Axol Bioscience has acquired iPSC product and bioassay specialist, Phenocell.
The company, which primarily focuses on skin and retinal disorders, will add to Axol's current cell line portfolio.
Through the acquisition, Axol will have access to Phenocell's range of human skin and retinal iPSC-derived cell lines.
This includes iPSC-derived sebocytes, as well as retinal pigment epithelium and photoreceptor cells.
As well as gaining access to Phenocell's range of cell lines, Axol will also be able to offer its clients custom age-related macular degeneration (AMD) services designed to support drug discovery companies.
Before the acquisition of Phenocell, Axol Bioscience was able to offer customers expertise in pain and touch, neuroscience and cardiovascular disease.
CEO of Axol Bioscience, Liam Taylor, said: “Axol has previously operated in three areas of drug research and discovery: neuroscience, pain and touch, and cardiovascular drug discovery. This acquisition enables us to extend our product portfolio into ophthalmology and dermatology and offer iPSC-based skin and vision loss models."
"We are delighted to welcome Phenocell to the Axol Bioscience family and look forward to building an even wider range of advanced in vitro models of human disease, combining our shared values and passion to accelerate drug discovery.”
Phenocell's CEO and Founder, Brigitte Onteniente, added: “We have built a unique set of products and services over the last decade to meet the growing requirements from the drug discovery and cosmetic industries to move from primary models to more consistent, human iPSC-derived models,”
“As part of Axol Bioscience we look forward to working with Liam and the team to develop a larger range of models, to serve a wider market.”