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An Australian developer of stem-cell therapies, Mesoblast Ltd., plans to introduce its first product by 2012. This announcement comes after Mesoblast agreed to buy all the shares of Angioblast Systems Inc. that it doesn’t already own.
Mesoblast will acquire the remaining 67 percent of Angioblast, Mesoblast said in a statement on May 12. Mesoblast also raised $37 million Australian ($33 million US) by selling shares to investors. The company will use these funds to finance patient studies, Chief Executive Officer Silviu Itescu reported.

Pfizer Inc. stated that it would start selling reagents for use in stem cell research through Stemgent Inc., a biotech company with operations in San Diego and Boston.
Under the terms of their agreement, Stemgent will sell fully licensed compounds as off-the-shelf products for use in stem cell research. The financial terms of the contract were not revealed.
Pfizer said the collaboration might serve to benefit researchers who are testing a range of stem cell and cell-based applications, including cancer, neuroscience, and metabolic disease.

Lonza has negotiated exclusive, global rights to distribute Cor.At® mouse embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes produced by Axiogenesis. Lonza states that the deal signals its entrance into the pluripotent stem cell market. The company plans to begin offering additional differentiated cell types in 2010.

A Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scientist, Rudolf Jaenisch, is set to be granted a U.S. patent for finding a way to turn cells taken from mammals’ bodies into stem cells. This discovery had also been claimed by two other scientists.