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.
After an iPS cell line has been differentiated into the cell type of interest, cell-based and disease-specific assays are developed to identify small molecules, biologics or other agents for drug discovery, as well as to identify disease-relevant pathways and molecular targets for drug discovery. By keeping drug discovery in the context of the disease, it is possible to overcome the limitations of many artificial in vitro model systems currently used for screening and early toxicity measurements. iPierian's patient-specific pluripotent stem cell lines may one day replace the use of functional animal models of disease and genetically-engineered cell lines
The ability to study patient-specific, differentiated iPS cells in vitro represents a true paradigm shift in drug discovery. iPierian’s state-of-the-art pluripotent stem cell generation capabilities will enable the identification of compounds with a higher probability of success in clinical development. iPierian’s directed differentiation capabilities also can be applied to assess the selectivity and toxicity of specific compounds in cell types of interest, and to identify drug-responders prior to going to the clinic – such as which phenotypic and genotypic patient profiles will respond to a particular drug – both of which could accelerate and reduce the clinical costs of drug development.