Interviews with Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) from Across the Stem Cell Industry

BioInformant's Founder, Cade Hildreth, has interviewed hundreds of key opinion leaders (KOL's) from across the stem cell industry.

LifeCell International, India’s Largest Cord Blood Bank

March 22, 2019 By Cade Hildreth (CEO) 2 Comments

LifeCell is India’s largest cord blood bank, offering stem cell banking services and diagnostic testing. Established in 2004, its BabyCord program is one of the largest cord blood banking programs in the region, with 50,000+ parents preserving newborn stem cells each year and 375,000 units cryopreserved.

I had the honor of interviewing Mr. Mayur Abhaya Srisrimal, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of LifeCell. Mr. Abhaya has led LifeCell since 2008 and been instrumental in expanding its stem cell storage services across India with its BabyCord program. Under his leadership, LifeCell also raised growth capital from Helion Ventures and extended its preventive diagnostic services by launching BabyShield, a program targeted at reducing the infant mortality ratio. [Read more…]

Hemostemix. The Canadian Biotech that Could Change Healthcare as We Know It.

December 4, 2018 By Cade Hildreth (CEO)

Hemostemix Inc. (“Hemostemix”) (TSX Venture:HEM; OTCQB:HMTXF) is a publicly traded clinical-stage biotech company that develops and commercializes blood-derived stem cell therapies for medical conditions lacking adequate treatment options. Importantly, it is one of the first clinical-stage biotech companies to test a stem cell therapy within an international, multi-center Phase II clinical trial for patients with critical limb ischemia (“CLI”). CLI is a severe form of peripheral artery disease (“PAD”) that is caused by reduced blood flow to the extremities. After showing promising results in a Phase I trial and with a large number of historical patient treatments performed in open trials, Hemostemix’s Phase II trial targets a participant’s diseased tissue with proprietary cells grown from his or her blood that can support the formation of new blood vessels. This lead cell therapy product is called ACP-01. [Read more…]

Nucleus Biologics, Enabling Reproducible Science with David Sheehan (CEO)

November 20, 2018 By Cade Hildreth (CEO)

In this interview with David Sheehan (CEO), we explore how Nucleus Biologics is revolutionizing the cell culture market through a concept known as “Precision Cell Culture.” The focus of Nucleus Biologics is to deliver superior cell culture products by leveraging a transparent, consistent and proven supply chain that eliminates variability for its customers. In addition to its novel Physiologix™ product line, Nucleus Biologics provides the highest quality Australia and New Zealand origin fetal bovine serum (FBS) available in the market with a goal to enable better lifesaving science.

With an estimated $28 billion lost per year to irreproducible biology research, it is clear that the market is overdue for disruption and Nucleus Biologics appears to be the company positioned to do it. In this interview, we explore Mr. Sheehan’s background, the disruptive nature of Nucleus Biologics, and his inspiring vision for the future. [Read more…]

ORIG3N, Producing Patient-Specific iPS Cells – Interview with Robin Smith, CEO

November 12, 2018 By Cade Hildreth (CEO)

ORIG3N, a biotechnology start-up headquartered in Boston, is attracting global attention for several reasons. First, it has created the world’s largest blood cell repository. ORIG3N is using these blood cells to produce patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), allowing the cells to be ever-renewing and giving rise to a living database of humanity known as LifeCapsule.

Second, the company has two other business segments, called LifeProfile and LifeSystems. These business units of ORIG3N help people to better understand the links between their genes and how their minds and bodies work.

Third, ORIG3N has identified HLA Superdonor matches for 90% of the U.S. population, positioning it to be custodians of this “first of a kind asset on planet earth.”

[Read more…]

Propagenix – Interview with the President and CEO, Brian Pollok, Ph.D.

October 30, 2018 By Cade Hildreth (CEO)

Propagenix is a preclinical-stage platform technology company that is applying its unique technology to both internal and partnered cell therapy programs. The company is engaged in the development and commercialization of technology which originated from the laboratory of Dr. Richard Schlegel of Georgetown University.

Of course, I am always interested in technologies transferred from Georgetown, because I attended the university for Graduate Studies in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, Progagenix was founded in 2014 by Brian Pollok, Ph.D. Pollok is the company’s Co-Founder, as well as its current President and CEO. I am honored to release this interview in which we discuss the company’s core technology, its preclinical-stage programs, and future goals. Enjoy.

[Read more…]