ARCADIA, Calif., Jan. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- StemCyte, Inc., a leading, global umbilical cord blood (UCB) stem cell transplantation and therapeutic products company, today announced that a new study has confirmed prior research suggesting that unrelated UCB transplants may be a promising and cost-effective approach for curative therapy of thalassemia. Approximately 150,000 children worldwide are born each year with a serious form of thalassemia that could be cured by UCB transplants that StemCyte has helped to pioneer.
The findings were presented this week during the 10th International Conference on Thalassaemia and Haemoglobinopathies & 12th International TIF Conference for Thalassaemia Patients and Parents in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
“Our previous study using unrelated UCB transplantation to treat thalassemia was successful in curing this disease among five children at one hospital,” said, Lawrence D. Petz, M.D, Chief Medical Officer of StemCyte International Cord Blood Center and an author of the study. “In the current study, we extended the study to eleven patients transplanted with mostly mismatched cord blood at Chang Gung Medical Center in Taiwan and City of Hope National Cancer Center in California and were excited to achieve similar success. The new data show impressive engraftment and thalassemia-free survival rates, which compare very favorably to bone marrow transplant outcomes.”
According to Dr. Robert Chow, Global Medical Director at StemCyte, the results signify a building body of data to support the use of StemCyte’s proprietary processing technology, which depletes each unit of plasma, but not of red blood cells.
“We are pleased that our plasma-depleted UCB units contributed to the survival of the thalassemia patients in this study, however, larger multi-centered retrospective and prospective studies are necessary to confirm the current results,” says Dr. Chow. “StemCyte remains committed to helping to find cures for this, and other, devastating blood-borne diseases and will aggressively continue its work with leading hematologists and scientists to expand use of UCB stem cells to improve patient quality of life.”
About Thalassemia
Thalassemia is a devastating disease that includes a number of different forms of anemia (red blood cell deficiency), including thalassemia major or Cooley’s anemia. The two main types are called alpha and beta thalassemias, depending on which part of an oxygen-carrying protein (called hemoglobin) is lacking in the red blood cells. About 150,000 babies worldwide are born with severe forms of the disease each year. Thalassemia occurs most frequently in people of Italian, Greek, Middle Eastern, Southern Asian and African ancestry. Recent publications indicate that, with modern supportive therapy, 32 percent of patients with thalassemia major will die by the age of 35.
About StemCyte
StemCyte, Inc. is a leading, global umbilical cord blood (UCB) stem cell transplantation and therapeutic products company. StemCyte, headquartered in Arcadia, California, has UCB storage facilities in both California and in Taiwan, which collect, process and store UCB stem cells to be used as therapeutic treatments. Stem cells are used to replace or initiate the production of other cells that are damaged or missing due to disease. Unlike embryonic stem cells, which have been the subject of much public controversy, UCB stem cells are harvested from umbilical cords that would otherwise be discarded at the time of childbirth. UCB stem cells are already in clinical use and have been used in approximately 6,000 transplants worldwide. With an inventory of nearly 22,000 units, the Company’s stem cell bank represents one of the largest and most ethnically diverse sources of unrelated stem cell transplantation products derived exclusively from umbilical cord blood. StemCyte’s products are currently being used to treat two to three patients per week worldwide who suffer from a variety of blood cancers and immune and genetic disorders.
StemCyte, Inc.
CONTACT: David Carmel, StemCyte, Inc., +1-917-414-4121
