News Releases
Minerva Biotechnologies, a leading cancer therapy and regenerative medicine company, today announced the launch of the AlphaSTEM® Culture System. The system uses a newly discovered growth factor that is only expressed in the naïve cells of the inner cell mass during the earliest days of embryogenesis.
AlphaSTEM® Culture System is a simple, natural method for inducing the naïve state in human stem cells without the use of biochemical inhibitors. Naïve stem cells do not yet have DNA methylation marks that have already committed the cells to certain developmental decisions. Directed differentiation efficiency and functionality are increased with ‘clean slate’ AlphaSTEM® ​ naïve cells. Stem cells cultured in AlphaSTEM® maintain normal karyotype for 70 passages. Stem cell expansion is faster and scalable, and can be completely automated since it eliminates unwanted spontaneous differentiation. Further, iPSC generation in AlphaSTEM® Culture System is orders of magnitude more efficient than FGF-based reprogramming.
“Our products will advance stem cell based disease research as well as accelerate the timeline to clinical applications of regenerative medicine,” said Dr. Cynthia Bamdad, CEO of Minerva Biotechnologies. “Minerva’s stem cell technology solves the manufacturing, safety and quality issues that have impeded the development of regenerative therapies.”
The AlphaSTEM® Culture System includes the following products:
- AlphaSTEM® Naïve hPSC Medium
- AlphaSTEM® Culture Substrate
- AlphaSTEM® Differentiation Inducer
About Minerva Biotechnologies
Minerva Biotechnologies is developing therapies for curing cancers and commercializing core technology that will enable next generation stem cell therapies. Minerva is the first company to generate human naïve state pluripotent stem cells using a single, naturally occurring human stem cell growth factor.
Carter, M.G., Smagghe, B.J., Stewart, A.K., Rapley, J.A., Lynch, E., Bernier, K.J., Keating, K.W., Hatziioannou, V.M., Hartman, E.J. and Bamdad, C. C. (2016), A Primitive Growth Factor, NME7AB, Is Sufficient to Induce Stable Naïve State Human Pluripotency; Reprogramming in This Novel Growth Factor Confers Superior Differentiation. Stem Cells, 34: 847–859. doi:10.1002/stem.2261
Contacts
Minerva Biotechnologies
Matt Britz, +1 617-221-8897
John Rogers, +1 617-221-8942
Business Development
info@minervabio.com
www.minervabio.com