Benzinga | Jan 12, 2022 09:05AM EST

Darling Ingredients' Rousselot Health Brand Announces Partnership With Terasaki Institute For Biomedical Innovation

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) today announced that its Rousselot Health brand, the global leader of collagen-based solutions, has partnered with the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI), a California-based research institute focused on regenerative medicine. Through this strategic partnership, Rousselot and TIBI will collaborate on the development of gelatin-based therapies and their translation to the clinic. Rousselot will supply TIBI with X-Pure(r) modified gelatins such as X-Pure GelMA, while exchanging insights on the behavior of gelatin in the institute's research and clinical trials.

With more than 130 years of gelatin and collagen expertise, Rousselot created X-Pure(r), a full range of biomedical gelatins and modified gelatins, characterized by their unmatched purity (<10EU/g endotoxin) and consistency, as well as full compliance with GMP. Part of this range, Rousselot's X-Pure(r) GelMA modified gelatins have already been tested and recognized for their premium quality by TIBI's researchers.

"We are excited to partner with Rousselot and to be able to use Rousselot's modified gelatins for our research", explains Ali Khademhosseini, CEO of TIBI. "Modified gelatins have proven to be powerful biomaterials in the regenerative medicine field, and we have been using them heavily over the past few years. I am certain that high-quality, purified GelMA will support both our in vitro and in vivo research and development. With X-Pure GelMA, we will be able to make further strides in the clinical translation of our research to accelerate the development of new therapies."

"We are pleased to collaborate with TIBI and its world-renowned team of researchers", said Randall C. Stuewe, Chairman and CEO of Darling Ingredients. "X-Pure(r) modified gelatins have been a successful innovation within Rousselot's biomedical division. Their unique properties make them ideal for biomedical research and subsequent clinical translation. We are proud to be a part of TIBI's efforts to developviable biomedical solutions that will help patients around the world."

The Partnership is effective from January 1st, 2022 and will have an initial duration of two years, fostering a close collaboration between TIBI's experts on [microneedles, 3D-bioprinting] and Rousselot's experts in collagen- and gelatin-based biomaterials.