Press Release
2023.09.22
Collaboration with Axol Bioscience on organ-on-chip platforms for pre-clinical neuroscience discovery.
Collaboration with Axol Bioscience as its critical quality supplier of iPSC-derived sensory neuron cells.
Ushio and Prof. Ikuro Suzuki who provide of organ-on-chip platforms for pre-clinical neuroscience discovery, has collaborated with Axol Bioscience as their critical quality supplier of iPSC-derived sensory neurons.
This new agreement enables us to power our advanced in vitro Nerve Plate platform with Axol's highly functional human iPSC-derived sensory neurons, axoCellsTM. Derived from patient donor cells, reprogrammed into stem cells, axoCells sensory neurons are manufactured at scale and at high functional consistency by Axol to be a crucial component in modern neuroscience research and drug discovery.
With over a decade’s experience in the commercialization of human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology, Axol Bioscience is recognized as having best-in-class manufacturing capabilities producing high-functioning iPSC-derived neuronal and neuroinflammatory cells. Under the company’s axoCellsTM offering, it partners with other companies who seek to utilize the potential of iPSC-derived cells in industrialized and high-throughput platforms.
Working in collaboration with Professor Suzuki, Ushio will offer services to the pharmaceutical industry, enabling a simpler and more accurate neurotoxicity evaluation, quantitatively predicting nerve disorder risks using AI (artificial intelligence). This novel platform aims to gain a deeper understanding of the physiological processes involved in the peripheral nervous system and identify potential therapeutics for disorders of pain, sensation, and neurodegeneration.
“We are delighted with this announcement with Ushio, another ‘powered by axoCells’ agreement that will provide the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries with an innovative, high-throughput technology platform to drive" added Liam Taylor, CEO of Axol Bioscience Ltd."We greatly admire the work of Ushio and Professor Suzuki’s group to develop highly advanced organ-on-chip technology used in conjunction with artificial intelligent analysis. It is a credit to the team at Axol that we have been selected, to power this platform with axoCells. We have enjoyed already a decade old relationship with Professor Suzuki and look forward to developing future applications together.”
“By integrating Axol's functional human iPSC sensory neurons into our platform, we aim to provide high-quality human model evaluation systems to the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.” says Kenji Hatakeyama, Project Manager at Ushio Inc. “We are truly looking forward to seeing the collaboration grow organically from there and working together to advance healthcare and help patients have a healthier future.”
About Axol Bioscience
Axol Bioscience uses iPSCs to build more relevant models of human disease, to expand understanding and de-risk drug development. Axol Bioscience supports researchers and the biopharma industry with human iPSCs (axoLinesTM), iPSC-derived cells (axoCellsTM) and custom services (axoServicesTM). Axol products are manufactured under stringent ISO 9001 quality measures with robust scientific expertise and functional data.
www.axolbio.com
Key takeaways
• Ushio’s industry-leading Nerve Plates will be powered by Axol's high-quality human iPSC-derived cells, alongside additional services, R&D and AI image analysis.
• Ushio and Prof. Suzuki will provide the critical organ-on-chip platforms and their application notes for pre-clinical neuroscience discovery with leading human iPSC nerve cells supplier Axol.
• This collaboration with Ushio marks a significant industry development that will advance organ-on-chip adoption by the industry.
• This partnership exemplifies Axol’s key role as critical quality supplier to industry platform providers, made possible by the quality, consistency, and expertise behind the axoCells offering.