Takara Bio Europe releases an innovative iPS cell culture medium for pre-clinical use: Cellartis DEF-CS Xeno-Free Culture Medium

Göteborg, Sweden—June 1, 2015—Takara Bio Europe AB, formerly Cellartis AB, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Takara Bio Inc., announced today that it is launching an advanced cell culture system for iPS cell culture. This chemically-defined culture system is pre-clinical grade, free from human- and animal-derived components, and designed for efficient expansion of undifferentiated human iPS cells.

Cellartis DEF-CS Xeno-Free Culture Medium is highly suitable for projects aiming for pre-clinical and clinical development, since it meets rigorous safety requirements for the sourcing of all components.

"We are delighted that our expertise in iPS cell handling and expansion has resulted in this innovative cell culture system. It clearly demonstrates that our unique iPS cell culture platform has the potential to contribute to clinical breakthroughs in the future. We are particularly proud that this new culture system is a product where our talented stem cell scientists have worked to fulfill the very stringent criteria pharmaceutical industry experts could demand from such a product", said Kristina Runeberg, Site Head and Senior Director, Business Development at Takara Bio Europe AB.

The Cellartis DEF-CS Xeno-Free Culture Medium is produced in Takara Bio's state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities located in Kusatsu/Shiga, Japan. It will be made available worldwide to all translational, pre-clinical and clinical scientists through Takara Clontech group subsidiaries and distributors as well as on www.clontech.com.

Takara Bio provides CDMO (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization) business as an R&D partner for biopharmaceuticals. Takara Bio's CDMO services include the development of production processes and quality control and testing methods, trial production, bioassays, and production services based on Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) for vectors for gene therapy and for cells used in regenerative medicine and cell therapy. With the Cellartis DEF-CS Xeno-Free Culture Medium, Takara Bio continues to expand its CDMO business and support R&D partners who are executing iPS cell research projects in the regenerative medicine field.

About Takara Bio Europe AB

Takara Bio Europe AB, formerly Cellartis AB, a subsidiary of Takara Bio Inc., is focusing on stem cell derived products and services for drug discovery, toxicity testing, and applications within regenerative medicine. The company leverages long-standing experience in stem cell handling and scale-up together with leading expertise in differentiation of cells into mature and functional human cells. Specifically, the company possesses broad expertise in human pluripotent stem cells, including both hiPSC and hESC and related media.

Takara Bio Europe AB is located in state-of-the-art facilities in Göteborg, Sweden.

For more information, visit our website: www.clontech.com .

About Takara Bio

Takara Bio Inc. is part of Takara Holding Company Inc., and represents the biomedical business interests of its parent company. Takara Bio is committed to improving the human condition through biotechnology with three primary areas of focus: developing research tools for the life sciences, gene therapy, and nutraceuticals. Takara has been focusing on biomedical research since 1967. Takara Bio has positioned itself as a leading company in the Japanese life science market through the Takara and Clontech brands.

For more information about Takara Bio Inc., please visit www.takara-bio.com and www.clontech.com.

For further information, please contact:

Kristina Runeberg, Site Head & Senior Director, Business Development
kristina.runeberg@takara-clontech.eu