Collaboration to Regenerate Heart Tissue

Applied Genetics News,  August, 2002  

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Bioheart, Inc. (2400 N. Commerce Pkwy., Suite 408, Weston, FL 33326; Tel: 954/217-7259, Fax: 954/385-5340) and Ortec International, Inc. (3690 Broadway, New York, NY; Tel: 212/740- 6999, Fax: 212/740-6963) have initiated a non-exclusive research collaboration, which allows the exploration of the combination of Bioheart's Myocelloe product for heart muscle regeneration and Ortec's collagen sponge and VEGF-releasing Orcel technologies. This research will be conducted in Bioheart's affiliated labs and if successful, may serve as the basis for new clinical studies.

"Ortec's technologies have been proven to express high levels of cytokines and growth factors that stimulate vascularization and also have implications for aiding myogenesis and angiogenesis," comments Howard Haimes, executive director of Pre-Clinical Studies & Senior Support Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance at Bioheart, Inc. "We believe this combination may provide improved bioretention, controlled proliferation, wall thickness mass and could enhance both myogenesis and angiogenesis. We will explore the opportunity to use the wound healing properties of the Ortec technologies to be able to deliver our cells to acute MI patients."

"We believe Ortec's core technology has multiple clinical applications and this research agreement allows Bioheart to explore the utility of our technology in the cardiovascular markets, while we continue to use all our resources to complete the final venous ulcer trial and file our Pre-Market Approval application with the FDA," remarks Costa Papastephanou, president, Ortec International.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Business Communications Company, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group