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Santa Barbara, CA, 11 October 2006
Promises to enable cardiovascular, neural and
cancer stem cell therapy
Aldagen, Inc. and Innovative Micro Technology (IMT)
today announced that they have formed an alliance to co-develop
and commercialize a version of IMT’s Rare Cell Purification
System, customized specifically for clinical cell therapies. This
system, called the ALDESORTER™, will be used with Aldagen’s
ALDESORT® product and is designed to isolate unique stem cell
populations for the treatment of chronic heart failure, peripheral
vascular disease, leukemias, genetic enzyme deficiencies and other
diseases. The first ALDESORTER is scheduled for completion in early
2007, with clinical trials planned to begin in late 2007.
Aldagen’s ALDESORT product is a set of proprietary
reagents that can be used with currently available cell sorting
systems to isolate a highly potent population of stem and progenitor
cells from human bone marrow, peripheral blood and cord blood. The
unique chemistry incorporated into the ALDESORT product allows the
isolation of stem and progenitor cells based on the elevated expression
of an intracellular enzyme, aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH).
ALDESORTER
Unlike currently available cell sorters that are
large, complex research instruments, the ALDESORTER is specifically
designed to address the needs of clinical cell sorting including:
ultra-high speed sorting, completely sealed fluidic path for disposability
and sterility, compact size, and ease-of use. When completed, the
ALDESORTER will be desk-top size and have the ability to sort therapeutic
stem cell doses in one to three hours.
“With three clinical trials currently ongoing
using ALDESORT, we have recognized the need for a rapid and efficient
cell sorting approach to allow optimal treatments for patients,”
said Tom Amick, Chairman & CEO of Aldagen. “IMT’s
cell purification technology is the most advanced in the world for
clinical cell therapy applications and will broadly enable cellular
treatments using our ALDESORT product.”
Alliance
The alliance combines the unique strengths of the
two companies. IMT is currently the world’s leading contract
manufacturer for MEMS. IMT will be responsible for the design and
manufacture of the ALDESORTER and the disposable MEMS sorting chips.
Aldagen has strong expertise in the field of cellular therapy, and
one of the top clinical development portfolios in the regenerative
medicine field. Aldagen is responsible for the cell labeling chemistries
and for conducting clinical trials with the ALDESORTER, as well
as for marketing the ALDESORTER system.
John Foster, CEO of IMT, stated “It has always
been IMT’s goal to enable cell therapies for treatment of some
of the most insidious human maladies. We are especially excited
to be partnering with Aldagen, whose ALDESORT product is being used
in clinical trials today. We expect that the combination of Aldagen’s
and IMT’s efforts will produce cell therapies that will make
a very real and positive difference in peoples lives.”
Opportunity
Aldagen currently has three clinical studies on-going
using unique stem and progenitor cell populations identified with
its ALDESORT product. These clinical studies are assessing the use
of the populations in the treatment of ischemic heart failure, critical
limb ischemia and pediatric cancer and genetic disorders. There
are currently 100,000s of patients in the United States that suffer
from these conditions with few viable treatment options. In addition,
Aldagen believes these cell populations could be used to treat neural
conditions (like ischemic stroke) and orthopedic conditions.
About Innovative Micro Technology
IMT was formed in 2000, specifically to produce
MEMS devices. IMT’s overriding goal is to partner with companies
to develop products based on MEMS technology. Its 130,000 sq ft
facility contains a 30,000 sq ft clean room/fab, the largest and
best-equipped independent MEMS fab in the world. The company was
built for high-volume manufacturing, and provides full MEMS foundry
and contract manufacturing services from design through production.
IMT currently has >150 employees and >20 customers in diverse
applications, including drug discovery, drug delivery, biomedical
implants and cell purifiers, microfluidics, inertial navigation,
printing, various sensors, night vision, IR emitters, telephone/DSL
switching, RF devices, power management, and several others. For
more information on IMT’s breadth of services, please visit
www.imtmems.com.
About Aldagen, Inc.
Aldagen is a clinical-stage regenerative medicine
company developing and commercializing products to treat vascular
and degenerative diseases. The company’s proprietary products
can identify and isolate potent, highly effective adult stem and
progenitor cells which can be quickly administered to regenerate
or repair tissue. The company’s lead product, ALDESORT, is
currently being tested at Texas Heart Institute and Duke University
in three clinical studies for ischemic heart failure, critical limb
ischemia and cord blood transplantation. To learn more about Aldagen’s
products for preparing optimal cell populations for adult stem and
progenitor cell therapy, the Company invites you to visit its website
at www.aldagen.com.
For more information, contact:
Ed Field, President and COO
Aldagen
919-484-2571
efield@aldagen.com
www.aldagen.com
Monteith Heaton, VP Mktg/Sales
Inovative Micro Technology (IMT)
805-681-2852
monte@imtmems.com
www.imtmems.com
Michelle Linn
Linnden Communications
508-419-1555
linnmich@comcast.net
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