Hamburg, Germany, 28 June 2017: Evotec AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, TecDAX, ISIN: DE0005664809) today announced a collaboration with Censo Biotechnologies Ltd. ("Censo") to source and provide patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells ("iPSC") to support Evotec's broad iPSC platform.
Censo will provide its sourcing and reprogramming technologies and expertise to create a high-quality, bespoke repository of hundreds of patient-derived iPS cell lines, covering multiple diseases with an initial focus on CNS diseases. The contract will run for an initial period of two years.
Dr Cord Dohrmann, Chief Scientific Officer of Evotec, commented: "We are very pleased to have teamed up with Censo, a proven leader in the field of iPSCs - covering in particular the sourcing of donor cells, the generation of iPS cell lines as well as extensive characterisation and quality control. Their platform will support and complement Evotec's use of patient-derived disease models for drug screening and the discovery of more disease-relevant drug candidates."
Aidan Courtney, CEO of Censo Biotechnologies, added: "Both Censo and Evotec believe in the enabling power of patient-derived iPSCs as a drug discovery tool. This collaboration is a validation of Censo's extensive network, technology platform and expertise in this space. We look forward to working closely with our colleagues at Evotec and supporting their ambitious plans for iPSC-based drug discovery."
Censo Biotechnologies Ltd is a stem cell technology company providing human cells and contract research services for drug discovery, toxicity testing and cell banking. The company has the capabilities to generate induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from large cohorts of individuals and use the potential of these cells to create virtually any cell in the human body. By developing cell-based models of disease using cells from a diverse range of tissue donors, the company supports the development of new targeted treatments for disease. Its major focus is the generation of novel data on drug efficacy and drug response variation for a given population. The company was founded in 2016 through the merger of Roslin Cellab and Roslin Cell Sciences and has facilities in both Edinburgh and Cambridge, UK. www.censobio.com; Follow us on Twitter @Censobio.