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Hemosol Scientists Grow Human Red Blood Cells As a Potential Source of
Hemoglobin; May Also Serve as Therapeutic Drug Delivery System
TORONTO, June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Hemosol Inc. (Toronto SE: HML) today
reported
results on the growth in vitro of human hemoglobin-producing cells. The
technology has the potential to provide an alternative to donated red
blood
cells used to prepare Hemolink(TM), the Company's first blood substitute
product which is currently undergoing phase II clinical trials in
Canada, the
US and the UK.
Dr. Kathryn Matthews, a molecular biologist in Hemosol's stem cell
research
program, presented data at the third Canadian Gene Therapy Symposium in
Montreal this past weekend which demonstrate a million-fold expansion of
red
blood cell precursors in vitro. Starting with human stem cells,
hemoglobin-
containing cells were produced following several weeks of culture under
fully
defined growth conditions.
The research group also discovered that genes can be efficiently
introduced
into the cultured cells using non-viral methods. Many gene therapy
approaches
currently use modified viruses to control gene delivery and expression.
The
discovery opens up the possibility of novel treatments for red cell
disorders,
such as sickle cell anemia or thalassemia.
"This is significant new technology with very positive, long-term
implications
for our blood substitute program," said John Kennedy, Hemosol's
President and
Chief Executive Officer. "Not only does it represent a potential new
source of
red blood cells for the future, but also opens entirely new therapeutic
drug
delivery possibilities." He said that patent protection has been sought
for
the combined culture and gene transfer method.
The stem cell program was initiated at Hemosol in 1994 with the
long-term goal
of developing an alternate or additional source of human hemoglobin for
use in
the preparation of Hemolink. Currently Hemosol uses proprietary methods
to
extract, purify and modify hemoglobin derived from donated red blood
cells.
The Company believes that the production of human hemoglobin from
cultured red
blood cell precursors will have many benefits including a stable, and
highly
controllable source of human hemoglobin. "While much work remains ahead,
we
are satisfied with our progress," said Dr. David Be11, Hemosol's Vice-
President, Discovery.
Hemosol is a Canadian biopharmaceutical company developing a
multi-product
pipeline, for global markets, based on proprietary technologies in the
field
of blood cells and proteins.
For an abstract of Dr. Matthews' presentation ("Efficient, Non-Viral
Transduction of Cultured Hematopoietic Cells," K.E. Matthews, S.
Mueller, D.N.
Bell), please contact Hemosol at the Company's Internet web site or
numbers
listed below.
NOTE: Hemosol media releases are available on the Company's Internet web
site
(http://www.hemosol.com) and Canada NewsWire (http://www.newswire.ca).
SOURCE Hemosol Inc. CO: Hemosol Inc. ST: Ontario IN: MTC SU: PDT
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