Aldagen, IMT form bio alliance

Oct. 12, 2006 — Aldagen Inc. of Durham, N.C., and Innovative Micro Technology (IMT) of Santa Barbara, Calif., announced that they have formed an alliance to co-develop and commercialize a version of IMT’s Rare Cell Purification System, customized specifically for clinical cell therapies.

This system, called the ALDESORTER, is intended to be used with Aldagen’s ALDESORT product and is designed to isolate unique stem cell populations for the treatment of chronic heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, leukemias, genetic enzyme deficiencies and other diseases. The first ALDESORTER is scheduled for completion in early 2007, with clinical trials planned to begin in late 2007.

Aldagen’s ALDESORT product is a set of proprietary reagents that can be used with currently available cell sorting systems to isolate a highly potent population of stem and progenitor cells from human bone marrow, peripheral blood and cord blood. The unique chemistry incorporated into the ALDESORT product allows the isolation of stem and progenitor cells based on the elevated expression of an intracellular enzyme, aldehyde dehydrogenase.

The alliance is intended to combine the unique strengths of the two companies. IMT will be responsible for the design and manufacture of the ALDESORTER and the disposable MEMS sorting chips. Aldagen is responsible for the cell labeling chemistries and for conducting clinical trials with the ALDESORTER, as well as for marketing the ALDESORTER system.

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