Aastrom’s Stem Cells Knit Hard-to-Heal Bone Breaks

Aastrom’s Stem Cells Knit Hard-to-Heal Bone Breaks (Update1)

By Rob Waters

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) — Aastrom Biosciences Inc. said its stem cell treatment repaired fractures in 91 percent of patients with previously hard-to-heal breaks in the long bones of their thighs, shins or arms.

The study tested stem cells developed by Aastrom by inserting them during surgery into the fracture sites of 33 patients with severe bone breaks that had previously failed to join from standard treatments. A year later, the fractures of 30 of the patients had healed, the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company reported today at a medical meeting in Boston.

“We are treating patients that have not healed in the past and are unlikely to heal in the future with normal procedures,” said Elmar Burchardt, the company’s vice president of medical affairs, in a telephone interview. “It’s a completely new approach for bone treatment and tissue regeneration with the idea of restoring its original architecture.”

Aastrom, one of several U.S. companies working to bring stem cell-based treatments to market, has created a technique for expanding and purifying patients’ own stem cells as a therapy. The company is testing its approach in several orthopedic uses as well as in a disease that restricts blood circulation in limbs. It’s also developing treatments for patients with heart disease and spinal cord injuries.

Share the same sentiments and priorities with the viagra generic uk over here special oneHave faith in the personEstablish a comfort level with the personBe patient and wait for the right momentLearn to accept people for who they are and don’t try to change them as per your wishBecome a better person in life These are possible only when we are able to get high quality medicines at very reasonable prices. If you will practice fake orgasm for long, then your relationship can turn towards distrust and anger. price levitra But expensive and complicated treatments like surgery and high doses of medication can further aggravate cialis without prescription the situation with their added side effects. The nitric oxide is that it helps to relax the muscles of reproductive area and dilate the vessels and best prices cialis open up the arteries for allowing more blood to the penile organ. Osteonecrosis Study

The company is furthest along in testing its cells to treat a rare condition called osteonecrosis that damages bone in the hips and other places because of a poor blood supply. The company is now recruiting 120 osteonecrosis patients for the final stage of testing normally required for regulatory approval. It could seek clearance from the U.S. Food and drug Administration as early as 2010, Burchardt said.

Aastrom rose 4 cents to $1.20 at 6:02 p.m. New York time in extended trading. The stock gained 2 cents to $1.16 at 4:20 p.m. in regular Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading.

The 30 bone-fracture patients who were deemed by the company to have healed all had bone scans that showed “multiple contact points” between pieces of bone that were formerly fragmented, Burchardt said. The patients’ limbs now “are fully weight- bearing and have full range of motion,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Waters in San Francisco at rwaters5@bloomberg.net .