California Stem Cell and BioFocus DPI to Collaborate in ALS Association-Funded Research...

California Stem Cell and BioFocus DPI to Collaborate in ALS Association-Funded Research Using Human Motor Neurons

MOTORPLATE(TM) 96 Assay-Ready Well Plates Enable High Throughput
and High Content Screening Assays
IRVINE, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
California Stem Cell, Inc. (CSC) today announced that it has
signed a contract to supply international drug discovery organization
BioFocus DPI, the service division of Galapagos, with its
MOTORPLATE(TM) 96 assay-ready well plates, containing motor neuron
progenitors (MNPs) derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESC).
BioFocus DPI will use the high purity, clinical grade human motor
neurons to perform assay development and screening for amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis (ALS or "Lou Gehrig's Disease") drug discovery on
behalf of The ALS Association's TREAT ALS(TM) drug discovery and
clinical trials program.

"BioFocus DPI chose to source human motor neurons from CSC because
its multi-well plate format enables us to develop specialized
high-throughput assays not previously possible," said Katherine
Hilyard, PhD, Vice President of Biological Sciences, BioFocus DPI.
"This is the first source of high purity human motor neurons available
for use in high-content screening assays. This significant advancement
allows us to develop innovative human cell-based assays for the
discovery of drugs for ALS and other neurological disorders."

The ALS Association's TREAT ALS (Translational Research Advancing
Therapy for ALS) program is funding this collaborative research
project as part of its global initiative to speed the discovery of new
drugs and therapies for ALS.

"The ALS Association is focused on accelerating new and promising
developments from the laboratory bench into treatments for ALS," said
Lucie Bruijn, PhD, science director and vice president of The ALS
Association. "The unique ability of CSC to generate human motor
neurons on a large scale, and the target discovery engine provided by
BioFocus DPI, will contribute to the development of medicines that may
significantly slow the progression of this disease and ultimately lead
to a cure."

"CSC is delighted to help our lead customer BioFocus DPI to
accelerate its drug discovery programs, and to begin to supply the
marketplace with stem cell derived human motor neurons, produced using
state of the art, proprietary and commercially scalable manufacturing
processes. The potential market for this product in high-throughput
and high-content screening analyses for predictive toxicology and drug
discovery is very significant," said Dr. Chris Airriess, Chief
Operating Officer, CSC. "More importantly, CSC is proud to work toward
the common mission of developing a treatment for ALS."

About BioFocus DPI

BioFocus DPI aims to expand its partners' drug pipelines by
accelerating the gene-to-candidate discovery process. This is achieved
through a comprehensive discovery platform, which includes target
discovery in human primary cells, focused as well as diverse compound
libraries, in vitro and cell-based screening, medicinal chemistry and
ADME/PK services, supported by unique chemogenomic and informatics
tools. As the service division of Galapagos, BioFocus DPI has over 300
employees in five countries worldwide.

About California Stem Cell, Inc.

California Stem Cell, Inc. is a privately held company focused on
the manufacturing of high-purity human cells for therapeutic
development and clinical application. Since its founding in 2005, CSC
has developed and has intellectual property surrounding methods for
scalable production of human motor neurons, neuronal progenitors,
cardiac muscle and sino-atrial node cells at its Irvine, Calif.
facility. CSC is currently in the pre-clinical development stage of
stem cell based therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or
"Lou Gehrig's Disease"), spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), spinal cord
injury (SCI) and coronary heart disease.

About The ALS Association

The ALS Association is a leader in ALS research and the only
national not-for-profit voluntary health organization dedicated solely
to the fight against ALS. The mission of The ALS Association is to
lead the fight to cure and treat ALS through global cutting-edge
research, and to empower people with Lou Gehrig's Disease and their
families to live fuller lives by providing them with compassionate
care and support.

California Stem Cell, Inc.
Chris Airriess, PhD
Tel.: (949) 534-9149
chris@californiastemcell.com
or
BioFocus DPI
Katherine Hilyard, PhD
Tel: +44 1799 533500
kate.hilyard@glpg.com
or
The ALS Association
Gary Wosk
Tel: (818) 587-2241
gwosk@alsa-national.org

Copyright Business Wire 2008