Stem cells put Toronto on top.

Canadian stem cell technology in the U.S. underscores the Toronto area's global leadership in stem cell research. Under the agreement, an emerging Canadian life sciences company, Tissue Regeneration Therapeutics Inc. (TRT), will exclusively license its human umbilical cord perivascular cell (HUCPVC) technology to Stem Cell Authority Ltd. for family stem cell banking in the U.S. The licensing fees and annual minimum royalties will exceed $20 million. The technology originated at the University of Toronto and has been offered in Canada since March 2007 through a licensing agreement between TRT and Toronto-based CReATe Cord Blood Bank.

"Toronto is the first place in the world to bank perivascular mesenchymal stem cells from the human umbilical cord and we are extremely pleased to now be able to provide this opportunity to parents across the U.S.," said John Davies, FCIC, senior inventor of the technology at the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering. "This is a great example of how a university can facilitate the translation of professorial research from the university laboratory to commercial reality for the benefit of the public."

Using HUCPVC technology, cord tissue is collected once a baby is born. The tissue is placed in a nutrient solution and is shipped to the CReATe laboratories for processing and storage. A technician at the laboratory uses a proprietary process to remove the cells from the cord tissue and stores them for future use. Mesenchymal cells are the building blocks for the muscle, bone, and connective tissues of the body. HUCPVCs also serve as regulators of the immune system. Published uses in cell therapy include tissue engineering and combating Crohn's disease, juvenile diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, and heart disease.

While the HUCPVC technology is still in the pre-clinical stage, TRT CEO Jeffrey Turner said that its development program offers parents a type of "biological life insurance" that could one day treat all the diseases mentioned above and more. The HUCPVC breakthrough was announced in 2005 when the Davies research group discovered these stem cells in the connective tissue surrounding the blood vessels in the cord. The great advantages of this source of mesenchymal stem cells lie in sourcing them from tissue that would otherwise be thrown away at birth, their very rapid proliferation, and the huge numbers of harvested stem cells.

Karen Kelly, University of Toronto Bulletin