Though tissue stem cells are the critical factors in stem cell medicines, until now it was not possible to routinely determine their dosage in treatments. This month, stem cell biotechnology company Asymmetrex® introduced the first online calculators for routine and rapid determination of the specific dosage of tissue stem cells not only in stem cell treatments, but also in stem cell biomanufacturing samples and stem cell research samples.
BOSTON, Sept. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- In 2020, when Asymmetrex® published the seminal report of its innovation for counting therapeutic tissue stem cells for the first time, the company's President & CEO, James L. Sherley, M.D., Ph.D., says, "the method was already very good, but anything but routine."
Before Asymmetrex® developed the rapid stem cell-counting calculators formally introduced today, executing its stem cell-counting technology required 3 to 4 weeks of intensive, expensive cell culture procedures. However, the company used its earlier advance to define proprietary mathematical equations, which now power the company's online rapid-counting calculators. With an online calculator, a user can routinely get the stem cell dosage of cell preparations from any human tissue after culturing a small sample of the cells for only 72 hours.
Asymmetrex® recently completed the validation of its technology head-to-head with the gold standard SCID mouse assay for estimating the dosage of human blood stem cells, which are widely used for approved stem cell transplantation therapies. The SCID mouse assay was never adopted for routine use because it is expensive, requires 30-40 mice for a single count, takes more than 16 weeks to complete, and is unreliable. It also only works for blood stem cells. In contrast, Asymmetrex's online rapid-counting calculators give an instant stem cell count from a user's input of conventional cell data from only 72 hours of inexpensive cell culture. And calculators are available for stem cells from all types of human tissues, not just blood stem cells.
There are custom calculators for different stem cell tissue sources and culture conditions. CEO Sherley relates that, "There are hundreds, if not thousands, of rapid stem cell-counting equations waiting to be mined by our software." The company is already offering generic calculators for five different types of stem cells commonly used in research, approved therapies, and many ongoing stem cell clinical trials. Asymmetrex® can also develop proprietary counting equations for proprietary stem cell sources and production conditions.
Previously, many companies who produced and used tissue stem cell products and treatments were resigned to not knowing their stem cell dosage, because no convenient method was available to determine it. But dosage information was always needed to better ensure sufficient stem cells for effective treatment and to prevent the waste of scarce stem cells due to unaware excessive dosing.
Asymmetrex® has produced educational online forums and podcasts to reform ideas in stem cell science and stem cell medicine on the importance of attention to stem cell dosage for accelerating progress in stem cell research and therapy. Says Sherley, "Our company's introduction of online rapid stem cell-counting calculators is the start of a reformation in stem cell science and medicine."
Asymmetrex®, LLC is a Massachusetts life sciences company with a focus on developing technologies to advance stem cell medicine. The company's U.S. and U.K. patent portfolio contains biotechnologies that solve the two main technical problems – stem cell-specific quantification and stem cell expansion – that have stood in the way of more-effective use of human adult tissue stem cells for regenerative medicine and drug development. Asymmetrex markets kinetic stem cell (KSC) counting, the first technology for determination of the dose and quality of tissue stem cell preparations for use in stem cell transplantation medicine and pre-clinical drug evaluations. Asymmetrex® is a member company of the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute|BioFabUSA (ARMI) and the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio). The company's development of online calculators for rapid stem cell counting has been funded by R&D grants from ARMI|BioFabUSA and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Media Contact
James L. Sherley, M.D., Ph.D., Asymmetrex® LLC, 6179906819, [email protected]
SOURCE Asymmetrex® LLC
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