Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503), a Japan-based pharmaceutical company, and Graduate School of Medicine / Faculty of Medicine, Osaka University announced on Monday that the company's wholly owned subsidiary Astellas Institute for Regenerative Medicine (AIRM), Universal Cells, a wholly owned subsidiary of Astellas, and Osaka University have signed a research collaboration agreement to develop innovative pluripotent stem cell-derived cartilage organoid cell therapy intended for the treatment of intervertebral disc degenerative disease.

Universal Cells holds the rights to Universal Donor Cell (UDC) technology to create cell therapy products from pluripotent stem cells that have reduced risk of immune rejection by genetically modifying Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) using gene editing technology.

Under the terms of the agreement, the three parties aim to combine the cartilage tissue creation protocol established by Professor Noriyuki Tsumaki of (Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences / Premium Research Institute for Human Metaverse Medicine) the Department of Tissue Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University University, a researcher in cartilage diseases, Universal Cells' UDC technology, and AIRM's exceptional R&D expertise in cell therapy, and jointly create an innovative cell therapy for intervertebral disc degenerative disease.

Yoshitsugu Shitaka, PhD, Astellas chief scientific officer (CScO), said,

'Astellas is committed to achieving our VISION of being 'on the forefront of healthcare change, turning innovative science into VALUE for patients'. We hope to provide our cutting-edge UDC technology to academia and startups globally, and deliver next-generation cell therapies to patients. This partnership is an important step in the open innovation using UDC technology.'