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IU scientist turns vision into stem cell research reality Life sciences doctors form company that could help diabetics and produce potential cures for heart diseases J201 Reporter Dr. Mervin Yoder is a believer in visions.
Over the past 20 years, the professor and researcher of biochemistry and molecular biology at Indiana University has sat in an office congested with academic plaques, towering stacks of medical journals, scattered unintelligible notes and molecular drawings envisioning the vast potential of using stem cells to develop groundbreaking treatments and cures. For Yoder, these visions have always come after simply saying, “I wonder if…” In January 2004, Yoder no longer
needed to wonder if. Within the confines of his cramped office, he and his partner, Dr. David Ingram, identified the origins of blood vessel stem cells and with it, the potential cure for numerous heart diseases. “We simply sat and thought,” Ingram said. “Then, it finally came to us.” As of February, the doctors have been hard at work turning this vision into a medical reality. In cooperation with former Eli Lilly executives, Yoder and Ingram have formed EndGenitor Technologies, Inc. The medical research company, which started operations on Feb. 2, is currently producing test kits and researching treatment options using these endothelial blood vessel cells. As the first company to offer such services, EndGenitor is poised to propel IU into the highly competitive life sciences industry. “EndGenitor is precisely the type of company that will fit into the University's and Partnership's goal to expand Indiana's reputation as a health industrial giant,” said Steve Bryant, director of the Bloomington Life Sciences Partnership. “(It will) become a formidable competitor in the field of science technologies as well,” Yoder and Ingram had previously specialized in researching the hematopoietic process - the process of making cells. “Over the past ten years, we have learned that the process of making cells is a highly organized process,” Yoder said. He explained that he and Ingram were able to identify, from that process, the precise stage at which blood cells become mature and functioning. He and Ingram hypothesized that by examining the process in which blood cells are made, they could use the same process to find the origin of a specific blood vessel stem cell. They had success and found that not only could they identify these endothelial cells, they could manipulate them to reproduce quickly. Using these replicated cells, the doctors were able to inject healthy endothelial cells into failing blood vessels and restore function. “This could revolutionize treatments in heart disease,” Yoder said.
Following the discovery, former Eli Lilly Executives approached them about the potential of patenting the discovery and forming a company to research treatment options using the cells. Yoder, in cooperation with Ingram and the executives, formed EndGenitor Technologies, in the new, streamlined, hi-tech Emerging Technologies Center complex in downtown Indianapolis. EndGenitor is currently producing test kits for research companies to identify endothelial cells.
This company is the first stem cell research company to offer these services, Ingram said. While there are companies in New York and San Francisco that conduct research on endothelial functions, EndGenitor is the first to provide test kits and the first to propose making a bank of stored blood vessel cells for clinics and hospitals to provide for patients in the future. As of Feb. 25, Yoder said the company had assembled all of the people needed to undertake the research and development including former Lily executives, Ronald Hendrickson as the Chief Executive Officer, and Carlos Lopez as the Chief Scientific Officer.
Diabetes Inextricably linked to the company's
creation of the stem cell treatments are the proposed health benefits for diabetics, Yoder said. Adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates about two to four times higher than adults without diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Yoder said that in a healthy body, vascular vessel walls would repair themselves, but in the case of diabetes, blood vessels inflame, reducing their capacity to pump blood effectively. That inability is culpable for the numerous heart debilities associated with diabetes. As operations begin, the company's primary initiative is to create treatments and test kits using endothelial stem cells to replace defective vessel cells, Ingram said. Those cells would essentially allow the body to repair itself, making a profound advance in the effectiveness of treating those with diabetes and a propensity for heart disease, Yoder said. Just how profound? In the United States alone, 18.2 million diabetics, or 6.3 percent of the population, have such a propensity, according to the ADA. In Indiana, the statistics are higher than the national average, with 7.4 percent of Hoosiers afflicted. Yoder said that given the overwhelming numbers of those who could benefit from this research, the formation of a company like EndGenitor seems particularly exigent. Formerly, doctors had to perform high-risk operations to correct the blood vessel obstructions these stem cells could correct, Ingram said. Heart disease treatments today rely on donated organs and tissues to replace failing blood vessels or tissue, but the need for transplantable tissues and organs far outweighs the available supply, according to the National Institute for Health's stem cell report.
Yoder expressed his belief that, one day, these cells could additionally “help diabetes patients reverse the circulatory problems that threaten them with the loss of extremities.” Of those who suffer losses of extremities in the United States, diabetics account for 60 percent. The numerous health complications associated with diabetes are a prevalent concern today, even among those who may be years away from profound risks.
“This kind of research could be monumental for people like me who have diabetes,” said IU junior Lyndsey Williams, who was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes when she was 13 years old. “I'm only 21 now, but I know that there are serious health risks I may face as I get older. It would definitely ease some of my fear to know that these cells could prevent those health problems.” Much of the media attention surrounding stem cell research has been dominated by the ethical controversy in using human embryonic stem cells to conduct tests and how realistic these treatments are, Ingram said. In 1998, University of Wisconsin researchers were able to actually isolate the first human embryonic stem cell. “That really sparked the debate,” Yoder said. He added that in 20 years of research in this field, however, he has been able to avoid the controversy entirely. “It is an extremely limited number of people who actually work with those cells,” Yoder said. “Maybe people don't understand that, but most researchers in this field focus our research testing on mouse embryonic stem cells, as I do.”
Other critics of the treatment's potential include those who feel that its promise offers false hope, arguing that it's years away from practical application in medical clinics. “Human embryonic stem cells have not yet treated any disease. The science is young and all very hypothetical and experimental,” said Laura Antkowiak, a spokesperson for the National Right to Life Coalition. Yoder said that he realizes the scientific process is exhaustively complex, but is more optimistic about the medicine than that. He said he predicts it may be five to ten years before Williams and other diabetics gain access to practical treatments from their research, but that it will happen. “The people who are running this company are confident the treatments are on the horizon.” Yoder said. “That is why they have invested in it.” With IU expanding its focus on Life Sciences, professors and researchers like Yoder are forming an alliance with company leaders in a new project to promote the economy in Indiana, said Steve Bryant, director of the Bloomington Life Sciences Partnership. These companies will have at their disposal greater resources and corporate networking opportunities through that affiliation, he said. In cooperation with IU and the Life Sciences Partnership, EndGenitor is one of 19 pioneer companies based in the University's Emerging Technology Center in downtown Indianapolis.
The center is meant to incubate and protect emerging intellectual products companies and allow them to grow, Bryant said. “We are trying to take researchers' great ideas, like Dr. Yoder's, and turn it in to marketable products for the private sector.” EndGenitor is precisely the type of company that will fit into the University's and Partnership's goal to expand Indiana's reputation as a health industrial giant to become a formidable competitor in the field of science technologies as well, Bryant said.
Yoder said he agreed with that notion and that the Emerging Technologies Center seemed like the perfect fit for the company given its goals. Yoder said the discovery and subsequent formation of EndGenitor Technologies has been the fruition of a vision. “EndGenitor's research and products will be an amazing window into the future in terms of using stem cells to treat and cure heart disease.” Are you a diabetic or someone else who feels strongly about this? Let us know. Page designed and edited by: Andy Romey Last updated: May 2, 2005 |
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