Golden, Colo — Vitro Diagnostics Inc has announced that it is developing stem cell products that could one day lead to therapies to prevent, reverse, and restore hearing, according to the company, in animals and humans.
Vitro’s therapeutic products include molecular compositions to promote, maintain, and restore inner ear hair cells and related structures together with adult stem cell transplantation to restore hearing loss.
Vitro’s intellectual property has application to hearing restoration and prevention of hearing loss through a series of products envisioned to provide various treatment options for hearing loss. These discoveries may lead to new pharmaceutical agents that stimulate activation of native adult stem cells to regenerate inner ear hair cells, together with other cells derived from adult stem cells, without the necessity of stem cell transplantation.
Recombinant cytokines, including erythropoietin and granulocyte colony stimulating factor, are now widely used for therapeutic activation of the hematopoietic stem cell system for treatment of adverse effects of chemotherapy and represent major products of the biotechnology industry.
Vitro has developed other proprietary technology related to stem cell products and technology that has a broad application to various areas in medical research and therapy. Modern stem cell technology is rapidly evolving and holds promise to revolutionize medicine by allowing replacement of any type of cell within the human body. Diseases characterized by cellular degeneration, such as hearing loss, may soon be treatable through development and further commercialization.
While the research and use of human embryonic stem cells is politically and ethically controversial, Vitro’s stem cell technology is based on adult human stem cells that are derived without sacrifice of the embryos needed to generate embryonic stem cells. Transplantation of adult stem cells, derived from various tissues, such as bone marrow, has been used for the past 50 years to treat leukemia, lymphoma, and other blood disorders. The same techniques can now be applied for hearing loss therapies.
The company says that is now seeking partnerships to commercialize its stem cell products related to treatment of hearing loss.
SOURCE: Vitro Diagnostics Inc
