October 24, 2017 — Roche and Ncardia have reached a broad licensing agreement whereby Roche and its affiliate companies gain access to key disease modeling patents from Ncardia.
Ncardia was recently formed through the merger of Axiogenesis and Pluriomics. The two companies have pioneered the development of stem cell-derived cells for drug discovery and safety, and in particular have advanced disease and tissue modeling applications.
The Ncardia patent portfolio consists of several granted patents in Europe, the United States and Japan. The drug screening and disease modeling technology not only involves patient iPSC cells, but induction of the disease phenotype can also be achieved through genetic manipulation, mRNA or siRNA transfection or through chemical or physical induction.
Roche has now obtained a non-exclusive, worldwide license to the key Ncardia disease modeling patents claiming the use of stem cell-derived cells and disease models for the discovery and development of novel drug candidates. The financial terms of the agreements are not disclosed.
For moreinformation: www.ncardia.com