extension technologies Gamida Cell, an Israeli company, has been developing for the blood stem cells in a attempt to overcome some of the limitations currently associated with cord blood transplants, namely the delayed time to engraftment. NiCord of Gamida Cell is a product of expanded stem cell blood from an umbilical cord blood unit.
Earlier this year, Gamida Cell announced that NiCord has been used successfully in a phase I / II study for an experimental transplant of bone marrow transplantation for patients with hematologic malignancies. In this study, NiCord was administered to patients with unmanipulated cord blood unit.
The results of this study suggested that NiCord reduces the time to neutrophil and platelet transplants and provided sustainable long-term graft. Following these results, Gamida Cell has just started a second clinical study in which NiCord only be transplanted into the patient.
This study was conducted at Duke University in North Carolina and is expected to be completed by April 2014. If successful, NiCord has the potential to widen access, reduce toxicity and improve clinical and economic outcomes of cord blood transplant in the world.