NeoStem has been awarded a $700,000 contract from the US Army’s medical research division to develop a rapid wound treatment based on stem cell technology.
The contract will allow NeoStem to evaluate the use of topically applied bone marrow-derived adult mesenchymal stem cells as a rapid method of healing battlefield injuries.
NeoStem chairman Robin Smith, MD, said that the company’s goal to leverage adult stem cell technology and help soldiers avoid amputations and immobilisation.
“Wound healing could represent just the beginning of more collaborative projects involving other clinical indications, such as spinal cord injuries and retinal damage,” Smith said.
Adult mesenchymal stem cells can be harvested with relative ease and have been shown to be highly successful in healing wounded tissues and in regenerative processes.
