Go Cytori Go !
Tokyo, Japan -
One of the issues of adult stem cell therapy is processing. When using allogeneic cells, for example, Endometrial Regenerative Cells, the cells can be made at a dedicated facility and shipped to where needed. On the other hand, autologous cells present a little more difficulty since: a) people don't like having holes drilled in their bones to get bone marrow; and b) not too many facilities have the GMP clean-room to facilitate cellular expansion/manipulation. The company Cytori seems to have at least partially overcome this problem. Firstly, instead of using bone marrow stem cells, which may be difficult to isolate, Cytori uses adipose derived stem cells, which are easier to extract. Secondly, Cytori has developed a machine, called the Celution System, which is a closed device that allows purification of adipose mononuclear cells, including stem cells, at the point of care.
In a recent publication (Lin et al. Characterization of adipose tissue-derived cells isolated with the Celution system. Cytotherapy. 2008;10(4):417-26) characterization of the adipose derived mononuclear cells outputted from the Celution System was performed. The investigators also used standard techniques of adipose mononuclear cell separation as a control.
It was found that the cells purified by the Celution system included:
- adipose derived stem cells (positive for CD34 and CD90, and negative for CD31, CD45, CD105 and CD146)
- endothelial progenitor cells (positive for CD31, CD34, CD146 and negative for CD45 and CD105), and
- vascular smooth muscle cells (negative for CD31, CD45, CD105 and positive for CD34, CD90, and CD146)
The investigators also found that these cells were capable of differentiating into adipogenic and osteogenic lineages, suggesting mesenchymal lineage. Quality and quantity of isolation between the standard manual laboratory method and using the Celution device was approximately the same.
Adipose stem cells may be useful for numerous conditions, for example, the company Artacel has US patent # 6,841,150 which covers the use of adipose stem cells for generating chondrocytes for cartilage repair. Artacel also owns US patent # 6,555,374 covering use of adipose derived stem cells for stimulation of hematopoiesis.
Although one may think that adipose tissue is an interesting place to get stem cells from, similar mesenchymal-like stem cells may be found even in teeth.
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Christineball33 said...
Cytori is in big trouble because they do not have patents on the actual product they are working with. Their patents, like the one you mentioned in your patent spotlight, cover devices for purifying fat stem cells, but the actual fat stem cell patent is owned by Artacell, one of Linda Power's companies through Toucan Capital.
It is very dangerous for a public company like Cytori to make statemenst that its loss of rights to the fat stem cell patent "Do not affect" their pipeline https://ir.cytoritx.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=316428
The patent covers
1. An isolated adipose-derived stem cell that can differentiate into two or more of the group consisting of a bone cell, a cartilage cell, a nerve cell, or a muscle cell.
well i guess this is not that bad since they dont mention endothelium or stimulation of angiogenesis or real things that the fat stem cells will be used for
2. An isolated, adipose-derived multipotent cell that differentiates into cells of two or more mesodermal phenotypes.
ok mesodermal cells, still endothelial and angiogenesis is fine
3. An isolated adipose-derived stem cell that differentiates into two or more of the group consisting of a fat cell, a bone cell, a cartilage cell, a nerve cell, or a muscle cell.
4. An isolated adipose-derived stem cell that differentiates into a combination of any of a fat cell, a bone cell, a cartilage cell, a nerve cell, or a muscle cell.
5. A substantially homogeneous population of adipose-derived stem cells, comprising a pluality of the stem cell of claim 1, 3 or 4.
6. The adipose-derived stem cell of claim 1, 3 or 4 which can be cultured for at least 15 passages without differentiating.
7. The adipose-derived stem cell of claim 1, 3 or 4 which is human.
8. The cell of any of claim 1, 3 or 4 which is genetically modified.
9. The cell of any of claim 1, 3 or 4, which has a cell-surface bound intercellular signaling moiety.
10. The cell of any of claim 1, 3 or 4, which secretes a hormone.
ok so losing that patent may not be the end of the world...still would be interesting to see what exactly happens
also the question is, how can the patent owners sue cytori since cytori is not necessarily making purified stem cells but a heterogeneous combination of mononuclear cells.
one thig is for sure, which is that this case will be interesting to watch in the future