Plasticell, a developer of cell therapies, has partnered with Kings College London to progress preclinical trials of its artificial blood platelet product, manufactured from pluripotent stem cells.
  
Plasticell has developed methods of producing functional platelets from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and has scaled these up to intermediate bioreactor level, allowing manufacture of product for preclinical studies. Kings College will contribute expertise and in vivo models to characterize the dynamics, lifespan, safety and efficacy of transfused platelets.
 
“In addition to providing a more stable and safe supply of ‘universal’ platelets, the use of iPS cells would allow us to create immunologically compatible ‘matched’ platelets for patients suffering from alloimmune refractoriness,” said Dr. Marina Tarunina, Principal Scientist leading the project at Plasticell.
 
The project is part of Plasticell’s hematopoietic cell therapy portfolio, which includes the expansion of umbilical cord- and bone- derived hematopoietic stem cells, and the manufacture of various blood cell types.