Pluricells^TM

Placing the right cells in the hands of the right scientists accelerates the promise of cell therapy and drug discovery.

Human embryonic stem cells present a tremendous opportunity to advance our understanding of basic biology and treat previously intractable disease. They are, however, difficult to derive and culture which limits their use.

PluriCells, developed by Stem Cell Innovations, are derived from the primordial germ cells. They combine the advantages of human embryonic stem cells with a dramatically simpler cell culture system. PluriCells can be cloned and frozen. They maintain a normal chromosome content even after long-term culture. PluriCells do not require a feeder layer, an additional complication of embryonic stem cell culture.

Because PluriCells are derived from fetal tissue, they are eligible to be used in any laboratory funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This type of cell was explicitly excluded from the Presidential ban by the Department of Health and Human Services guidance document of March 19, 2002, that laid out what type of stem cells could and could not be used in federally funded research (http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/stemcell.pdf)