Researcher reports on new embryonic stem cell medium.

2003 NOV 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- ThromboGenics Ltd. announced that Dr. Jean Marie Stassen, head of research and development and a leading European researcher in pre-clinical cardiovascular therapeutics, presented "An Improved Medium for Stem Cell Culture" at the Stem Cells Regenerative Medicine conference in Princeton, New Jersey, on October 15, 2003.

Dr. Stassen spoke about a new embryonic stem (ES) cell culture medium developed by Thromb-X, NV, the research and development subsidiary of ThromboGenics, in Leuven, Belgium. The proprietary ES cell culture medium (called TX-WES), conditioned by a fibroblast cell line, allows derivation and maintenance of ES cell lines from all inbred mouse strains tested, including strains that were presumed to be non-permissive for ES cell derivation.

The research expands upon results cited recently in the journal Stem Cells, in which the ES cell culture medium was used for expanding murine cell populations.*

"The advanced technology used in this stem cell platform has been applied by ThromboGenics to identify three novel compounds now in various stages of therapeutic development - microplasmin, placental growth factor (PlGF) and anti-Gas6," explained Dr. Stassen, who is based at the University of Leuven's Centre for Molecular and Vascular Biology. "Thromb-X has taken measures to make this technology available to other researchers for use in drug discovery."

Thromb-X is currently commercializing its proprietary stem cell platform by establishing industrial production and quality control for the new ES cell media; bringing ES media to market, together with unique ES cell lines; and offering gene targeting services for identification of novel drug targets, including "knock-out" mice strains, ES cell derivation, blastocyst injection, and cryopreservation.

ThromboGenics Ltd. is a privately held company founded in Dublin, Ireland, focused on discovery and development of biotherapeutics for treatment of vascular diseases including heart attack, stroke, and peripheral artery disease.

This article was prepared by Cardiovascular Week editors from staff and other reports.