SAN DIEGO, May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- ViaCyte, Inc., a preclinical stage stem cell engineering company focused on diabetes, announced today that it has received three additional U.S. Patents:

On April 13, the Company was granted U.S. Patent 7,695,963, entitled “Methods for Increasing Definitive Endoderm Production”. Methods described in this patent can improve the yield in manufacturing of definitive endoderm and also cells derived from it.

On April 13, the Company was also granted U.S. Patent 7,695,965, entitled “Methods of Producing Pancreatic Hormones”. This patent describes treatment of diabetes with pancreatic progenitor cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells, which develop and mature in vivo to secrete insulin in response to blood glucose levels. The ‘965 patent builds on the Company’s earlier U.S. Patent 7,534,608, which issued in May 2009.

On April 27, the Company was granted U.S. Patent 7,704,738, entitled “Definitive Endoderm”. The patent has claims covering a method of producing definitive endoderm. This method has been widely adopted in the field. It builds on the Company’s landmark U.S. Patent 7,510,876, which issued in March 2009.

These new patents add substantially to the Company’s U.S. patent estate. The Company also has a growing number of patents granted outside the United States. These patents further underscore ViaCyte’s leadership position in developing stem cell based therapies for diabetes. The Company has focused on this development for almost ten years and is increasingly recognized for its science and IP as a result of this focus.

About ViaCyte, Inc.

ViaCyte (formerly Novocell, Inc.) is a preclinical therapeutic company focused on diabetes. Our therapy is based on pancreatic beta cell progenitors (Pro-Islet) derived from human pluripotent stem cells. These cells are implanted using a durable and retrievable encapsulation device. Once implanted and matured, these cells secrete insulin in response to blood glucose levels. The Company’s goal is long term insulin independence without immune suppression, and without hypoglycemia and other diabetes-related complications.

ViaCyte is a private company headquartered in San Diego, California, with additional operations in Athens, Georgia. The Company is funded in part through the support of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements made pursuant to the “Safe Harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

SOURCE ViaCyte, Inc.