Arteriocyte launches stem cell-based blood research product

Arteriocyte Inc. has launched a stem cell-based product that allows researchers to grow red blood cells outside the human body.

The product, called NANEX, is available only for research use and has not been tested in humans. NANEX is engineered to essentially behave like bone marrow.

“This product is the first internally developed product that Arteriocyte has placed on the market to date,” said Adam Sorkin, a company spokesman. “And it was developed at Arteriocyte’s Cleveland R&D center.”

With NANEX, researchers can expand hematopoietic stem cells, which form blood and immune cells and are responsible for the renewal of blood, to study potential stem-cell based therapies, as well as grow new blood cells and blood vessels, according to a statement from Arteriocyte.

Arteriocyte is conducting its own preclinical research using NANEX to develop therapies for blood diseases and ischemia, a shortage in blood supply to an organ. However, it’ll be about a year-and-a-half before the company begins testing NANEX-based products in humans while Arteriocyte ramps up manufacturing of the substance, CEO Don Brown told MedCity News in an interview last month.

“We’ve found that this culturing technology represents a potential broad platform technology for the company, which we believe will be of value in drug, vaccine and diagnostic development for malaria — a blood-borne infection — and leukemia — a blood-borne cancer,” Brown said.

The NANEX technology was developed by Dr. Hai-Quan Mao of Johns Hopkins University.