Sigma-Aldrich
(Nasdaq: SIAL) announced today it has entered into a research collaboration
program with D-Finitive Cell Technologies, Inc. This collaboration is expected
to support the development and commercial offering of 14 products over a two-year
span, with a planned launch of many of these products in 2009. These additions
to Sigma-Aldrich's growing portfolio of research tools for regenerative medicine
are expected to consist of serum-free media for bone marrow and umbilical cord
stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells and neural stem cells; cytokine cocktails
for stem cell expansion and differentiation; novel formulations for cyropreservation
of stem cells; and specialized products to conduct clonogenic assays of the
various stem cells.
D-Finitive Cell Technologies specializes in providing hematopoietic and neural
stem cell products, cell culture media, and innovative growth factors for cells.
D-Finitive provides its services to industry and research institutions for the
development of specific products and custom applications. Their expert staff
is headed by Paul Price, Ph.D., who is the Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Price
is internationally recognized as the leader in serum-free cell culture media
development. He is the creator of many products currently used in the field
of cellular research, including both stem and differentiated cells, and has
played a key role in the development of formulations for the growth of cells
used in the vaccine and bio-production industries.
Sigma-Aldrich views funding of external research collaborations as a strategically
important approach to developing cutting-edge research tools, and to augment
its internal development efforts. "We are excited about this collaboration.
Working with biotech companies such as D-Finitive enables us to commercialize
more products as a complement to our in-house product development," said
Carl Schrott, Marketing Director for Regenerative Medicine at Sigma-Aldrich.
"Our relationship with Dr. Price is expected to help ensure the development
of high-quality products."
Donald P. DeLuca, Jr., President of D-Finitive Cell Technologies, said, "We
are delighted to be working with Sigma-Aldrich. For us, this relationship represents
a major opportunity to marry our expertise in media design to their expertise
in high quality manufacturing and their worldwide distribution network."