International Stem Cell Alliance

An agreement involving the distribution of human embryonic stem cell lines has been announced by ES Cell International Pte. Ltd. (Melbourne, Australia) and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA). ES Cell has agreed to the NIH's research use of ES Cell's six existing stem cell lines. These meet the stem cell criteria articulated by US President Bush in August 2001.

In compliance with the NIH guidelines for the transfer of research materials, this agreement permits NIH scientists to freely publish the results of their research. The NIH will retain its ownership to any new intellectual property that might arise from the conduct of research in this area. In addition, the agreement governs the transfer of cell lines to individual laboratories with minimal administration.

ES Cell will retain commercial rights to its materials and will receive a fee to cover its handling and distribution expenses in supplying the cell lines. Furthermore, ES Cell has agreed to make stem cell lines available for use by nonprofit institutions that receive grants from the NIH under the same terms and conditions as those available to NIH scientists, provided these institutions enter into a separate written agreement
with ES Cell.

We are very pleased with this agreement for our scientists who are interested in pursuing research on human embryonic stem cells. It will allow science to move forward freely in
an important and promising field. The cell lines being offered are genetically diverse and as such will expand opportunities for researchers to explore important differences among cell lines, said Ruth Kirschstein, M.D., acting director of the NIH.

ES Cell is a regenerative medicine company focusing on developing therapeutic products from human embryonic stem (hES) cells. ES Cell funds research collaborations with the Monash Institute of Reproduction and Development (Australia), the National University of Singapore (Singapore), Hadassah Medical Organization (Israel), and the Hubrecht Laboratory (The Netherlands).




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