HemaCare and Charles River aim to accelerate drug discovery and development

LOS ANGELES—HemaCare Corp., a global player in the field of customization of human-derived biological products and services for biomedical research and cell therapy, and Charles River Laboratories International Inc., an early-stage contract research organization, have formed a strategic partnership to advance human immune system research by developing a more efficient and reliable method of working with humanized mice.

Under the partnership, HemaCare’s peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) will be integrated into Charles River’s NCG/PBMC Select Humanization Kit. This kit is said to be the first of its kind in the industry and provides both the NCG mouse and vials of preselected human PBMCs, allowing researchers to efficiently develop the humanized mouse model.

The key to the creation of humanized mice is the engraftment of human PBMCs, which allows for development of human immune systems. The challenges that researchers often face is that engraftment varies with each PBMC donor. By evaluating human PBMCs from donors in advance, optimal donors can be identified and prequalified and then their cells included in the humanized mouse model kit.

“In drug discovery and development, humanized mouse models have emerged as an essential tool in researching novel therapies for patients,” said Iva Morse, a corporate vice president and chief scientific officer in the Global RMS division at Charles River. “We’ve formed a strategic alliance with HemaCare because they have one of the largest donor databases in the world, an FDA-approved collection center and the ability to pre-screen and qualify the donors.”

Delivering the highest-quality human cells and animal models to researchers is a top priority for HemaCare and Charles River. By providing customers with this humanized mouse kit, potentially weeks of additional work needed to qualify PBMC donor cells can be avoided.

“HemaCare continues to develop strategic partnerships to expand the breadth and depth of our product portfolio,” said Lou Juliano, HemaCare’s senior vice president of global sales and business development. “Charles River and HemaCare are both deeply committed and laser-focused on helping researchers with their mouse humanization needs. Optimized human mouse models can accelerate drug discovery and ultimately improve patient outcomes.”

Available immediately from Charles River, the standard NCG/PBMC Select Humanization Kit configuration includes 10 NCG mouse models and a sufficient number of preselected PBMCs for engraftment.