Biotech company AmnioChor is bringing new life to perinatal stem cell technology and an alternative to the cord blood banking industry.
Currently, parents have an option to allow cord blood to be stored in a public bank, which could be used for research or unrelated transplants. Alternatively, they can pay to have cells stored in a “family” bank, which will allow them personal access.
What makes AmnioChor’s technology different is the process of freezing a whole piece of the amnion placental tissue, which contains the Mesenchymal and Epithelial stem cells. This approach would provide many more opportunities to use the cells, and these cells have unique qualities that differentiate them from cord blood. Cord blood technology separates and processes the cells, so the use is more limited.
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AmnioChor will store samples as if they were in a blood bank essentially (their’s is called Omnibank). Parents can choose to store placental tissue there for future personal use, and samples that come from donations will be stored as well.
The company hopes to close a $300,000 seed round in the next six months to develop the concept, CEO Russ Schweizer said. AmnioChor is part of Chicago’s MATTER healthcare incubator. Its product is based on research out of Rutgers Medical School.
AmnioChor’s technology comes in the form of sterile sample retrieval kit, which is still in its third prototype phase of development. Parents will purchase the kit from AmnioChor and bring it to the operating room with them, the sample will be taken and then mailed back for storage. This is also done with some cord blood banking options.
For the roll out of the product, the company plans to target some of the bigger institutions, but no contracts have been put in place just yet. Schweizer points out that the business model is scalable.
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Cord blood stem cell retrieval and storage has been around for twenty years, but less than 3 percent of American parents chose to utilize the process, Schweizer explains. He believes with this new technology the actual use will begin to match up with the research that is proving the therapeutic value of perinatal stem cell storage.
The Amnion Foundation has a similar mission but with a specific focus on public use. The organization is not currently equipped to accept and store the samples – they are requesting donations.
Schweizer has an extensive background in product development in the medical industry and has been CEO of AmnioChor since last June.
As far as actually getting the product out there and put to use, with professionals trained accordingly, Schweizer is passionately optimistic.
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” Schweizer says. “When parents pick up on this and it’s something they definitely want to do, we will find a way to help make it happen.”
[Photo from Flickr user US Air]
