EHSI examines business plans and product lines of OceanBASIS

Jan 28 2011

Emerging Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (PinkSheets: EHSI) is examining the business plans and product lines of German biotech firm OceanBASIS as part of the company's due diligence towards a potential profit sharing agreement.

“Our German office allows EHSI to maintain long-term relationships with some of the world's foremost biotech researchers in Central and Western Europe, including OceanBASIS”

EHSI signed an option agreement with OceanBASIS earlier this month. The Kiel, Germany-based company is dedicated to developing and marketing sustainably derived marine natural products for the health and cosmetic industries. The company's top products under development utilize marine collagen, which is a pluripotent cell grouping harvested from jellyfish. Marine collagen is open to manipulation for specific purposes in much the same way that stem cells are.

EHSI President and CEO Cindy Morrissey said on Wednesday that the OceanBASIS project her company is most interested in is a procedure to implant marine collagen scaffolds into cartilage-depleted joints before microfracture surgery. Once the collagen scaffold has been inserted, blood rich with stem cells is expected to flow from the microfractured bone into the scaffold matrix and attach to collagen fibrils. There, the stem cells should differentiate into cartilage-producing chondrocytes. OceanBASIS expects these new chondrocytes to create hyaline cartilage within the joint, leaving patients with significantly decreased pain and improved mobility in a few short weeks. Unlike the current two-step surgery, this procedure is innovative in that it will be a one-step surgery and can be covered by insurance.

To make the collagen scaffold procedure a reality, however, OceanBASIS must conduct clinical trials requiring adult stem cells. EHSI's NASA-developed bioreactor could potentially supply OceanBASIS with the stem cells needed to conduct those trials and more.

OceanBASIS is also developing a marine collagen gel intended to improve healing of chronic wounds. The gel's collagen is intended to serve as a scaffolding for fibroblasts, enhancing the spread of these cells across the wound and resulting in faster, improved formation of connective tissue. OceanBASIS expects that the gel has potential to shorten average treatment time and costs for chronic wounds by up to 50 percent.

The burgeoning relationship between Emerging Healthcare Solutions and OceanBASIS is a result of EHSI's recent efforts to expand its global reach, including the establishment of a business office in Frankfurt, Germany, last November.

"Our German office allows EHSI to maintain long-term relationships with some of the world's foremost biotech researchers in Central and Western Europe, including OceanBASIS," Morrissey said. "With similar offices in Poland and China, we believe EHSI is well positioned to capitalize on emerging stem-cell treatments and biotechnology across the globe."

Emerging Healthcare Solutions keeps a close eye on healthcare innovation worldwide, particularly in relation to stem cells. Last December, EHSI announced its acquisition of Panamanian biotech firm Celulas Genetica, a Central American leader in stem-cell technology acquisition and development. The company subsequently announced that Celulas Genetica will submit an international patent application for the Rutherford Procedure, a revolutionary new stem-cell treatment for liver disease licensed from the Chinese firm BBFITCL.

EHSI invests in technology developed to compete in the stem-cell research industry alongside Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN), Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ:DNDN), Smith & Nephew (NYSE:SNN) and Pharmaceutical Product Development (NASDAQ:PPDI).