Successful development of intestinal epithelial cells derived from human iPS cells

FUJIFILM Corporation has successfully developed intestinal epithelial cells derived from human iPS cells for optimal use in assessing drug absorption in joint research conducted with Nagoya City University (Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Professor Tamihide Matsunaga). The cells have been confirmed to have high capabilities in activating enzymes involved with the metabolism of drugs as well as drug intake/emission, and have properties that are close to the intestinal epithelial cells of the small intestine that play an important role in drug absorption. These research results are ground-breaking in the field of drug discovery support using human iPS cells, and are expected to contribute significantly to enhancing the efficiency of the development of oral drugs.