Technology Opportunities

Need

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) can potentially proliferate indefinitely and can differentiate into any cell type. hESCs are expected to serve as an unlimited source of donor cells for many applications in regenerative medicine and have great potential for pharmaceutical research, ranging from diabetes, CNS-related diseases and going through genetic diseases . According to recent surveys, the global market for regenerative medicine alone is projected to grow from $13B in 2016 to ~$39B by 2021, hence a CAGR of >20%.

The Hadassah Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Center:

The Hadassah hESC Research Center, established in 2003, is directed by Professor Benjamin Reubinoff, Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and includes a dedicated staff of PhD scientists, technicians and students. The major objectives of the Center are to develop hESCs for regenerative therapy, disease modeling and drug discovery. .

For clinical transplantation applications, hESCs should be developed under stringent ethical guidelines from traceable and tested donors, and in a GMP-grade culture system. The Center's team derived three hESC lines using a novel GMP-grade, animal-component-free, high-quality culture system. These hESC lines are listed in the US National Institute of Health registry (http://escr.nih.gov/) under Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, and qualify for federally funded research. The Center recently completed an extensive campaign of expanding its clinical-grade hESC platform to one that is independent of human fibroblast feeder cells. This feeder-free culture environment allows robust large-scale expansion of undifferentiated hESCs, is highly efficient, and is considered desirable worldwide. The Center thus far has expanded the three existing hESC lines to new Seed Cell Banks and has derived four additional clinical-grade hESC lines, all with available matching research-grade lines.

The Business Opportunity

The Center has successfully strengthened its prominent position as a provider of clinical-grade hESC-lines in the national and US communities. The hESC lines are available for non-exclusive out-licensing to commercial partners for specific medical indications.

Our commercial partners include two Israeli biotech companies at the clinical development stage as well as three international companies at the preclinical stage.

Potential commercial partners that are interested in licensing our hESCs are welcome to approach us at any time.