Commercial Opportunities for Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Abstract

With hundreds of billions of dollars in potential revenue and a customer base that includes over one million stem cell researchers in 179 countries, the commercial market for new stem cell technologies is growing (Stem cell research products: opportunities, tools & technologies, 2012). In this chapter, the commercial potential of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technologies will be explored and we will compare and contrast iPS cells to human embryonic stem cells in terms of commercial applicability. The potential of reprogramming adult cells to revolutionize drug development through the generation of disease-specific and patient-specific cell lines will be examined and current products will be presented to illustrate this potential within drug discovery research. The utility of iPS cell technologies for researching various forms of cancer and generating cell-based therapies will also be discussed. iPS cell technology market segments will be explored and recent innovations that best illustrate the growing commercial potential of iPS cell technologies will be presented. We will discuss challenges stem cell researchers and entrepreneurs must confront in the global marketplace and present modern approaches to overcome these issues. Finally, we will examine the current state of infrastructure supporting global stem cell markets and identify key areas for commercial opportunity.