Reinnervate Ltd, one of the leading companies in the field of 3D cell culture, has been acquired by ReproCELL of Shin-Yokohama in Japan. ReproCELL, a pioneer in the field of induced pluripotent stem cell biology supplies iPSC-dervided Hepatocytes, Neurons and Cardiomyocytes as well as a range of media and reagents for stem cell culture.

ReproCELL intends to combine it’s iPSC-derived cells with the Alvetex range of 3D cell culture products to produce and sell next-generation tools for drug toxicity testing, neuroscience and cancer research.

ReproCELL also announced the acquisition of BioServe Inc of Maryland, USA, a leading supplier of human tissues and other biological samples with one of the largest commercial biorepositories in the world.

ReproCELL plans to use the unparalleled access to human tissues to generate a wide range of disease-related iPSC lines for production of human disease cell models.

Commenting on the deal, Reinnervate Ltd CEO. Richard Rowling, said ‘We are delighted to become part of the ReproCELL group of companies and look forward seeing Alvetex products combined with Reprocell’s advanced stem cell derived cell products. Our customers are always looking for ways to improve the biological relevance of cell based assays and to move away from using cell lines. Combining the benefits offered by iPSC-derived cells and 3D cell culture will lead to exciting new product introductions.’

Chika Yokoyama, CEO of ReproCELL added, ‘The ReproCELL group of companies now offers products and services that span the 2D and 3D cell culture, stem cell culture media, iPSC-derived cells and human tissue samples. We can now help the global scientific community move their basic and pre-clinical research towards more sustainable and physiologically relevant models. Our customers can now move easily from testing monolayer culture to 3D culture to human tissue systems all with support from a single source.’

Reinnervate is an innovative life sciences company dedicated to making routine 3D cell culture a reality for researchers in academia and in the pharmaceutical and related industries.

Alvetex Scaffold is a unique polystyrene material that provides a robust and inert scaffold for cells to grow and form complex 3D structures in vitro, mimicking the normal growth and formation of tissues in the body. Reinnervate has extensively tested and validated Alvetex Scaffold with a large number of cell types, including liver, skin, cancer and stem cells, all of which have important applications in basic research into cell development, disease modelling and drug safety screening.

AlvetexStrata is a unique polystyrene material that provides a robust and inert scaffold support for cells, tissues and embryoid bodies. These surface-grown cells and tissue slices are supported and viability maintained for longer periods than currently possible with alternative technologies.

BioServe was established in 1989 by researchers including Dr. Rama Modali, who worked for NIH (National Institute of Health) and National Cancer Institute as a molecular biologist. Located in Beltsville MD, USA, BioServe stocks and sells over 600,000 samples including human tissues, human DNA/RNA samples, human serum/plasma samples to researchers in Universities and Pharmaceutical Companies.

ReproCELLwas established as a venture company originating from the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University and has been the pioneer in the iPS cell business, succeeding in the commercialization of the world's first human iPS cell products in 2009 and with the world's most advanced stem cell research and technology.