Stemedica Cell Technologies Inc
San Diego, CA (PRWEB) February 18, 2014
Stemedica Cell Technologies, Inc., a leading manufacturer of adult allogeneic stem cells and stem cell factors, announced today that the company has been issued Patent No. US 8,642,286 B2 entitled, Methods for Identifying Neuripotent Cells by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The Stemedica patent broadly covers a method for identifying the potency of a cell population, as it becomes neural cells, to engraft in the developing brain of a chick embryo. "This test contributes significantly to the screening of cells capable of engrafting and differentiating in vivo saving both time and valuable resources," said Alex Kharazi, MD, PhD, Chief Technology Officer at Stemedica. "It is a simple, cost-effective test of neural stem cell potency using a chicken embryonic brain, and is an important and effective step forward in the evaluation and testing of neuripotent cells."
The chick embryo brain approximates an adult brain. The patented transplant method distinguishes neuripotent stem cells from those which fail to engraft and differentiate into neurons. The method is used for identifying chemical and genetic factors in the manufacture of efficacious neural stem cells.
"In vitro propagated neural stem cells have shown great promise in treating neurodegenerative diseases due to their migratory ability and their multipotency, that is, their ability to differentiate into neural and glial cell lineages," noted Maynard Howe, PhD, CEO of Stemedica. "Unfortunately, these important features are often lost during tissue culture and expansion and therefore it is critically important to ascertain that expanded neural stem cells retain their potency."
The method is used to screen candidate neuripotent cells lines for master banking; validation of working cells banks; and, identifying agents and conditions capable of inducing neural differentiation in a cell population.
The patented method was reported in the Journal of Neurosurgery, March 1, 2013 (DOI: 10.3171/2013.1.JNS12698) entitled, "Chicken embryonic brain: an in vivo model for verifying neural stem cell potency" (Kharazi, Alex., et al.). The main objective of the study was to determine whether the in vitro multi-lineage differentiation of human neural stem cells would correlate with their ability to engraft in the developing brain.
"This method gives the biomedical and drug discovery industries the opportunity to significantly reduce animal testing of biologics and drugs. In particular, Stemedica can evaluate the potency of stem cells in vivo in the cleanroom and laboratory setting thus eliminating the requirement of animal testing at outside facilities," noted Nikolai Tankovich, MD, PhD, FASLMS, President and Chief Medical Officer of Stemedica. "The method supports Stemedica‘s development of cells and cell products for the treatment of neural degenerative and traumatic disorders of the central nervous system."
About Stemedica Cell Technologies, Inc. http://www.stemedica.com
Stemedica Cell Technologies, Inc. is a specialty biopharmaceutical company that is committed to the manufacturing and development of best-in-class allogeneic adult stem cells and stem cell factors for use by approved research institutions and hospitals for pre-clinical and clinical (human) trials. The company is a government licensed manufacturer of clinical grade stem cells and is approved by the FDA for clinical trials in ischemic stroke, cutaneous photoaging and acute myocardial infarction. Stemedica is currently developing regulatory pathways for a number of other medical indications using adult allogeneic stem cells. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California.
For more information regarding Stemedica Cell Technologies, Inc., contact Dave McGuigan at dmcguigan(at)stemedica(dot)com.