ArunA Biomedical Announces Exclusive Worldwide Technology Licensing Agreement to Commercialize Human Embryonic Stem Cell Derived Mesenchymal Cells

    ATHENS, Georgia, Aug. 19 /EMWNews/ -- ArunA Biomedical, Inc., a

leader in human embryonic stem cell derived products, announced today that

it has entered into an exclusive worldwide technology licensing agreement

with the University of Georgia Research Foundation that will enable the

company to commercialize human mesenchymal cells developed at the

University of Georgia.



    



    Under the terms of the agreement, ArunA has acquired an exclusive

worldwide license to develop and commercialize human mesenchymal cells

(hMSC(TM)) derived from human embryonic stem cells, a product never before

available. ArunA will offer the academic and industrial research

communities access to a highly uniform population of human mesenchymal

cells grown as adherent monolayer cultures in multiple turn-key kit

formats. The hMSC kits will provide a physiologically relevant and

genetically stable source of research material for use in a broad range of

life science research applications such as: developmental pathway studies,

disease modeling, in vitro toxicology, compound screening and humanized

animal models.



    "ArunA's proprietary adherent monolayer culture technology creates

millions of highly uniform cells. These unique cells provide researchers

with new enabling tools that can have a measurable impact on the

advancement of drug discovery," says ArunA Biomedical President and Chief

Executive Officer, William Sharp. "We are targeting an early first quarter

2009 launch of ArunA's first hMSC kit."



    According to Robert Nerem, the Parker H. Petit Distinguished Chair for

Engineering in Medicine at the Georgia Institute of Technology, "One of the

most important uses of human embryonic stem cells will be in the generation

of uniform populations of adult stem cells and progenitor cells. It is thus

exciting that ArunA Biomedical will be able to provide uniform cell

populations of human mesenchymal cells in kit form. This not only will be

of value to bench scientists, but also in advancement toward clinical

therapies."

    About ArunA Biomedical



    Located in Athens, Georgia, ArunA Biomedical, Inc. is a privately held

biotechnology corporation dedicated to the discovery, manufacturing and

commercialization of emerging new technologies in human stem cell research

for use in drug discovery and basic research. ArunA is the first company to

commercialize products derived from human embryonic stem cells and sees its

proprietary technology as a catalyst leading to the discovery of novel

therapeutic compounds, tests for neurotoxicity and breakthroughs in

understanding human development and diseases.




http://www.arunabiomedical.com