Insception Biosciences Begins Human Clinical Trials of Stem Cell Treatment that Could Replace Bone Marrow Transplants
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Insception Biosciences Inc. has announced that it has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin human clinical studies of a new stem cell treatment, which offers an alternative to bone marrow transplants.
Cord blood, which offers a rich source of blood stem cells, is now clinically accepted as a viable alternative to bone marrow or peripheral blood as sources of stem cells for transplantation and treatment of a variety of blood, cancer and genetic disorders. To date, one of the barriers to the widespread use of cord blood has been the low number of stem cells in cord blood samples. This has, by and large, limited its use to pediatric patients.
However, Insception Biosciences' new cellular product, called INSC01, contains an enriched number of stem cells from umbilical cord blood which will broaden the use of cord blood stem cells for adult transplants.
"This is a major milestone, not only for Insception but also for the advancement of cord blood stem cell treatments," says Dr. Laura Grey, VP Research and Business Development at Insception Biosciences.
"Cord blood is not only an alternative stem cell source to bone marrow, it provides the significant advantages of being easily collected and can be stored as a frozen product, which means it is readily available with minimal waiting times. Ultimately, this technology could be applied in the future to help patients who cannot find a suitable donor or who cannot afford to wait for a bone marrow transplant," Grey added.
Increasingly, cord blood is being used for bone marrow transplants worldwide. Cord blood offers clear advantages including easy collection, lower risk of viral transmission, reduced risk of graft versus host disease, and is storable as a frozen product, which means it is readily available without any long waiting times.
A growing number of new parents are opting to store their children's cord blood for potential future use. Insception houses the largest inventory of cord blood samples in Canada and is setting industry standards for quality in umbilical cord blood banking and stem cell research.
Currently, public cord blood banking options are limited in Canada although considerable efforts are afoot to establish a national public cord blood bank. INSC01 provides an opportunity to extend the use of cord blood samples stored in both the private and public cord blood banks.
