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news.Aastrom Biosciences has received the first part of a $740,000 phase II grant from the US National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, to support research into the use of stem cells in tissue regeneration.
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The company is developing its “Tissue Repair Cells” for use in multiple medical indications, and has already received a phase I grant from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
Tissue Repair Cells (TRCs) are Aastrom’s proprietary mixture of bone marrow-derived adult stem and progenitor cells produced using patented technology in the AastromReplicell System. It has been demonstrated in the laboratory that TRCs are able to develop into different types of tissue lineages in response to inductive signals, including blood, bone, cartilage, adipose and vascular tubules.
This new grant will support investigations to further increase the overall numbers of the targeted cells thought to be especially important for bone regeneration.
This includes studies of the cells contained in TRCs, to better understand how accessory cells support the growth of stem and progenitor cells, so they are optimized when the surgeon is ready to use them for bone or vessel regeneration. Another significant goal of this study is the evaluation of Aastrom’s unique cell production process in the AastromReplicell System to facilitate the transition to commercial level cell manufacturing.
Dr Janet Hock, chief science officer and vice president of Global Research at Aastrom stated. “Further understanding how TRCs contribute to the regeneration of blood vessels should allow us to better utilize our cell products for bone regeneration in orthopedic applications, and for other conditions where regulated revascularization is needed.”