Date: Nov 22, 2005 Source: bizjournals (
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General elSaneron CCEL Therapeutics Inc. said a research and development agreement with GE Healthcare represents an important milestone in the effort to process stem cells from umbilical cord blood.
Under the agreement, Saneron and GE Healthcare will collaborate on optimizing a GE product called Ficoll-Pacque so it can be used to isolate stem cells from cord blood. Those cells have the potential to be used to treat more than 80 malignant, genetic and acquired diseases, including leukemia, lymphoma and sickle cell anemia, according to a release from the two companies.
Ficoll-Pacque is a sterile density medium that has been used for 30 years to isolate cells from peripheral blood and bone marrow, but the cell composition in umbilical cord blood is significantly different, according to the release. The version of Ficoll-Pacque that GE and Saneron are working on will specifically process stem cells from cord blood, the release said.
The new Ficoll-Pacque is being developed at GE's Global Research Center in Niskayuna, N.Y., and will be manufactured under Good Manufacturing Practice standards. It will be tested at Saneron's facilities at the University of South Florida's Research Park. GE Healthcare will commercialize the final product. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Saneron, a biotechnology research and development company based in Tampa, is an affiliate of Cryo-Cell International Inc. (OTCBB: CCEL).
GE Healthcare is headquartered in the United Kingdom and is a $15 billion unit of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE).
