Fate Therapeutics wins key to iPS breakthrough

San Diego-based startup Fate Therapeutics has scored a stem cell tech coup, gaining breakthrough new technology that makes it easier and far less expensive to scale up the production of induced pluripotent stem cells--adult stem cells reengineered to have the same tissue-generating characteristics as embryonic stem cells.

A team of researchers at the Scripps Research Institute led by Sheng Ding, a scientific co-founder of Fate, came up with a recipe of three small molecules that can trigger the conversion from adult stem cells into iPS cells. Fate, which launched two years ago, has the exclusive license for the technology, according to a report in Xconomy. And it now has the inside track on pace-setting productivity in the field, boasting an advance that is twice as fast as the current industry standard and vastly increases the number of cells produced in each batch.

"This is the first example in human cells of how reprogramming speed can be accelerated. I believe that the field will quickly adopt this method, accelerating [induced pluripotent stem cell] research significantly," Ding said in a statement from Scripps. The researchers found that a technique using Thiazovivin in combination with two previously selected chemicals, SB43142 and PD0325901, beat the efficiency of the classic method by 200 times. Fate now has an edge in striking new licensing deals with biopharma companies looking to adopt the new technology.

- check out the release
- read the story from Xconomy

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