A bio-therapeutics company based in Israel was just granted FDA approval for a clinical trial to examine the effects of their new product, which integrates placenta stem cells, on peripheral artery disease.
They’ve developed a way to extract the stem cells from the placenta with their proprietary 3D PluriX™ technology. They’ve also come up with a nifty little animation video that shows this process (I found it a little creepy, personally).
The placenta is a wonderful source of stem cells. I expect to see lots of research being done on placenta in the near future. Anything that elevates the placenta from trash to healing is great - it’s just a little difficult to see a sacred part of the birth process being used like this, by a bio-tech firm for profit. However, I’m sure it will benefit people and their health, which is a good thing.
March 2nd, 2009 - 5:21 pm
Interesting research. I’m still on the fence over cord blook banking, not because of what its used for or ethics like that, but because some studies have shown that the bit of blood in the cord should go to the baby. Taking it from the placenta, after birth would have no negative impact on the babies birth health.
I’ll watch to see how this goes.
October 14th, 2009 - 11:49 am
There is a lot of speculation on this subject. This is one that should be examined individually. Ther is no right answer for all.
July 19th, 2010 - 2:18 pm
My research appears to indicate that authorization is not required for the research on placentas as long as there is an assurance that all identifiable information of the mother is removed. Cite 45 CFR 46.206. Are you aware of any challenges to this interpretation?