TAIPEI, Nov. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In a significant stride for the global regenerative medicine industry, MetaTech Inc., a leading biotechnology company in Taiwan, unveiled its groundbreaking "iPSC Family Stem Cell Storage" service. The launch event, held in Taipei, was graced by renowned Taiwanese pop icon Jay Chou's wife, Hannah Quinlivan, who serves as the service's ambassador. Quinlivan has not only donated her own peripheral blood but has also entrusted her daughter's umbilical cord blood to MetaTech for the creation and storage of iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cell).
MetaTech has invited renowned actress Hannah Quinlivan to be the ambassador for the "iPSC Family Storage Service". After discussing with her husband, Jay Chou, they decided to entrust their daughter's umbilical cord blood to MetaTech for the creation and storage of pluripotent stem cells.
"I chose MetaTech because I wanted to ensure the health of my family for generations to come," said Quinlivan. "This advanced biotechnology offers a level of protection that is truly unparalleled."
Taiwanese pop icon Jay Chou's wife, Hannah Quinlivan, who serves as the iPSC Family Stem Cell Storage Service's ambassador.
Supported by the Taiwan government's National Science and Technology Council, the Academia Sinica launched a customized iPSC pluripotent stem cell service in 2015, laying the foundation for the nation's regenerative medicine industry. With the recent passage of Taiwan's Regenerative Medicine Act and MetaTech's subsidiary, Locus Cell Technology Co., Ltd., securing a global commercial license from Japan's iPSC Academia Japan, Inc., MetaTech is now poised to lead the way in the region's iPSC family stem cell storage market.
MetaTech Chairman Hung-Jen (Fred) Yang, MD emphasized that the company's new service represents a major breakthrough in the regenerative medicine field. "By transforming a family's youngest and healthiest member's peripheral blood or umbilical cord blood into pluripotent stem cells, we can create personalized exosomes that enhance family health," Yang said. "This technology not only establishes drug screening models for individual family diseases but also produces specialized family-specific exosome-based cosmetic ingredients, laying the foundation for a wide range of advanced cell therapies and providing a boost to precision medicine."
Yang Ying-zhen, Executive Director of MetaTech's Biomedical Business Group, added that iPSC pluripotent stem cells are already widely used internationally in precision medicine and cancer research for various tissues such as heart, kidney, bladder, brain, skin, articular cartilage, immune cells, corneal, and muscle. "The advantage of MetaTech's service is that through a simple collection of blood, umbilical cord blood, or skin samples, we can create regenerative cells with multiple differentiation capabilities, preserving hope for the future medical needs of individuals and families," she explained.
The Quinlivan family's announcement is set to catalyze a new era for the iPSC industry. By attracting more public interest, this development is anticipated to drive the growth of related industries and infuse fresh momentum into Taiwan's biomedical sector.