Plasticell, the biotechnology company specializing in stem cell differentiation, has signed a collaboration agreement with JCR Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. of Ashiya, Hyogo Pref., Japan, to discover custom stem cell culture media using its award-winning combinatorial stem cell technology, CombiCult.

Under the terms of the agreement, Plasticell will use its stem cell expertise to work with JCR scientists, deploying CombiCult to discover novel GMP-ready protocols for therapeutic applications. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“Plasticell’s core capability to provide customers with optimized serum- and xeno-free GMP-grade stem cell differentiation or expansion protocols, which exclude patented factors and contain small molecule substitutes, together with the knowledge we have accumulated from a decade of differentiating all types of stem cells into a multitude of different cell types, has great potential to enhance the competitiveness of the Japanese stem cell effort,” remarked Dennis Saw, chief executive of Plasticell. “The attractiveness of our technology is evidenced by this timely collaboration with JCR, the leading Japanese pharma in the stem cell field.“

“Plasticell’s CombiCult is a unique technology which enables us to speed up our R&D effort, potentially contributing to reducing cost, project risk and time to market for our products,” commented Dr Tachibana, general manager at JCR’s Research Division.