Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
towards long-term goals. Several companies are successfully
developing with this model, including Stem Cells Inc. (
http://www.
stemcellsic.com
), Cellartis (
http://www.cellartis.com
) and Cellular
Dynamics International (
http://www.cellulardynamics.com
). Some
companies are also pursuing a more traditional route to diversification,
using revenues from pharmaceuticals to support ongoing research
into stem cell therapeutics. New York based NeoStem, for instance,
owns a generic pharmaceutical company in China that it uses to
support its research projects (
http://www.neostem.com
).
Diversification through stem cell banking is also a popular practice
for some companies, NeoStem included.
The following is a list of the possible products from stem cells.
1.3.1 Reagentsandmedia
Used in a variety of laboratory settings, some companies have
developed reagents that allow scientists to work more effectively
with stem cells as their top-selling product. Stem Cells Inc.
(
http://www.stemcellsinc.com
) has 30 proprietary products currently
for sale through their website based on this model. Ten of these
products are related to cell culturing, eight are related to antibodies
and twelve are specific stem cell factors that have been differentiated
from both human and mouse stem cells. Outside of these products,
Stem Cells Inc. is focused on therapeutic applications for central
nervous system damage and liver disease. They have recently initiated
a Phase 1 clinical trial for chronic spinal cord injury, defined as 3-12
months after injury, when initial inflammation has recovered and an
individual's physical therapy has plateaued. Stem Cells Inc. are also
conducting a number of pre-clinical studies focused on improving
the function of liver cells in diseased populations.
1.3.2 Diseasemodelsandcelllines
Animal and human tissue cells have been in use for a number of
decades. The first human cell line, HeLa, was established with cells
