CHA Biotech said it has registered a patent for the method of manufacturing and storing somatic cloned embryonic stem cells in Korea.

The patent, jointly developed by CHA Biotech and Cha Medical University, uses somatic cell nuclear transfer cloning technology to generate embryonic stem cells with low immune rejection and stores them.

Embryonic stem cells have better proliferation and differentiation potential than adult stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells. Still, like other stem cells, it can cause immune rejection if human leukocyte antigen genes do not match the patient.

However, the patented technology overcomes such shortcomings. By injecting the somatic cell nucleus of an adult with a gene with a low immune rejection reaction into an egg that has no nucleus, the treatment can be administered to others.

According to the company, the technology makes safe transplant into patients possible, as the company has also secured a cryopreservation system that can store and manage somatic cell donor genetic information as well as long-term storage of cells without damage.

CHA Biotech plans to expand the scope of embryonic stem cells to various refractory diseases with no current treatment.

“The technology can minimize the immune rejection reaction of embryonic stem cells, and is significant in that it has increased the possibility of developing the cell into an all-round treatment,” CHA Biotech CEO Oh Sang-hoon said.

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