Pluristem Therapeutics Ltd. (Nasdaq:PSTI; DAX: PJT: PLTR) today announced that it has developed a portable instrument for thawing its placenta-based stems cell (PLX cells) on-site before they are administered to patients.
Pluristem will ship its off-the-shelf PLX cell therapy product candidates, which will be stored in multiple dose vials that require thawing prior to use. The vial will be placed into the proprietary thawing device and PLX cells will be ready for a convenient intramuscular injection. The company said that if the trials of the instrument are successful, it will be used as the final step in bringing high quality, clinical grade PLX cell products to patients around the globe.
"Pluristem understands the importance of providing a standardized product with every dose of these living drug delivery devices," said Pluristem chairman and CEO Zami Aberman. "If we are successful, we want our PLX cell products, once developed, to be an easy-to-use therapy. This thawing device will give us better control of several variables in our clinical trials and in treating patients after our products have been approved assuming we are successful. This instrument is an additional step in our vision to bring PLX cells as first-line therapies for a variety of indications and to think about the cell delivery process all the way from mass manufacturing to the patient's bedside."
Pluristem's share price rose 4.3% on the TASE today to NIS 16.05, after the announcement, after rising 4.4% on Nasdaq yesterday to $4.07, giving a market cap of $193 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 4, 2012
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