Ocata Therapeutics, Inc. (OCAT), a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, reported that early research was published in the journal PLOS One (online, December 21, 2015) by Ocata and its collaborators at the University of Miami, UCSD, and Stanford University. The publication presents a method for generating scalable amounts of human embryonic stem cell derived corneal endothelial cells (hESC-CEC).
“Disease and injury to the cornea are leading causes of blindness worldwide,” said Dr. Robert Lanza, M.D., chief scientific officer of Ocata and senior author of the paper.
“Unfortunately, many people are left visually impaired or blind due to lack of available donor corneas. We have developed a simple, two-step method for generating amounts of hESC-CECs, in-vitro, which does not rely on donor corneas,” Dr. Lanza added.
“The ability to manufacture these cells from a single, replenishable stem cell source may provide a potential solution to the worldwide shortage of transplantable corneal tissue. As we near the completion of our acquisition by Astellas, I am excited about the possibility of moving this early research into pre-clinical studies in the future.”