CellPro: Making Stem Cell Therapy A Reality

CellPro has carved itself a deserved reputation as the company most likely, through its cell separation technology, to deliver on one of the most exciting developments in biology, stem cell therapy. The company appears to be some distance ahead of its competitors in this field, both in terms of the quality of its technology and the stage of clinical development, with its lead product, Ceprate SC, already on the market in several European countries.

In an interview with the Marketletter, chief executive Richard Murdock noted that CellPro's Ceprate SC uses a core technology which is the basis of all subsequent cell separation products, regardless of the cell type being isolated. A heterogeneous cell population (in this case a bone marrow aspirate) is mixed with a specific monoclonal antibody which binds only to the target cells (eg CD34 for hematopoietic stem cells). The antibody is previously biotinylated (bound to biotin). After binding to the desired cells, the antibody-cell mixture is passed through a column containing beads coated with avidin, a compound with an extremely strong binding affinity for biotin. As a result, the antibody-bound cells remain in the column and can be harvested, while unwanted cell lineages pass through the column and can be discarded (although the same approach could be used to remove unwanted cell lines from a mixed population).

Theoretically, said Dr Murdock, this system could be used to separate out any cell for which an appropriate antibody has been found, although he believes that for the time being there are more than enough therapeutic applications in the area of hematological cell separation to keep the company busy for the foreseeable future.