Public and family cord blood banks
Medipost runs a public cord blood bank and a family cord blood bank.
The public cord blood bank provides a valuable resource to any person who needs to undergo a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) as a result of blood-related diseases such as leukemia or aplastic anemia.
Cord blood stored in this public cord blood bank is donated by people who are willing to share their cord blood to help others. Stem cells obtained from the donated cord blood are used to develop human umbilical cord blood-mesenchymal stem cells (hUCB-MSC)-based adult stem cell drugs—which have the potential to become a new therapeutic option for patients suffering from incurable diseases.
Medipost’s public cord blood bank had over 9,000 units in stock, as of June 2011 and has provided over 400 units of cord blood for successful HSCTs.
Medipost’s family cord blood bank, called CellTree provides a service for families who want to store their newborns’ cord blood exclusively for their family use. Stored cord blood can be used by the newborn later in life, or by his or her siblings. Using cord blood from a family member doubles the rate of success of HSCTs.
As of June, 2011, Medipost’s family cord blood bank had over 134,000 units in storage.
Stem cell therapies
In recent years, Medipost has been expanding to the development of stem cell medicines. The next stage is to develop cures using stem cells for what have been incurable or unexplainable diseases, Dr. Yang says.
Since 2005, the company has received the support of the Minister of Health and Welfare for the following projects to develop:
• Optimal technology of immune regulation and cardiac muscle differentiation for hUCB-MSCs therapy
• Mesenchymal stem cell-mediated brain tumor targeted gene therapy
• Phase I study of Pneumostem for bronchopulmonary dysplasia in preterm infants
• The acquisition and supply of hUCB-MSCs for incurable brain diseases
• Stem cell isolation and cultivation from cord blood
• Cellular therapeutic agent with allogeneic hUCB-MSCs for early hemotopoietic engraftment and platelet production
• Cellular therapeutic agent with allogeneic hUCB-MSCs for developmental for chronic lung disease
• Technology for applicable biodisc using functional matrix and cell source of regeneration
• Tissue engineering and clinical application of cardiac regeneration using adult stem cell
• DNA chip system for prediction of engraftment and differentiation of hUCB-MSCs and its clinical application
• Tissue regeneration for cardiovascular system using bone marrow stem cell and tissue engineering
The biotech company has also received support from South Korea’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology for an investigation on the immunological properties of hUCB-MSCs, a project to manage hUCB-MSCs banks, to develop anti-cancer immune therapy and cartilage and bone using allogeneic hUCB-MSCs, and to develop therapeutics for artificial cardiac muscle in tissue engineering
Medipost also received support from Korea’s Food & Drug Administration for the study on the development of evaluation method for abnormal immune responses to stem cell therapy.
Pneumostem
Another product Medipost is developing with support from Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare is Pneumostem, a therapeutic agent based on cord-blood derived stem cells.
The drug will be used to treat bronchopulmonary dysplasia, a premature baby’s lung-related disease. The condition is one of the main causes of death and disability in premature infants.
This drug is being developed in collaboration with a team led by Wonsun Park and Yoonsil Jang at the Department of Pediatrics in the Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine’s Samsung Medical Center. The KFDA approved clinical trials of Pneumostem in July 2010.
Neurostem
In November 2010, Medipost revealed that it was developing a blood-cord derived stem cell therapeutic agent for Alzheimer’s dementia.
The stem-cell based medication would be the first in the world to be used for that degenerative neurological disease that affects hundreds of people worldwide. The KFDA had approved phase I clinical trials of Neurostem-AD.
“Dementia-related treatments carried out so far have an effect only on alleviating dementia’s symptoms. As yet, there have been no fundamental therapeutic treatments in the world,” Medipost said in a press release.
According to the Korean bio company, Neurostem-AD works on the amyloid precursor protein, a main cause in Alzheimer’s disease that causes toxicity in brain neurons and prohibits the apoptosis of brain neurons. Neurostem-AD does this by the culture and transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells derived from cord blood.
Medipost also says that Neurostem-AD does not only reduce Alzheimer’s disease-causing materials by helping neural precursor cells in the brain become differentiated into normal nerve cells, but it also boosts neuro-regeneration.
The safety and efficacy of Neurostem-AD has been tested in lab animals and verified through toxicity tests. Human clinical trials have also been undertaken and the results have been published, the company claimed.
Promostem
Promostem is a product made by Medipost that aims to promote early engraftment of donor HSCs following transplantation and improve the success rate of HSCT while minimizing the adverse immune reactions from the HSCT recipients.
Medipost also markets vitamins and nutritional supplements for pregnant women, children and the elderly, as well as a beauty product line called Zen Active, which contains nutrition-rich stem cell culture fluid.
“The cosmetics industry has a big potential as it deals with things like women, beauty and aging,” she said. “It’s an interesting field but sensitive to trends. You have to have capabilities in many different fields.”
RELATED POSTS:
Stem Cell Treatments in South Korea
Human Stem Cells in Cosmetic Products? – South Korea
