Max
10-25-2002, 04:07 PM
La. company will harvest stem cells
Mike Hasten
Posted on October 23, 2002
BATON ROUGE - Placentas, now considered medical waste, soon could provide lifesaving benefits to people of all ages, says the head of a biomedical research firm locating in Baton Rouge.
John Haines, chief executive officer and president of Anthrogenesis, announced Tuesday the establishment of a stem cell repository that will cryogenically preserve stem cells that, as research is finding, could provide cures for a number of ailments.
"We know that diseases like sickle-cell anemia can be cured" with stem cell transplants, Haines said. "The problem is obtaining them."
Establishing the stem cell lab and repository will "make Louisiana a center of excellence in stem cell research," he said.
With the 10,000 live births at Louisiana's charity hospitals each year, the state is an ideal site for such a facility, said U.S. Rep. Richard Baker of Baton Rouge, who helped lure Anthrogenesis to Louisiana. Also, the facility will be able to work with researchers at LSU, its hospitals, the medical centers in Shreveport and New Orleans, and the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge.
The use of a placenta for the source of the cells avoids the controversy over using embryos, Baker said, because placenta is considered a waste material.
Haines said the advantage of using cells from placentas is that they're more or less generic and not pre-developed for any one use, such as a heart cell or brain cell. Also, the cells are plentiful in placenta and only a small number can be harvested from embryos.
"These cells will respond to the needs of the body," he said, so if a heart is damaged, the cells can become heart cells when injected.
So far, that's only been done in a laboratory cardiac model, Haines said, but research is progressing rapidly.
The most common stem cell usage is bone marrow transplants.
Baker said the search for a match for a bone marrow transplant costs about $15,000, and since insurance companies won't cover that cost, many people can't afford it.
Haines said the company will contract through LSU, which runs the state's charity hospital system, to secure placentas. Before one could be collected, a donation agreement from the birth mother must be secured.
Donors will not be paid, but will be guaranteed access to the cells if they or their children should ever need such treatment, Haines said.
"The mother is buying her child a lifetime insurance policy," Baker said. LSU is to be reimbursed for the cost of securing and transporting placentas, Haines said, but he would not discuss how much the university system will be paid. LSU officials also refused to comment, citing an agreement with the company to protect trade secrets.
Anthrogenesis is locating its offices, laboratories and repository in a former mall that's been converted into a research park.
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"Those who seek to predict the future... might first look to the past. The past is a mirror -- and those who ignore its sometimes dark reflection, are doomed to repeat it... Will it be those seeking redemption who shall decide the future... or will those driven only by greed and envy shape our destiny? Even a hundred years later, the outcome is still very much in doubt. .." Outer Limits(Heart's Desire)
Mike Hasten
Posted on October 23, 2002
BATON ROUGE - Placentas, now considered medical waste, soon could provide lifesaving benefits to people of all ages, says the head of a biomedical research firm locating in Baton Rouge.
John Haines, chief executive officer and president of Anthrogenesis, announced Tuesday the establishment of a stem cell repository that will cryogenically preserve stem cells that, as research is finding, could provide cures for a number of ailments.
"We know that diseases like sickle-cell anemia can be cured" with stem cell transplants, Haines said. "The problem is obtaining them."
Establishing the stem cell lab and repository will "make Louisiana a center of excellence in stem cell research," he said.
With the 10,000 live births at Louisiana's charity hospitals each year, the state is an ideal site for such a facility, said U.S. Rep. Richard Baker of Baton Rouge, who helped lure Anthrogenesis to Louisiana. Also, the facility will be able to work with researchers at LSU, its hospitals, the medical centers in Shreveport and New Orleans, and the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge.
The use of a placenta for the source of the cells avoids the controversy over using embryos, Baker said, because placenta is considered a waste material.
Haines said the advantage of using cells from placentas is that they're more or less generic and not pre-developed for any one use, such as a heart cell or brain cell. Also, the cells are plentiful in placenta and only a small number can be harvested from embryos.
"These cells will respond to the needs of the body," he said, so if a heart is damaged, the cells can become heart cells when injected.
So far, that's only been done in a laboratory cardiac model, Haines said, but research is progressing rapidly.
The most common stem cell usage is bone marrow transplants.
Baker said the search for a match for a bone marrow transplant costs about $15,000, and since insurance companies won't cover that cost, many people can't afford it.
Haines said the company will contract through LSU, which runs the state's charity hospital system, to secure placentas. Before one could be collected, a donation agreement from the birth mother must be secured.
Donors will not be paid, but will be guaranteed access to the cells if they or their children should ever need such treatment, Haines said.
"The mother is buying her child a lifetime insurance policy," Baker said. LSU is to be reimbursed for the cost of securing and transporting placentas, Haines said, but he would not discuss how much the university system will be paid. LSU officials also refused to comment, citing an agreement with the company to protect trade secrets.
Anthrogenesis is locating its offices, laboratories and repository in a former mall that's been converted into a research park.
==============================
"Those who seek to predict the future... might first look to the past. The past is a mirror -- and those who ignore its sometimes dark reflection, are doomed to repeat it... Will it be those seeking redemption who shall decide the future... or will those driven only by greed and envy shape our destiny? Even a hundred years later, the outcome is still very much in doubt. .." Outer Limits(Heart's Desire)