Stem Cells: company collects, preserves umbilical cord blood
Published: June 3, 2005
Dr. Steven G. Lutz is banking on the willingness of expectant parents to invest in the future health of their children and themselves.
Stem cell therapy, he said, is the next major advancement in medicine.
“It could be comparable to the development of antibiotics in the past,” Lutz said.
“It’s that big.”
Lutz is chairman and chief executive officer of Conover-based CellMed Inc., a start-up company that arranges for the collection, transport, processing and storage of stem cells acquired from umbilical cord blood after a baby is born. No embryos are involved.
Founded in November, CellMed is now building a Southeastern sales force and eventually will offer its services nationwide.
CellMed’s market is expectant parents in their third trimester who want to collect, preserve and store their newborn’s cord blood stem cells for later use.
Cord blood stem cells are a biologically perfect match for the donor baby, and have a high likelihood of being compatible with other family members.
When properly treated and stored, stem cells remain viable indefinitely, at least for the donor’s lifetime, Lutz said.
He said likely candidates for CellMed’s services include people with a family history of diseases currently treated by stem cell therapy.
Other clients include the growing number of people who want to take advantage of a one-time opportunity to preserve stem cells for therapies that will be developed in the future, he said.
Lutz and his family moved to Hickory from Florida two years ago in order to start the business, which is the first of its type based in North Carolina.
Lutz said breakthroughs in stem cell therapy make CellMed’s timing right.
Umbilical cord blood is a rich source of stem cells, which are master cells that that can be used to treat disease or damage throughout the body.
Stem cells - first transplanted in 1988 - are now used to treat numerous conditions, including leukemia, sickle cell anemia, various cancers, blood diseases and immune system disorders.
Lutz said stem cell therapy shows promise as a possible cure for juvenile diabetes, and has the potential to successfully treat children and adults for a wide range of other disorders, including heart disease, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, Parkinson’s disease and corneal degeneration.
Some doctors and scientists believe that stem cells may become standard treatment for everything from brain injuries to helping burn victims regenerate new skin.
“And some of this is only two or three years away, not 10 or 20,” Lutz said.
CellMed will partner with various private couriers to provide same-day shipment of cord blood from hospitals to Community Blood Services in New Jersey, where it will be tested, processed and stored.
“Simply put, Community Blood Services is the best,” said Lutz, a member of the American Association of Blood Banks and the International Society of Cellular Therapy.
Since CellMed collects only cord blood, the company avoids the controversy surrounding embryonic stem cells.
Lutz sees merit on both sides of the embryonic stem cell debate.
“It’s valuable research, but it brings up a lot of questions,” he said.
“In the end, it’s an issue everyone has to resolve for themselves.”
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: