By Donald Zuhn --
Yesterday, StemCells, Inc. announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. Patent No. 7,361,505, which is directed to multipotent neural stem cell compositions. While the '505 patent is assigned to Neurospheres Holdings Ltd., StemCells notes that it has exclusively licensed the patent. As we reported earlier this week, StemCells is currently involved in a litigation with Neuralstem regarding four of StemCells' other multipotent neural stem cell patents (see "StemCells' Patents Survive Reexam -- StemCells and Neuralstem Differ on Extent of Changes").
According to StemCells' statement, the '505 patent contains "broad claims covering human neural stem cells derived from any tissue source, including embryonic, fetal, juvenile, or adult tissue." StemCells President and CEO Martin McGlynn believes the issuance of the '505 patent "rounds out and strengthens" the Palo Alto-based biotech company's neural stem cell portfolio, which he called "unparalleled in its breadth, depth and completeness." Mr. McGlynn added that StemCells was "confident that any third party wishing to commercialize neural stem cells as potential therapeutics or to use them as drug screening tools will have to seek a license from us irrespective of how they derive the cells."
The '505 patent issued from U.S. Application No. 08/480,172, filed June 7, 1995, which claims the benefit of series of continuation-in-part applications going back to July 8, 1991. Independent claims 1, 9, 13, 14, 18, and 24-26 of the '505 patent recites:
1. A pure in vitro cell culture composition derived from the embryonic or fetal mammalian CNS consisting of neurospheres and culture medium, wherein said neurospheres consist of undifferentiated neural cells that are: nestin+ and; are glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-; neurofilament (NF)-; and myelin basic protein (MBP)-; and not nestin-.
9. A purified population of multipotent neural stem cells derived from juvenile or adult mammalian CNS tissue that includes tissue from the subependymal region lining the ventricles in the forebrain, conus medullaris, thoracic spinal cord, brain stem, or hypothalamus.
13. A pure in vitro cell culture composition derived from mammalian CNS consisting of neurospheres and culture medium, wherein said neurospheres consist of undifferentiated neural cells that are: nestin+ and; are glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-; neurofilament (NF)-; and myelin basic protein (MBP)-; and not nestin-.
14. A pure in vitro cell culture composition derived from juvenile or adult mammalian CNS tissue consisting of neurospheres and culture medium, wherein said neurospheres consist of undifferentiated neural cells that are: nestin+ and; are glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-; neurofilament (NF)-; and myelin basic protein (MBP)-; and not nestin-.
18. A pure in vitro cell culture composition derived from mammalian CNS tissue consisting of neurospheres and culture medium, wherein said neurospheres consist of undifferentiated neural cells that stain positive for nestin and said neurospheres lack differentiated neural cells that do not stain positive for nestin but that stain positive for the differentiated neural cell markers neurofilament, glial fibrillary acidic protein and myelin basic protein.
24. A purified population of multipotent neural stem cells isolated from the embryonic or fetal mammalian CNS, wherein the neural stem cells are human cells.
25. A pure in vitro cell culture composition consisting of neurospheres and culture medium, wherein said neurospheres consist of undifferentiated neural cells that are: nestin+ and; are glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-; neurofilament (NF)-; and myelin basic protein (MBP)-; and not nestin-.
26. A pure in vitro cell culture composition consisting of neurospheres and culture medium, wherein said neurospheres consist of undifferentiated neural cells that stain positive for nestin and said neurospheres lack differentiated neural cells that do not stain positive for nestin but that stain positive for the differentiated neural cell markers neurofilament, glial fibrillary acidic protein and myelin basic protein.
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