CAMBRIDGE, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 20, 2024--
bit.bio, the company coding human cells for novel cures and a pioneer in the field of synthetic biology, today announces the launch of ioAstrocytes. This new addition to bit.bio’s ioCells portfolio creates an unparalleled toolkit for disease research that addresses the challenges of data reproducibility and enables accelerated therapeutic development.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240619695116/en/
ioCells, iPSC-derived cells for research and drug discovery, are manufactured using bit.bio's deterministic programming technology, opti-ox, and are considered best in class for their functionality, consistency, and scalability. With 18 launches to date in 2024, bit.bio’s ioCells portfolio comprises 37 products, including ioWild Type Cells, ioDisease Model Cells and ioCRISPR-Ready Cells.
Astrocytes are a type of glial cell in the brain involved in a wide range of processes, including neural signalling, homeostasis maintenance, and immune response regulation. The significance of astrocytes for effectively modelling the human brain is frequently underestimated. Growing evidence highlights the important role of astrocytes in CNS conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, pain disorders, and neuropsychiatric conditions. With the introduction of ioAstrocytes, scientists now have access to defined, consistent, and functional human astrocytes optimised for co-culture with other CNS cell types.
"We are excited to expand the universe of ioCells with ioAstrocytes and offer researchers worldwide access to the major cell types of the human brain,” said Mark Kotter, Founder and CEO of bit.bio. "Much like building blocks, scientists can combine different CNS cell types with or without disease-specific mutations to explore their interactions. We look forward to seeing how the neuroscience community will leverage this powerful toolkit to further our understanding of the CNS and develop much needed therapies for neurological conditions.”
ioAstrocytes are highly defined, consistent, and functional human astrocytes, optimised for co-culture with other CNS cell types. They display stellate morphology, express key markers, and perform essential astrocyte functions such as phagocytosis, secretion of cytokines, and modulation of neuronal activity when co-cultured with CNS cells.
“ioAstrocytes represent a significant addition to bit.bio's growing ioCells portfolio, enabling researchers to enhance in-vitro CNS models and accelerate discoveries,” said Farah Patell-Socha, Vice President of Research Products at bit.bio. "By providing highly consistent cells with essential functional properties of human astrocytes, we’re unlocking novel ways for advancing neuroinflammation research, conducting in-depth neural network studies, and performing screening and toxicity assessments for potential therapeutics."
For more information or to purchase bit.bio’s ioAstrocytes, please visit the Product page.
About bit.bio
bit.bio, a synthetic biology company, is democratising human cells to advance biomedical research (SDG9) and enable transformative treatments (SDG3). With Nobel Prize-winning science underpinning our understanding of cell identity as defined by unique combinations of transcription factors, our deterministic cell programming technology, opti-ox, enables conversion of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into any desired human cell type in a single step. This is achieved within days and at industrial scale, while maintaining exceptional purity and consistency. We are creating highly differentiated human cell products for research and drug discovery (ioCells) and cell therapy (txCells). Our growing commercial ioCells portfolio comprises ioWild Type Cells, ioDisease Model Cells and ioCRISPR-Ready Cells. Our cell therapy pipeline is currently focused on metabolism and endocrinology, immunology and neurology therapeutic areas. Our lead candidate, bbHEP01 (encapsulated allogeneic txHepatocytes), is in development for acute liver diseases. Additionally, we are collaborating with BlueRock Therapeutics (a wholly owned independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG) on regulatory T cell (Treg)-based cell therapies.
Since spinning out from the University of Cambridge and launching in 2016, we have raised approximately $200m from leading investors, including Arch Venture, Blueyard Capital, Charles River Laboratories, Foresite Capital, Milky Way, National Resilience, and Tencent.
For more information, please visit: www.bit.bio
For information on bit.bio’s trademarks, visit www.bit.bio/trademarks LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bitbioltd/
bit.bio launches ioAstrocytes, advancing how scientists can model the human brain (Photo: Business Wire)
NEW YORK (AP) — A surge for Intel following a blowout profit report is leading technology stocks higher Friday, while oil prices keep swinging in the wait for what’s next with the Iran war.
The S&P 500 added 0.4% and inched above its all-time high set on Wednesday, even though the majority stocks within the index fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 168 points, or 0.3%, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1% higher.
Intel led the way and is potentially heading for its best day since 1987. It jumped 23.8% after reporting much stronger results for the first three months of the year than analysts expected. CEO Lip-Bu Tan said the next wave of artificial-intelligence technology is increasing the need for Intel’s chips and products, and the company’s forecast for profit in the spring topped analysts’ estimates.
Such strong profit reports have helped Wall Street rally to records, and the S&P 500 has leaped more than 12% in a little under a month. Hopes have also built in financial markets that the United States and Iran can find a way to avoid a worst-case scenario for the global economy because of their war.
A ceasefire is tenuously in place between the two, but tensions between them are still keeping oil tankers from passing through the Strait of Hormuz to deliver crude from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide. Oil prices climbed this week on worries about the strait, but a potentially encouraging signal came Friday after Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency confirmed Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was heading to Pakistan for talks.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude to be delivered in June yo-yoed between roughly $103 and $107 in the morning and most recently was down less than 0.1% at $105.04. The price for Brent delivered in July, which is where more of the trading is happening in the market, fell 0.4% to $98.96.
On Wall Street, Procter & Gamble rose 3.9% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Shailesh Jejurikar said it saw broad-based growth across regions and products, which include Bounty paper towels and Tide detergent.
That helped offset a drop of 22.5% for Charter Communications, whose profit for the latest quarter came in weaker than analysts expected. It lost 120,000 internet customers during the three months, more than some analysts expected.
Hartford Insurance Group fell 1% after reporting profit growth for the latest quarter that fell short of analysts’ expectations.
In the bond market, Treasury yields eased after a report said sentiment among U.S. consumers remains sour. A survey by the University of Michigan found weaker sentiment in April across political party, income, age, and education, though it improved a bit after the ceasefire in the war with Iran was announced earlier in the month.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury dipped to 4.30% from 4.34% late Thursday.
Investors are also betting again on the possibility that the Federal Reserve could resume its cuts to interest rates later this year. The path appeared to clear Friday for President Donald Trump's nominee to chair the Fed, Kevin Warsh, after the U.S. Justice Department ended its probe into the Fed's current chair, Jerome Powell.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, has said he would oppose Warsh until the investigation was resolved, effectively blocking his confirmation. Warsh is the choice of Trump, who has been arguing loudly for lower interest rates.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1%, and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.7% for two of the world’s bigger moves.
AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.
Options trader Matthew Hefter, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Specialist John Parisi works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A board above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange displays the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A currency trader watches monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
