NeoStem, an emerging leader in the fast growing cell therapy market, announced the publication of papers as 2012 Annual Meeting Abstracts in the journal Blood, Volume 120, Issue 21. These publications were presented as abstracts on December 8-11 at the 2012 American Society of Hematology (“ASH”) annual meeting and add to the growing body of scientific work describing the capabilities of very small embryonic-like stem cells.
“Cell therapy has the potential to radically change the face of how diseases are treated, leading to longer and, more importantly, better quality lives,” said Dr. Robin Smith, CEO of NeoStem. “These abstracts include one authored by members of the NeoStem research and development team and three coauthored by Mariusz Z. Ratajczak, M.D., Ph.D., D.Sci., co-inventor of VSEL(TM) Technology and member of NeoStem’s Scientific Advisory Board. NeoStem’s technologies, including its VSEL(TM) Technology which is in pre-clinical development, are supporting this paradigm shift in medical treatment that we believe is underway and that is developing cell therapies through amplification of our own body’s natural repair mechanisms; a shift toward treating disease with our own cells and toward finding cures, as opposed to treating the symptoms of illnesses. The potentially broad application of our VSEL(TM) Technology could lead to the treatment of a wide-range of serious medical conditions, including macular degeneration, acute radiation syndrome, wounds, periodontitis and even osteoporosis.”
Research by Mariusz Ratajczak, M.D., Ph.D., and others at the University of Louisville provides compelling evidence that bone marrow contains a heterogeneous population of stem cells, referred to as very small embryonic-like stem cells, with similar properties to embryonic stem cells. This research indicates the possibility of capturing some of the key advantages associated with embryonic stem cells without the ethical or moral dilemmas and some of the potential negative biological effects associated with stem cells of embryonic derivation. The possibility of autologous VSEL™ treatments is also an important potential benefit to this unique population of adult stem cells. NeoStem has a worldwide exclusive license to VSEL™ Technology, which offers the potential to go beyond the paracrine effect, yielding cells that differentiate into the target tissue creating true cellular regeneration.
Dr. Smith also commented, “While still early, we believe there is much promise for VSEL™ and look forward to getting them into the clinic in order that we may explore their full potential and regenerative properties.”
The VSEL(TM)-related ASH abstracts include:
• “A Lin-CD45-CD34+ Population of Extracellular Vesicles in Human Blood that Mimics Very Small Embryonic-Like Stem Cells (VSELs) by Flow Cytometry.” The publication was co-authored by David W. O’Neill, M.D., Director of Research and Development, Progenitor Cell Therapy (“PCT”, a NeoStem company) and Yajuan Jiang, Ph.D., Director Research Operations and Senior Scientist, PCT, along with other colleagues from the NeoStem research and development team. Highlights in the abstract include the importance of continuing efforts to fully characterize human VSEL™ and the use of well-defined, highly purified populations for in vitro and in vivo studies to demonstrate therapeutic activities. NeoStem is focused on developing more efficient and cost-effective methods to isolate these cells to develop a cell therapy that is VSEL™-based.
• Three abstracts coauthored by Mariusz Z. Ratajczak, M.D., Ph.D., D.Sci. that further the research on murine VSEL™ capabilities. The abstracts suggest their potential to proliferate into hematopoietic stem cells and expand in vivo in bone marrow in response to toxic damage of the brain. Data is also presented indicating that prolonged strenuous exercise may cause bone marrow VSEL™ to proliferate and mobilize into peripheral blood.
• An abstract from Yoshiaki Sonoda and colleagues at the Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Kansai Medical University, Osaka, Japan that describes a method for extracting VSEL™-like cells from bone and outlines work that compares the properties of these bone-associated cells with bone marrow-derived VSEL™.
For more information regarding this type of technology, please visit www.vseltechnology.com.
NeoStem is an industry leader in cell therapy and continues to develop and build on its core capabilities to capitalize in the industry. The company believes that their expertise, research capabilities, and collaborations will help them achieve their mission of becoming a premier cell therapy company. NeoStem anticipates that cell therapy will have a significant role in the fight against chronic disease and in lessening the economic burden that these diseases pose to modern society.
For more information on NeoStem, please visit www.neostem.com.
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