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BioE and South Eastern Sydney Illawarra Area Health Service Initiate Stem Cell Research Partnership

Posted on: Wednesday, 17 May 2006, 09:04 CDT

Collaboration to focus on evaluating potential of BioE's cord blood stem cell to differentiate into insulin-producing pancreatic cells absent in Type 1 diabetes patients

BioE(R), Inc., a biomedical company providing enabling human cord blood stem cells, and the South Eastern Sydney Illawarra Area Health Service (SESIAHS) announced today a joint research partnership to evaluate the potential of BioE's cord blood-derived stem cell to form pancreatic beta cells. These cells, which are absent in Type 1 diabetes patients, are responsible for producing insulin that normalizes the body's blood glucose levels.

As part of this agreement, SESIAHS will conduct translational research to determine whether pancreatic precursor cells developed by BioE from its Multi-Lineage Progenitor Cell(TM) (MLPC(TM)) -- the company's proprietary human cord-blood-derived stem cell -- will function properly when transplanted into diabetic mouse models. SESIAHS also will determine if pancreatic beta cells derived from the MLPC through SESIAHS's unique methodologies perform appropriately in these animal models.

"While insulin injections can be an effective means to help lower the elevated blood glucose levels in people with Type 1 diabetes, they are not a substitute for pancreatic beta cells that secrete insulin in a finely tuned manner," said Professor Bernie Tuch, M.D., Ph.D., SESIAHS Director of the Diabetes Transplant Unit, where the experiments will be performed. "Additionally, current cell therapies in development for Type 1 diabetes are limited in scope due to small quantities of viable pancreatic precursor cells. As a result, developing pancreatic beta cells from stem cells, such as BioE's MLPC, represents a new and promising method for finding a treatment to combat one of the world's most prevalent and costly diseases."

It is widely reported that Type 1 diabetes affects more than 1.3 million Americans and 130,000 Australians. When combined with Type 2 diabetes -- when the body's cells cannot properly use the insulin it secretes -- nearly 180 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes according to the World Health Organization. The direct and indirect costs to treat this disease are equally staggering. For example, according to the American Diabetes Association, the total economic cost of diabetes in 2002 was estimated to be $132 billion, and one out of every 10 health care dollars in the United States is spent on diabetes and its complications. The cost to treat diabetes is similarly high in Australia. According to 2002 statistics from the national survey DiabCost, $6 billion is spent annually to treat diabetes.

"We continue to identify opportunities nationally and internationally to partner with leading institutions and organizations to further our understanding of the MLPC for clinical research and therapeutic applications," said Michael Haider, president and chief executive officer for BioE. "The SESIAHS is a great partner for us to have help determine if the MLPC can one day be used to treat such a widespread disease as diabetes. Professor Tuch and his team have created insulin-producing cells from multiple sources during the past 25 years. We are confident that combining this expertise with our knowledge of cord blood stem cells will lead to significant progress in the treatment of Type 1 diabetes."

"Our partnership with BioE is a prime example of two organizations capitalizing on the research strengths of the other, regardless of the countries of origin," Tuch added. "Our collaboration ultimately should translate into positive outcomes in the clinical arena much faster than if we were to undertake these efforts individually."

About BioE

Headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., BioE is a biomedical company providing enabling human cord blood stem cells. The company's novel Multi-Lineage Progenitor Cell(TM) (MLPC(TM)) -- derived from human umbilical cord blood and obtained using PrepaCyte(R), the company's proprietary cell isolation platform -- provides clinicians and researchers a flexible, long-term and non-controversial tool for therapeutic research and drug discovery and screening. BioE is privately owned and was founded in 1993. For more information about the company, please visit www.bioe.com or call (800) 350-6466.

About SESIAHS

SESIAHS represents one of the largest Area Health Services in terms of population, budget and staff numbers in Australia. The Area covers approximately 6,331 square kilometres, stretching from Sydney Harbour in the north to Durras in the south. Its facilities include 19 hospitals, including four principal referral hospitals. Residents have access to a range of health services in the Area, including health promotion, disease prevention, primary health care, community health services, home care, hospital services and nursing home care. For more information please go to www.sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au.

About the Diabetes Transplant Unit

Located at Prince of Wales Hospital, a major teaching Hospital within the SESIAHS, the Diabetes Transplant Unit carries out cutting-edge research into developing cell therapies for Type 1 diabetes. Its staff includes clinicians and scientists, as well as postgraduate and undergraduate students. For more information please visit www.diabetes.unsw.edu.au.

Source: Business Wire

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