Aastrom Biosciences Receives Patent for Adult Bone Marrow Stem Cells--Patent Expands Intellectual Property for Producing Therapeutic Cells -
ANN ARBOR, Mich., Feb 27, 2002 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASTM) announced today that it received from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patent number 6,326,198 entitled, "Methods and Compositions for the Ex Vivo Replication of Stem Cells, for the Optimization of Hematopoietic Progenitor Cell Cultures, and for Increasing the Metabolism, GM-CSF Secretion and/or IL-6 Secretion of Human Stromal Cells." This patent provides coverage of Aastrom's technology for growing or multiplying human stem cells that are found in adult bone marrow. The new patent focuses on stem cell growth methods that are enabled by regulated medium delivery and the presence of human stromal cells. The patent also provides claims for the production of human progenitor cells that are the products of stem cells.
"Aastrom continues to expand its patent portfolio to cover our clinical systems, our devices and our biological processes for growing human stem and other cells. This new patent extends coverage of Aastrom's unique perfusion technology that enables the growth of highly robust human cells outside the body," said R. Douglas Armstrong, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Aastrom. "The methods described in our new patent are readily implemented in the automated and GMP-compliant environment of the AastromReplicell(TM) System, strategically positioning Aastrom as a leader in the cell therapy field."
The stem cells found in bone marrow have been shown to be powerful therapeutic tools, with clinical potential in treatments that include re-establishing normal blood and immune systems in cancer patients, and the generation of connective tissues, such as bone. Aastrom's business plan is to provide commercial access to these valuable therapeutic cells for multiple medical indications.
