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MADISON, Wis., June 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Cellular Dynamics International (CDI) today announced that it has expanded its MyCell Products line, offering access to a number of human disease models and licensing key genetic engineering patents from Life Technologies and Sigma-Aldrich. CDI's MyCell Products include custom cell products manufactured using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology to make stem cells or differentiated cells from any individual, including those with diseases of interest to pharmaceutical and academic researchers.

CDI's MyCell Products now offer access to a number of disease models, including cardiomyopathies and arrhythmias, vision disorders, neurological disorders, and muscular dystrophies. In addition, the company is actively working on expanding its disease model offering, currently working on additional disease models for neurodegenerative disorders and drug-induced liver injury (DILI).

Within the MyCell Products line, CDI maintains the iPSC line of each of the disease models, enabling customers to request manufacture of differentiated cells, such as cardiomyocytes, neurons, hepatocytes, and endothelial cells, for their discovery research.

In addition, CDI has licensed Life Technologies' GeneArt Precision TALs (TALENs) and Sigma's CompoZr ZFN technologies, which act like genomic scissors to cut DNA in a precise location. These nuclease technologies facilitate efficient genomic editing by creating double-stranded breaks in DNA at user-specified locations, stimulating the cell's natural repair process and enabling targeted gene insertions, deletions, or modifications. CDI will use the TALENs and ZFN technologies to perform genetic engineering specified by the customer, for example to introduce or correct a specific mutation, thus creating human disease models and isogenic controls.

"This expansion of the MyCell Products line is the next step in our growing disease-in-a-dish portfolio and allows our customers more ready access to diseases of interest from our growing catalog of iPSCs," said Chris Parker, CDI chief commercial officer. "Through the MyCell Products line, researchers can now access human disease models either through creation of iPSC-derived cells directly from a patient, or through inducing a disease state via use of these TALEN or ZFN technologies."

Bob Palay, CDI chief executive officer, said, "CDI's commercial goal has been to provide access to human cells that reproduce human biology, and we see both of these developments as steps toward achieving that goal. We're pleased to license these nuclease technologies from Life Technologies and Sigma-Aldrich, and the combination of these nuclease technologies with CDI's iPSC-derived cells creates a new, powerful tool to better understand and target human disease."

About Cellular Dynamics International, Inc.Cellular Dynamics International, Inc. (CDI) is a leading developer of stem cell technologies for in vitro use in drug discovery, toxicity testing and chemical safety, in vivo and cell-based therapeutic research and stem cell banking. CDI harnesses its unique manufacturing technology to produce differentiated tissue cells in industrial quality, quantity and purity from any individual's stem cell line created from a standard blood draw. CDI was founded in 2004 by Dr. James Thomson, a pioneer in human pluripotent stem cell research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. CDI's facilities are located in Madison, Wisconsin. CDI's headquarters are located in Madison, Wisconsin, with a second facility in Novato, California. See http://www.cellulardynamics.com.

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Cellular Dynamics International Expands MyCell Products Line with Disease Models, Genetic Engineering Patents