While at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, iPierian scientist Dr. John Dimos led a team whose work on iPS cell reprogramming was cited as part of the 2008 "Breakthrough of the Year" by Science magazine.
Over the past several years, independent teams of scientists have demonstrated that adult human skin cells can be reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, with the ability to undergo differentiation into many cell types. iPierian is the first company to apply the power of this technology to drug discovery by producing iPS cells derived from patients to create truly disease-relevant model systems that can be used for the discovery of new drugs and ultimately for treating human disease more safely and effectively. These model systems will benefit from the medical and clinical history that will be associated with the company's iPS cell lines from careful patient selection and analysis.
iPierian's industrialization of reprogramming and differentiation technologies coupled with its application of sophisticated systems biology analyses enables an entirely new approach to developing disease models, identifying therapeutic targets, conducting preclinical testing of drugs and ultimately delivering safe and effective therapies to patients.