PerkinElmer extends cord blood stem expansion study

PerkinElmer has announced it is to extend its study of the cord blood stem expansion system in adult transplant patients.

The study is a collaboration between the company’s ViaCord Research Institute and the University of Texas’ MD Anderson Cancer Centre, where a clinical trial exploring a cord blood expansion technology called Co-Culture is being carried out.

A statement from PerkinElmer described cord blood as "a valuable, non-controversial source of stem cells with proven effect in treating more than 70 serious diseases" such as cancers.

However, as the number of stem cells provided by one umbilical cord blood unit is frequently not enough for the treatment of adult patients, techniques such as Co-Culture aim to increase the quantity.

Morey Kraus, chairman of ViaCord Research Institute’s Medical Scientific Advisory Board, said the firm was "honoured" to work with MD Anderson and its team, led by Dr Elizabeth J Shpall.

People in science sales jobs may also be interested news that Intertek has named PerkinElmer as its preferred instrumentation vendor.