Cellaria Inc and BioLamina pool expertise to support better biological and drug research.
02/11/2021 WAKEFIELD, MA: One of the biggest challenges in drug development and
personalized medicine is how to model the cellular microenvironment accurately. The
challenge applies to both cancer research and the use of induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
(iPSC) for tissue modeling, high-throughput drug screening, basic research, and
regenerative medicine applications. As the number of iPSC lines and our knowledge about
them increases, there is a growing concern that the process of iPSC generation via cell
reprogramming causes genetic aberrations, chromosomal rearrangements, and other
issues that appear during iPSC clonal expansion. Cellaria and BioLamina are pursuing this
challenge by collaborating to develop more defined reprogramming methods, large-scale
iPSC expansions, and lineage differentiation for human cells and animal cells for vertebrate
and non-vertebrate species.
The partnership will build on the broadly established methods from both companies for
iPSC reprogramming and expansion of cell culture protocols that produce cells with no
detectable short and long-term genetic deviations or changes compared to the starting cell
material. With those methods, Cellaria will use cells from its patient-specific cohorts, or
other animals, to establish functional and sustainable cell model systems. Cellaria iPSC
production ranges from millions to one billion cells. It supports a variety of applications for
customers, including studies of biological pathways, drug screening and development, and
investigating pharmacological and toxicological mechanisms of action. Cellaria’s cell models
also expand the available platforms on which researchers can build the next generation of
personalized therapies.
BioLamina provides human recombinant laminin, a crucial tissue culture substrate for the
generation and expansion of iPSCs, as well as specific differentiation with maintained
phenotypes with a reduced genetic drift. It is chemically defined and animal origin-free and
mimics the tissue-specific cell microenvironment. In turn, this provides more consistent and
reliable cellular responses and improves cell functionality.
“Cellaria guides drug researchers to understand individual patient responses to potential drug
therapies, paving the way for predictive, personalized medicine,” comments David Deems, CEO
of Cellaria. “Our authenticated cell models and in-depth cell data directly represent patients’
reality, resulting in timely and personalized decision making. This collaboration will enable us to
provide iPSCs that even more closely represent the original patient environment.”
“BioLamina has gained a lot of expertise in growth, maintenance and differentiation of different
primary cells. The laminins are the natural environment for cells in the body and it is a pleasure
to work with world leading experts at Cellaria to use them further to make top of the class tools
to be used for drug discovery,” comments Kristian Tryggvason, Founder at BioLamina.
About Cellaria Inc.
Cellaria Inc’s mission is to develop and build more informative disease cell models to
revolutionize and accelerate the search for a cure. The company provides a suite of
products and services that are actionable, replicable and that originate from a patient’s
unique specimens. With 7 years of research and development, Cellaria’s solutions better
enable disease researchers to select promising compounds and ultimately identify the most
effective treatment for each patient’s needs. This helps lead the research community to
more personalized therapeutics, revolutionizing and accelerating the search for a cure
and/or personalized treatments.
www.cellariainc.com or call 781-257-2679.
About BioLamina
BioLamina’s innovative products solve many of the technical problems associated with
maintaining human pluripotent stem cells in a naive state and enable to push these stem
cells towards different specialized cell types, such as neurons, heart cells, and liver cells.
Our flagship products, our biorelevant human recombinant laminin isoforms (Biolamininsä),
are defined cell culture matrices that successfully imitate the natural, cell-specific cell-matrix
interaction in the cell culture dish, allowing the cells to thrive and maintain their function. Our
products are a powerful resource for scientists working both within basic research as well as
in regenerative medicine companies with focus on cell therapy applications.
For more information: www.biolamina.com
Media Contact
Contact: Claire England, Covalent Bonds