The FDA granted clearance for Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine in Jacksonville, Fla., to treat patients with its stem cell production platform, according to The Florida Times-Union.
Here are five insights:
1. Mayo Clinic physician use an automated bioreactor-based stem cell production platform. The platform is designed for physicians to reproduce stem cells harvested from bone marrow more quickly and in larger amounts.
2. Traditional stem cell reproduction can take months to produce the amount of cells for a few patients. The new system generates billions of bone marrow stem cells over the course of a few days.
3. A recent clinical trial at the hospital treated patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis through stem cell injections. Another clinical trial using the automated bioreactor-based stem cell production platform involved patients who underwent lung transplants to reduce the likelihood the transplant will be rejected.
4. Mayo Clinic is looking into starting another clinical trial using the stem cell production platform. Physicians hope to use the system to test the effectiveness of stem cells used in treating hemorrhagic stroke.
5. The automated bioreactor-based stem cell production platform took four years to develop. Mayo Clinic physicians hope to use the platform to treat heart disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, inflammatory bowel disease and traumatic injuries.