Thursday, biopharmaceutical company StemCells, Inc. (STEM) said that a major international pharmaceutical company has taken a non-exclusive license to its recently acquired Internal Ribosome Entry Site, or IRES, technology. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The technology is especially important for evaluating the success of gene knock-outs or knock-ins in stem cells, as well as the successful creation of transgenic mouse and rat disease models.
According to StemCells, the IRES technology enables the dual expression of a protein of interest and a selectable marker. This will allow researchers to genetically modify any mammalian cell and monitor the activity of a particular gene of interest in living cells or tissues without blocking the normal function of the gene.
Commenting on the development, Martin McGlynn, President and CEO of StemCells said, "We intend to continue actively licensing those in the field who are using this technology for their own R&D activities."
In the last seven months, the company has entered into three similar license agreements with major pharmaceutical and research-based companies. Revenues to the company under these licenses exceed $1.2 million.
STEM is currently trading at $1.75, up $0.13 or 8.02% on the Nasdaq.
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