Cell therapy weekly: MSCs revert intervertebral disc degeneration
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This week in cell therapy: HemaCare Corporation to expand GMP capability and Key Biologics and Blood Centers of America announce partnership.
The news highlights:
Mesenchymal stem cells: can they treat intervertebral disc degeneration?
HemaCare announces state-of-the-art GMP facility
Key Biologics and Blood Centers of America announce partnership
Mesenchymal stem cells: can they treat intervertebral disc degeneration?
An international research team has demonstrated the ability of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to induce tissue regeneration as a treatment for intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration. The study, which was carried out in cow models of IVD degeneration, highlighted a hyaluronan-based chemoattractant delivery system that could recruit MSCs to the site of damage, representing a potential major breakthrough in the treatment of chronic back pain.
The delivery system contained stromal cell derived factor-1, and was shown to enhance the migration of MSCs to the degenerative site, as well as increase levels of collagen type II and pro-catabolic factors that could contribute to remodeling of the extracellular matrix.
“This study exemplifies the impact of drug delivery on enhancing a specific cellular activity and thus reverting a tissue degenerative process,” commented Antonios Mikos (Rice University; TX, USA), Co-Editor-in-Chief of Tissue Engineering, who was not involved with the study.
HemaCare announces state-of-the-art GMP facility
HemaCare Corporation (CA, USA) have announced they are to relocate both its headquarters and operations departments to a larger facility containing four GMP-compliant cleanrooms for expansion of their existing services. The move is hoped to enable HemaCare to address the increasingly complex requirements of its customers, as well as continue to support their global market.
“We are excited by the overall growth of the cell therapy industry, and we have strategically expanded our capabilities to meet industry demand and continue to provide high-quality starting material to the leading cell and gene therapy companies in the world,” explained Pete van der Wal, President and CEO of HemaCare.
Key Biologics and Blood Centers of America announce partnership
Key Biologics LLC (TN, USA) and Blood Centers of America (BCA; RI, USA) have announced a formal agreement to further their existing business relationship and work collaboratively to advance cell therapy and regenerative medicine. The organizations are committed to removing barriers to the supply of critical allogenic and autologous raw materials required for preclinical research and clinical manufacturing of cell-based therapies.
“We are enthusiastic about the complementary nature of Key Biologics’ and the BCA members’ expertise and BCA’s national coverage” remarked Bill Block, CEO of BCA. “We believe that, in addition, our combined nationwide coverage and each organization’s strategic relationships will create new opportunities for BCA members to fulfil their mission of providing lifesaving products to patients. We have successfully worked with Key Biologics and Dr Scott for many years and look forward to expanding our relationship.”
For more weekly cell therapy news, read previous editions of the cell therapy weekly.