A consortium of 26 partners has been formed to establish the “European Bank for induced pluripotent Stem Cells” (EBiSC) with support from the IMI.

The EBiSC iPS cell bank will act as a central stroage and distribution facility for human iPS cells, to be used by researchers across academia and industry in the study of disease and the development of new treatments for them.  Conceptualized and coordinated by Pfizer Ltd in Cambridge, UK and managed by Roslin Cells Ltd in Edinburgh, the EBiSC bank aims to become the European “go to” resource for high quality research grade human iPS cells.

Today, iPS cells are being created in an increasing number of research programmes underway in Europe, but are not being systematically catalogued and distributed at the necessary scale to keep pace with their generation, nor meet future demand.  The €35 million project will support the initial build of a robust, reliable supply chain from the generation of customized cell lines, the specification to internationally accepted criteria and their distribution to any global qualified user, ensuring accessibility to consistent, high quality tools for new medicines development.

 

Further details can be found on the Roslin Cells website.