Pluristem develops new bone marrow transplant method

By Angela McDaniels

Seattle, Jan. 12 - Pluristem Life Systems Inc. said it has formulated a cell graft that will provide an alternative to standard bone marrow transplantation for patients with cancers of the blood.

The company's patented technology cultures hematopoietic stem cells from umbilical cord blood and Mesenchymal cells - both naturally occuring in bone marrow - on a three-dimensional scaffold, mimicking the physiological bone marrow environment.

The entire mixture of cells is transplanted into a subject as an engineered graft. The company anticipates that transplanting a graft, rather than hematopoietic stem cells only, will lead to a better engraftment of the donor cells.

This observation was published by several leading authors and found to be effective in initial animal model studies performed by Pluristem, according to a company news release.

"Pluristem has literally reinvented the process of hematopoietic stem cell expansion and engraftment through its novel approach," vice president of development Ora Burger said in the release.

"The field of stem cell expansion technology and bone marrow transplantation is ripe for new approaches that hold the potential to save millions of lives."

Hematopoietic stem cells differentiate into different types of blood cells. The transplantation of these cells into patients with hematological malignancies remains the only clinical procedure approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but Pluristem said a critical shortfall in the supply of matched tissue for transplantation has created an urgent need for alternative sources of hematopoietic stem cells.

Therefore, the company has launched an extensive experimental program in an animal model to validate the usefulness and superiority of its technology over standard-of-care protocols.

"Our goal of moving from the research to the development phase is starting to be fulfilled by this breakthrough and previously announced animal model studies which we plan to bring to the clinic as expeditiously as practicable," chief executive officer Zami Aberman said in the release.

Pluristem is a biopharmaceutical company based in Haifa, Israel, that develops, produces and markets stem cell products for cell regenerative therapy.

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