ST. LOUIS, June 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/
-- Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (NASDAQ: SIAL), a leading
Life Science and Technology company, announced today it has entered
into an agreement with XCell Science to launch genetically
engineered human neural differentiated cells and accompanying
culture media developed to advance the research of neurological
diseases. These new products, in combination with Sigma-Aldrich's
existing product portfolio, provide unique and versatile tools for
the study of central nervous system (CNS) disorders, such as
Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), autism,
schizophrenia, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), as well as
for drug screening and toxicology applications in the neural
space.
The range of isogenic iPSC (induced pluripotent stem
cells)-derived neural cells include APOE knockout neurons and
astrocytes, MAP2 and GFAP reporter lines, and a panel for
assessment of neurotoxicity and neural protective drug candidates.
All cell lines have been validated by genotyping, gene expression,
karyotyping, and pluripotency, and have been further confirmed for
their ability to differentiate into neural cells.
"The genetically engineered iPSC-derived neural lines provide
researchers with disease models that can significantly contribute
to deciphering the mechanism underlying the disease," said
Shaf Yousaf, Vice President of
Technology & Business Development at Sigma-Aldrich. "These new
lines provide more consistent disease models than currently
available for assessment of compound toxicity and efficacy, which
can expedite drug development and considerably reduce cost."
"XCell Science is confident this arrangement will benefit the
stem cell community by leveraging XCell's expertise with neural
differentiated cells and Sigma-Aldrich's global reach and
reputation. Our customers will be able to fully take advantage of
the consistency and reproducibility these cell models provide,
along with the ease of use enabled by engineered
iPSC-differentiated cells," said Xianmin
Zeng, Ph.D., XCell's founder and Chief Scientific
Officer.
The genetically engineered iPSC-derived neural cells and media
are available now as catalog products. To learn more or make a
purchase inquiry about these cell lines, visit
www.sigma-aldrich.com/Stem-Cell-Biology.
Cautionary Statement: The foregoing release contains
forward-looking statements that can be identified by terminology
such as "can contribute," "can expedite," "can reduce" or similar
expressions, or by expressed or implied discussions regarding
potential future revenues from products derived there from. You
should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such
forward-looking statements reflect the current views of management
regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be
materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by such statements. There can be
no guarantee that this or any other product offering will assist
the Company to achieve any particular levels of revenue in the
future. In particular, management's expectations regarding this
product offering could be affected by, among other things, the
Company's ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary
intellectual property protection; competition in general;
government, industry and general public pricing pressures; the
impact that the foregoing factors could have on the values
attributed to the Company's assets and liabilities as recorded in
its consolidated balance sheet, and other risks and factors
referred to in Sigma-Aldrich's current Form 10-K on file with the
US Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these
risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying
assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially
from those anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.
Sigma-Aldrich is providing the
information in this press release as of this date and does not
undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements
contained in this press release as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
About Sigma-Aldrich: Sigma-Aldrich, a leading Life
Science and Technology company focused human health and safety,
manufactures and distributes 250,000 chemicals, biochemicals and
other essential products to more than 1.4 million customers
globally in research and applied labs as well as in industrial and
commercial markets. With three distinct business units -
Research, Applied and SAFC Commercial - Sigma-Aldrich is committed
to enabling science to improve the quality of life. The
Company operates in 37 countries, has approximately 9,300 employees
worldwide and had sales of $2.79
billion in 2014. For more information about
Sigma-Aldrich, please visit its website at
www.sigma-aldrich.com.
Sigma-Aldrich is a trademark of
Sigma-Aldrich Co, LLC registered in the US and other countries.
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SOURCE Sigma-Aldrich Corporation