Rumours of a potential conflict over the exploitation of patents for induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS) technology were put to rest last week.

IPS technology was pioneered in 2006 by Shinya Yamanaka of Japan's Kyoto University. By early 2008, Kazuhiro Sakurada, who had also been working on iPS technologies at the Kobe-based drug company Bayer Yakuhin, left Japan to head research at iZumi Bio — a biotech firm focused on commercializing iPS technology in San Francisco, California. Last spring, Japanese newspapers warned that Sakurada might try to claim patent rights to the technology, which can turn ordinary cells into an embryonic-like state that could be useful for research and therapy (see Nature 453, 962–963; 2008).

But on 14 April, iZumi Bio announced a collaboration with Kyoto University to develop methods for using iPS technologies for drug discovery and therapy.