Pharma Times TriStem unveils startling new technology
Date: 14/06/01

The TriStem Group, a Dublin-based biotechnology company has unveiled a new technology which could revolutionise the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases. The company has announced that it has devised a way of turning both normal and abnormal blood cells into healthy stem cells - ‘physiological blank cheques’ which can be used to fight disease.

Stem cells are undifferentiated juvenile cells that are present in the body, which then differentiate to form specialised tissues such as blood, heart and skin. Normal research into this has been hampered by complex ethical issues, as stem cells are usually harvested from embryos or foetal sources.

TriStem has reversed the maturation process by programming mature cells ‘backwards’ along the development pathway. This process of retrodifferentiation can be used to provide an abundant supply of stem cells. The firm’s Chief Scientific Officer explained how she made healthy blood-producing stem cells from leukemia blood by means of retrodifferentiation, research which shows that retrodifferentiation may have a place in the treatment of conditions such as cancer, autoimmune diseases and AIDS, whilst leukemia remains a priority for the firm, with chronic lymphocytic leukemia a likely early target for the stem cell technology.

Brian Murphy, the company’s Chief Financial Officer told PT WebCast that “according to the research, TriStem has an extremely valuable asset on its hands.
Retrodifferentiation offers a number of exciting clinical research and tissue engineering applications, in particular it opens up new avenues for the treatment of diseases and conditions that, up to now, have proved very difficult to treat, such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes”.

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