Roche and BioLamina Start Collaboration to Develop Novel Cell Culture Systems

Research focus on investigation of laminin-based approaches

Penzberg, Germany and Stockholm, Sweden, March 6, 2013 / B3C newswire / - Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) and BioLamina, Stockholm, Sweden today announced the signing of a research and development agreement to jointly develop new cell culture systems for various applications, including stem cell research. The collaboration will focus on assessing laminin-based in-vitro cell culture matrices offering highly physiological microenvironments for living cells. Under the terms of the agreement Roche will provide R&D funding and scientific expertise to BioLamina. Financial details were not disclosed.

Laminins are proteins located in the extracellular matrix providing the stability essential for cell growth and behaviour. They are the only protein group in this environment that have a tissue-specific distribution, including expression of specific laminins during embryonic development. This makes them a very interesting target for new biologically relevant cell culturing techniques.

“Our aim is to develop laminin-based culture systems that provide biologically relevant, standardized environments”, said Ruedi Stoffel, Head of Biochemical Reagents & Custom Biotech at Roche. “We are looking forward to this collaboration to build on the revolutionary cell cultivation techniques developed by our colleagues at the Karolinska Institute and BioLamina.”

“We’re delighted that Roche has recognized the potential of our products and technology, which we believe will significantly complement their expertise and capabilities in cell culturing,” states Kristian Tryggvason, CEO of BioLamina. “By resolving many of the technical obstacles currently blocking the road to modern cell therapy, we expect this collaboration to accelerate the development of innovative cell culturing solutions that possibly can enable cell therapy”.