LifeSource Cryobank: Only Company in U.S. to Extract and Store Stem Cells Directly from Bone Marrow

Filed in archive Stem Cells on October 8, 2008

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 1135046

A privately-owned, FDA-registered, state of the art laboratory - LifeSource Cryobank, LLC - is committed to ensuring the safety and integrity of the stem cells it store in a totally secure environment. Located in Covington, Louisiana, LifeSource opened its doors in September 2007 and is the only company in the U.S. to extract and store stem cells directly from bone marrow.

Utilizing an advanced medical technique, doctors at LifeSource Cryobank, LLC can extract, purify, expand and store a type of stem cells directly from bone marrow. Because these stem cells give rise to or participate in the formation of bone, muscle, cartilage, blood vessels and other tissues and organs, they are far superior to hematopoietic stem cells that can only regenerate new blood cells.

This summer, Michael Drury became the first person in the United States to have his stem cells banked via the new extraction method. Developed by LifeSource Scientific Director Jose Minguell, Ph.D., and overseen by its Medical Director, Gabriel Lasala, M.D., Drury had stem cells aspirated directly from bone marrow in his hip. The stem cells were then isolated and multiplied before being stored in the cryopreservation facility.

The researchers are also using these procedures to execute three Federal Drug Administration reviewed clinical trials to treat lower limb ischemia (blockage to the vessels of the legs), coronary ischemia (blockage to the vessels of the heart) and damage to heart muscle from heart attack. Over the last nine months, more than twenty people have undergone the patent-pending procedure as part of the trials.

Find out more at LifeSource Cryobank, LLC.

[Press release provided by Jill Willie of Gallinghouse & Associates.]