EHSI's NASA bioreactor will help reduce pain and trauma caused by harvesting of adult stem cells

Jan 21 2011

Emerging Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (Pink Sheets: EHSI) expects that the company's NASA-developed bioreactor will help reduce patients' pain and trauma caused by the harvesting of adult stem cells for therapeutic and research purposes, said EHSI President and CEO Cindy Morrissey.

“We believe our NASA bioreactor may change all that”

The 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.

In December, EHSI acquired a license to use the bioreactor to expand (or multiply) adult stem cells in Germany, China, Panama and elsewhere around the globe. Stem cell expansion is essential to the research planned by EHSI's biotech subsidiary, Celulas Genetica, including its current endeavor to develop a revolutionary new cure for liver disease known as the Rutherford Procedure.

"One of the most common methods of harvesting adult stem cells for research and therapy is a procedure called bone marrow apheresis," Morrissey said. "Apheresis can yield a large batch of stem cells, but it's very painful and invasive, and carries a certain level of risk. Alternative methods of stem cell harvest don't yield enough cells to have therapeutic value."

"We believe our NASA bioreactor may change all that," she said.

By allowing cells to grow in simulated weightlessness, the bioreactor causes adult stem cells to multiply rapidly into healthy populations. The cells are contained in a growth fluid and placed in a rotating chamber, suspending them in a constant state of falling. The simulated weightlessness allows the stem cells to grow three-dimensionally, unlike those grown in petri dishes. These "super stem cells" multiply rapidly into healthy populations, providing a quicker, cheaper and less painful source of stem cells than bone marrow apheresis or other methods.

"Thanks to the NASA bioreactor, we plan to provide Celulas Genetica researchers with the quantity and quality of adult stem cells needed to develop new regenerative therapies," Morrissey said. "Ground-breaking new treatments such as the Rutherford Procedure might not be viable without this technology."

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. Celulas Genetica licensed the procedure from the Chinese firm BBFITCL, and EHSI is moving forward with a joint venture with Celulas Genetica to begin clinical trials of the Rutherford Procedure in China.

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.

EHSI invests in technology developed to compete in the stem-cell research industry alongside Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ:TEVA), Allergan, Inc. (NYSE:AGN), Smith & Nephew (NYSE:SNN) and Forest Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:FRX).