Treatment of retinitis pigmentosa with human umbilical cord cells

Patent Number: 7,413,734

Classically cord blood transplantation is used for the treatment of hematological disorders in which the recipient hematopoietic stem cell compartment is ablated (by chemotherapy and/or radiation) and the donor cord blood cells are used for hematopoietic rescue.  However the use of cord blood in the area of regenerative medicine (non-hematopoietic purposes) does not require destruction of the recipient's hematopoietic system.  Fears of Graft versus Host reactions have not materialized in numerous examples of cord blood transplantation that have been reviewed by (Riordan et al. Cord blood in regenerative medicine: do we need immune suppression? J Transl Med. 2007 Jan 30;5:8).  In fact, comparisons have been made between the therapeutic effects seen by non-immune suppressed recipients of cord blood and the ability of fetal cells that migrated to maternal tissues to mediate tissue repair. 

The current patent, owned by the Johnson and Johnson subsiduary Ethicon, teaches the use of cord blood derived cells (including allogeneic) for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosis.  This condition is associated with progressive loss of photoreceptors, usually initiating as night blindness, then progressing to tunnel vision, and in some patients leading to legal blindness.

The patent teaches methods of treating retinitis pigmentosa by providing cells from a human cord at an appropriate amount into the interior of the eye of a retinitis pigmentosa patient in order to obtain a therapeutic benefit.  The first claim of the patent provides a detailed description of the cells derived from the cord, specifically they: a) can double a minimum of 40 times in vitro; b) they adhere and multiply on a tissue culture flask or vessel; c) they make vimentin and alpha smooth muscle actin; d) they make CD10, CD13, CD44, CD73, HLA-A,B,C, and CD90; e) they make more IL-8 and reticulon 1 as compared to several control cells; and f) do not express CD31, CD34, CD45, CD117, and CD141. The dependent claims include administration of the cells with other agents or in the context of a matrix.

A detailed description of the invention with numerous examples is provided, including therapeutic efficacy in a rat model of retinitis pigmentosa. 

View this patent on the USPTO website.