Cellaviva delivers stem cells to treat serious blood disease

FRI, APR 01, 2022 13:30 CET

NextCell Pharma AB (“NextCell” or the ”Company”) announces that the stem cell bank Cellaviva has released umbilical cord blood stem cells to Rigshospitalet, Denmark’s leading hospital. A sibling of the child whose umbilical cord blood was stored in the Cellaviva biobank, suffers from a serious blood disorder which will be treated with stem cells at the Hematology Department of Rigshospitalet.

Cord blood contains blood stem cells and is routinely used to treat severe diseases of the blood and immune system. The treatment is similar to bone marrow stem cell therapy and the most common use of cord blood is sibling donation for the treatment of childhood leukaemia.

NextCell owns the Cellaviva biobank, which has been helping pregnant parents save stem cells in connection with childbirth since 2015. The umbilical cord blood that is saved is the blood that remains in the placenta and umbilical cord after the baby is born and the cord has been cut. In addition, a piece of the umbilical cord is also collected to grow connective tissue-forming stem cells. Haematopoietic stem cells can mature into all types of blood cells and immune cells, while connective tissue stem cells can mature into other tissues such as cartilage, fat and bone.

“ The purpose of preserving stem cells is not the saving itself, but to have rapid access to the highest quality stem cells in case of serious disease. Our organisation contributes to the development of new therapies and the expansion of treatment options for affected patients. Ultimately, it’s about saving lives,” says Mathias Svahn, vd NextCell.

The collection of stem cells from the umbilical cord does not alter the birthing process in any way and is risk-free. Currently, there are over 80 health conditions with cord blood stem cells as an approved treatment option. In addition, experimental treatments using cord blood and cord tissue stem cells are being evaluated for conditions such as cerebral palsy and type 1 diabetes. NextCell is conducting its own clinical trials with cells from donated umbilical cords for the treatment of type 1 diabetes and severe pneumonia caused by COVID-19.

For more information about Cellaviva, please contact:

Sofie Falk-Jansson, Commercial Director
Tel: 08-735 20 10
E-mail: info@cellaviva.se
Webpage: www.cellaviva.se | www.cellaviva.dk

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cellaviva/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cellavivasverige/

For more information about NextCell Pharma, please contact:
Mathias Svahn, CEO
Patrik Fagerholm, CFO
Tel: +46 8 735 5595
E-mail: info@nextcellpharma.com

Websites:
NextCell Pharma AB: www.nextcellpharma.com
Cellaviva Sverige: www.cellaviva.se
Cellaviva Danmark: www.cellaviva.dk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/15255207/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NextCellPharma

About NextCell Pharma AB

NextCell is a phase II cell therapy company with the drug candidate ProTrans for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. The focus is to take ProTrans to market approval via a Phase III study. ProTrans is in addition to diabetes, used in two clinical trials for Covid-19, in Örebro and Montreal (Canada). The company is in the processes of establishing its own GMP facility for production of ProTrans. The GMP facility is expected to be ready for production of smaller quantities of ProTrans in 2023. NextCell furthermore owns 10% in FamicordTX, a CAR-T start-up in oncology and 100 % of Cellaviva, Scandinavia’s largest stem cell bank for family saving stem cells from umbilical cord blood and umbilical cord tissue with permission from the Swedish Health and Social Care Inspectorate (IVO).