BERLIN, May 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ViaCell, Inc. today presented data at the 12th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT) supporting the importance of family banked umbilical cord blood, a non-controversial source of stem cells with proven clinical utility in treating over 40 diseases. The presented data relate to transplantation outcomes and CD34 cell enumeration. These data further support the medical value of cord blood stem cells. ViaCell offers expecting parents the ability to collect and store umbilical cord blood at the birth of their child with ViaCord(R), its product offering for the preservation of cord blood for related use.
In a poster presentation, ViaCell presented findings that umbilical cord blood units for related use are an acceptable graft source for treatment in a variety of diseases requiring transplantation. Nineteen umbilical cord blood units collected for preservation at ViaCell’s processing laboratory have been used for transplantation at eighteen sites. The majority of these transplants were performed as a related, allogeneic source in a variety of diseases. In patients evaluated, neutrophil recovery (ANC greater than 500 cells per microliter) was achieved in 89% and the median time to neutrophil recovery was 24 days. The overall survival at one year was 75%. Acute graft-versus-host- disease, or GVHD (greater than Grade 1) was observed in 4 of 17 allogeneic recipients and no reported chronic GVHD were related to the umbilical cord blood graft.
ViaCell’s transplant outcomes from units processed and stored at its family cord blood bank compared favorably with recent reports of unrelated cord blood transplantation and suggest that family banked cord blood is an important graft source for patients with a variety of diseases requiring transplantation. In contrast, the median overall survival reported in the literature for unrelated transplants was 58%. In addition, 25% of transplant recipients developed chronic GVHD and 41% developed acute GVHD. The median neutrophil engraft rate was 87%. These findings were presented by Kate Falcon, MSN, Clinical Manager of ViaCell.
CD34 Enumeration
ViaCell also presented results on CD34 cell enumeration from various stem cell sources. Transplant physicians often use CD34 cell content to evaluate the potential effectiveness of cord blood stem cells for transplantation. Through recent validation studies, ViaCell determined that a single tube, automated CD34 enumeration assay could enable reproducibly accurate enumeration of these important indicators of cell source suitability for transplant. These results were presented in a poster presentation by Joseph C. Laning, Ph.D., Director of Cell and Analytical Biology at ViaCell.
“We believe a validated enumeration method will help with consistency in preservation of cord blood units, giving transplant physicians confidence that units released from the ViaCord bank will meet their criteria to transplant a high quality product to their patients,” said Dr. Laning.
About ViaCord
ViaCord is a product offering that allows expectant families the opportunity to preserve their baby’s umbilical cord blood for potential use by the child or a related family member. Stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood are currently a treatment option for over 40 diseases, including cancers such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia and Non-Hodgkins lymphoma, certain bone marrow failure syndromes such as severe aplastic anemia and neuroblastoma, certain blood disorders such as sickle cell anemia and other metabolic diseases such as Hurler syndrome. Studies have shown that umbilical cord stem cell transplants from a related donor have a significantly higher survival rate than transplants from an unrelated donor. ViaCord uses multi-compartment cryobags as part of its closed processing system to ensure that cells are processed in a manner that meets U.S. FDA regulations designed to prevent contamination and error. Cryobags have been used in more than 99% of all cord blood transplants.
About ViaCell
ViaCell is a biotechnology company focused on enabling the widespread use of human cells as medicine. The Company is developing a pipeline of proprietary stem cell product candidates intended to address cancer, cardiac disease, and diabetes. CB001, its lead cord blood derived stem cell therapy product candidate, is being developed for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients affected by a variety of cancers. In addition to its therapeutic development programs, ViaCell’s reproductive health business commercializes ViaCord(R), a product that offers expecting families the option of preserving their baby’s umbilical cord blood. The Company is working to leverage its commercial infrastructure and product development capabilities by developing ViaCyte(SM), its investigational product intended to broaden reproductive choices for women through the cryopreservation of human unfertilized eggs. ViaCell is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts with a processing and storage facility in Kentucky and additional research and development operations in Singapore. For more information about ViaCell, visit its website at http://www.viacellinc.com.
ViaCell(R) and ViaCord(R) are federally registered trademarks and ViaCyteSM is a service mark of ViaCell, Inc.
For Additional Information Contact: Justine E. Koenigsberg Senior Director, Corporate Communications (617) 914-3494
Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060303/VIACELLLOGOAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.orgPRN Photo Desk photodesk@prnewswire.comViaCell, Inc.
CONTACT: Justine E. Koenigsberg, Senior Director of CorporateCommunications at ViaCell, Inc., +1-617-914-3494
Web site: http://www.viacellinc.com/
