilize telomerized cells for custom drug screening services. Geron has retained all rights for the use of telomerized cells in therapeutic applications. In addition, the agreement provides Cambrex with a research license to study the possible use of telomerized cells for biomanufacturing, together with an option to enter into a license agreement for the use of telomerase in commercial biomanufacturing. Geron will receive an upfront license fee payment and royalties on product sales. Detailed financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"Numerous published research studies have demonstrated the value of telomerized cells as tools to study particular genes, pathways, or cellular responses to drugs," said David J. Earp, J.D., Ph.D., Geron's senior vice president of business development and chief patent counsel. "We are now seeing a strong interest in the use of these cells for drug discovery within biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Cambrex has a well-deserved reputation as the leader in producing and marketing human cell systems to these sectors, and we are very pleased to have entered into this agreement with Cambrex."
"We are delighted to be able to provide Geron's telomerase technology to our customers," commented Dave Eansor, President, Cambrex Bioproducts. "We believe that telomerase-immortalized cells could bring significant advantages to the drug screening process. We expect to develop a range of telomerized cell types to meet the needs of our customers. We plan initially to market these cells to our pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers through our specialized sales team that has expertise in high throughput screening. In addition, telomerized cell systems will be complementary to our Clonetics(R) and Poietics(R) normal human cell systems."
Telomerase is an enzyme that maintains telomere length and allows cells to divide indefinitely while retaining normal function and phenotype. Telomerase-immortalized ("telomerized") human cells provide stable, uniform cell populations for functional cell-based assays and long-term gene expression studies. These cell lines can undergo repeated rounds of genetic engineering and scale-up, enhancing their potential utility in biological studies, cell-based drug screens, and drug toxicity testing. As a result, telomerized cells can be used for drug studies that would not be feasible with either mortal cells or cells transformed in ways that change normal cellular function. In addition, telomerized cells may also be valuable in large-scale production of biologics for therapeutic and other uses.
In conjunction with the Geron-Cambrex license, the license between Geron and Xcellsyz was terminated.