Biomed firm commercializes stem-cell sales

A U.S. biomedical company said it reached an agreement to commercialize the distribution of neural stem cells by the billions.
      "We're going to be able to distribute a cell that has the ability to produce all the different cell types in the nervous system," Aruna Biomedical Inc. Chief Executive Steven Stice told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
      Stice developed neural progenitor cell technology at the University of Georgia, where he is also a professor and director of its Regenerative Bioscience Center.
      His arrangement with the university's research foundation calls for Aruna to market the cells, with the university getting a cut.
      "We are offering a product that may accelerate the pace of neurological research for tens of thousands of scientists," he said, "and thereby may provide patients with possible therapies and treatments for debilitating neurological diseases and spinal cord injuries much sooner than imagined."
      Aruna anticipates launching human neural progenitor cells in a few months and other advances soon afterward.