Celulas Genetica, EHRI enter joint venture to pursue testing of Rutherford Procedure using NASA bioreactor

Jan 19 2011

Emerging Healthcare Solutions, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a joint venture agreement with its wholly owned subsidiary, Celulas Genetica, in order to pursue testing of the revolutionary Rutherford Procedure using a NASA bioreactor.

Celulas Genetica obtained a license to develop and market the Rutherford Procedure from the Chinese firm BBFITCL. The Rutherford Procedure is a groundbreaking organ regeneration treatment being developed to utilize proton-beam technology to destroy diseased organ tissue for regeneration using adult stem cells. EHSI acquired Celulas Genetica last December.

Testing and marketing of the Rutherford Procedure are central to EHSI's plans for its NASA-developed bioreactor. The company's Intrifuge Rotary Cell Culture System^TM is a rotating-wall bioreactor originally designed by NASA to facilitate the growth of human cells in simulated weightlessness. Cell cultures—including stem cells—grown inside the bioreactor look and function much closer to human cells grown within the body than cell cultures grown in Petri dishes. Adult stem cell production is a crucial component of the Rutherford Procedure, and the NASA bioreactor will be able to provide the quality and quantity of stem cells necessary for research and development.

"We are very serious about developing the Rutherford Procedure into a viable treatment for liver disease," said EHSI President and CEO Cindy Morrissey. "Our research on the procedure and on proton-beam centers world-wide has convinced us that China is the best place to pursue further testing and trials."

EHSI owns a license to use the bioreactor to expand adult stem cells in China and elsewhere outside of the U.S. Extending its reach into the R&D hotbed of China would build on EHSI's rapidly expanding global footprint—Celulas Genetica is headquartered in Panama, and Morrissey opened EHSI business offices in Poland and Germany last November.