GE Healthcare and Cellectis sign stem cell agreement

GE Healthcare has signed a new sublicensing agreement with Cellectis pertaining to a number of stem cell patents.

The company has licensed Cellectis to develop, manufacture and sell models derived from its stem cell, for use in drug discovery and toxicity screening. This will allow the wider industry to benefit from the use of the technology, while protecting GE Healthcare's patent rights.

GE Healthcare is responsible for several pioneering innovations in human cell-based assays and models for use in life science applications, including its Cytiva cardiomyocytes, which were launched in 2010.

Eric Roman, general manager for research and applied markets at GE Healthcare Life Sciences, said: "We believe it is important that stem cell-based assays are available to researchers so that progress can be made in drug discovery. Clarity and freedom to operate is fundamental to advancing the use of such assays."

This comes after the company recently announced the launch of its new GE Healthcare Life Sciences Technology Laboratory in Stevenage, which will further help to foster a culture of open innovation.