Abcellute signs Japanese deal for hepatocyte products

Wales, UK-based Abcellute has signed an exclusive agreement with GeneFrontier Corp for the manufacture, marketing and distribution of its preserved hepatocyte products into Japan. Under the terms of the deal, GeneFrontier is also permitted to establish sub-licenses with pharmaceutical and similar companies actively involved in the preclinical evaluation of new candidate drugs, for their internal use of the Abcellute cell preservation technology. Detailed financial terms are not disclosed.

"The contract signed...is a significant milestone in Abcellute's strategy to extend the adoption of its cell preservation technology platform on a global basis. We are delighted that the pharmaceutical industry in Japan, through our relationship with GeneFrontier, will now have immediate and direct access to the technology," commented Alex Watson, Abcellute's chief executive.

"The agreement with Abcellute marks a huge first step to introduce Abcellute's proprietary cell preservation technology applied to hepatocytes into the Japanese pharmaceutical market. This technology permits pharmaceutical companies to perform preclinical toxicology evaluations of new candidate drugs using hepatocytes which are preserved at non-freezing temperatures for the working week and which exhibit cell viability and metabolic activity in keeping with freshly isolated hepatocytes," commented Makoto Ogasawara, CEO of GeneFrontier.