Stemedica unveils two of its latest scientific discoveries at the 2009 World Stem Cell Summit

Aug 27 2009

Stemedica Cell Technologies , Inc., ("Stemedica"), a world leader in stem cell research and manufacturing (a licensed manufacturer of clinical grade biological products as licensed by the State of California Food and Drug Branch) continues to advance the stem cell industry with the presentation of two of its latest scientific discoveries at the 2009 World Stem Cell Summit. "We are honored to have the work of our scientific research team selected for presentation at this year's Summit. This work is expected to increase the efficacy and significantly reduce the time and cost in bringing important research from the bench top to clinical application," said Nikolai Tankovich, MD, PhD, Stemedica's President and Chief Medical Officer.

The first discovery accepted by the Summit's Peer Review Committee was submitted by Chih-Min Lin, PhD, a Stemedica Senior Research Scientist. His submittal is entitled, "Chicken Embryonic Brain: A Model for Testing Neural Stem Cell Potency." This Neural Stem Cell Evaluation Model determines the potency of neural stem cells and quickly assesses their ability to migrate and engraft inside the developing brain. Stemedica's technology allows neural precursors to be distinguished at various stages of their maturation, providing timely and cost effective verification of neural stem cell potency in vivo.

"The currently used process for assessing the in vivo potency of neural stem cells in newborn mice is extremely time consuming and expensive. This traditional process also involves the use and sacrifice of animals in facilities separate from manufacturing. Stemedica's discovery and patent pending technology eliminates the need for animals and replaces this arduous process with a significantly more effective and efficacious model. This model can be deployed within laboratory environment and the evaluation results can be attained in less than two weeks instead of the two to four months using traditional animal testing models," said Alex Kharazi, MD, PhD, Stemedica's Vice President of Research and Manufacturing.

The second finding accepted for presentation at the 2009 World Stem Cell Summit was submitted by Ludmila Kharazi, MD, PhD, Stemedica's Senior Research Scientist. Her submittal is entitled, "Up-Regulation of Wound Healing Associated Proteins in Long-Term Culture of Human Keratinocyte Precursor Cells." Dr. Kharazi's work demonstrates that long term cultivation of human keratinocytes in serum free, low-Ca++ media (SFM) leads to the increased expression of genes for wound healing-associated proteins such as fibronectin, metalloproteinase (MMP9, MMP10), and tissue-type plasminogen activator (TPA). The purpose of Dr. Kharazi's work was to determine how the propagation of human skin keratinocyte precursor cells (KPC) in SFM to clinically significant numbers will affect their ability to produce fibronectin and other wound healing associated proteins.

"Current technology for the treatment of burns, chronic wounds and diabetic ulcers is extremely expensive, time consuming and lacking in efficacy. Dr. Ludmila Kharazi's finding suggests that using long term cultivated keratinocyte precursor cells may result in reducing the time of healing while lowering the overall treatment cost. As Stemedica continues to make great advancements in products that can treat burns, chronic wounds and diabetic ulcers, Dr. Ludmila Kharazi's work is pivotal in providing the Company with advancements that will make our products, and ultimately patient treatment results, the best the industry has to offer," said Dr. Tankovich. This finding compliments Stemedica's existing proprietary burn and wound care product currently in clinical trials in Switzerland.

The 2009 World Stem Cell Summit is being held in Baltimore, Maryland from September 21st - 23rd. Presented by the Genetics Policy Institute, the 2009 Summit is hosted by Johns Hopkins University and other leadership organizations from within the stem cell industry, bringing together more than 1,200 researchers, clinicians, business leaders, key policy makers, regulators, advocates, and experts in law & ethics from around the world.

Licensing of the Stemedica's Neural Stem Cell Evaluation Model Intellectual Property is available to a select number of companies. Additionally, Stemedica is prepared to accept a limited number of projects where the Company's scientific team conducts the neural stem cell potency evaluation.