By Donald Zuhn --
Last week, Cytori Therapeutics, Inc. announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had issued U.S. Patent No. 7,473,420. The '420 patent, which is directed to a method of treating patients with stem cells obtained from adipose tissue, is Cytori's sixth U.S. patent. The San Diego-based biotech company is also named as an assignee on two U.S. patent application publications.
Cytori's announcement regarding the '420 patent follows the company's press release late last month announcing that the USPTO issued U.S. Patent No. 7,470,537. The '537 patent is directed to adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) for use in generating differentiated tissues and structures, producing molecules in culture, and providing cultured media to support the growth and expansion of other cell populations. While Cytori's release notes that the company has licensed the '537 patent from the University of California, no assignee is listed on the face of the '537 patent, and no assignment has been recorded for this patent.
According to Cytori's press release on the '420 patent, this patent, in conjunction with U.S. Patent No. 7,390,484, covers Cytori's Celution System technology for the bedside processing of stem and regenerative cells derived from adipose tissue. In particular, Cytori states that the '420 patent covers methods to combine the Celution System output with additives such as scaffolds, matrices, or other agents to increase therapeutic effect, optimize or localize cell delivery, enhance specific cell properties, or promote cell differentiation. In Cytori's announcement regarding the '537 patent, the company stated that this patent covers a population of stem cells, progenitor cells, and other replicating cells, which can be obtained from human adipose tissue. According to Cytori's website, adipose tissue has proven to be one of the richest sources of adult stem cells in the human body, containing more than a hundred times more stem cells per unit volume than bone marrow.
The '420 patent issued from U.S. Application No. 10/614,431, filed July 7, 2003, which is a divisional of U.S. Application No. 10/316,127, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/338,856, filed December 7, 2001. Independent claim 1 of the '420 patent recites:
removing adipose tissue that comprises a cell population that comprises adipose-derived stem cells from a patient;
introducing the removed adipose tissue that comprises said cell population that comprises adipose-derived stem cells into a self-contained adipose-derived stem cell processing unit configured to maintain a closed pathway, wherein said self-contained adipose derived stem cell processing unit comprises:
a tissue collection container that is configured to receive adipose tissue that is removed from a patient, wherein said tissue collection container is defined by a closed system;
a first filter that is disposed within said tissue collection container, wherein said first filter is configured to retain a first component of said unprocessed adipose tissue and pass a second component of said unprocessed adipose tissue, such that said first filter separates said first component from said second component, and wherein said first component comprises a cell population that comprises adipose-derived stem cells and said second component comprises lipid, mature adipocytes, and saline;
a cell collection container, which is configured to receive said first component comprising a cell population that comprises adipose-derived stem cells from said tissue collection container, wherein said cell collection container is within said closed system;
a conduit configured to allow passage of said first component comprising a cell population comprising adipose-derived stem cells from said tissue collection container to said cell collection container while maintaining a closed system;
a cell concentrator disposed within said cell collection container, which is configured to facilitate the concentration of said first component comprising a cell population that comprises adipose-derived stem cells so as to obtain a concentrated population of cells that comprises adipose-derived stem cells, wherein said cell concentrator comprises a centrifuge or a spinning membrane filter; and an outlet configured to allow the aseptic removal of said concentrated population of cells that comprise adipose-derived stem cells;
separating and concentrating said cell population that comprises adipose-derived stem cells from said removed adipose tissue within said self-contained cell processing unit while maintaining said closed pathway; and
contacting said concentrated cell population that comprises adipose-derived stem cells with an additive.
The '537 patent issued from U.S. Application No. 10/740,315, filed December 17, 2003, which claims the benefit of a series of applications dating back to March 10, 1999. The '537 patent consists of three independent claims, which recite:
2. An isolated population of stem cells, obtained from human adipose tissue having a CD marker profile comprising
(a) STRO-1,
(b) CD49d,
(c) low or undetectable levels of CD106, and
(d) any one or more of CD29, CD44, CD71, CD90, SH3, and CD105, and
wherein the CD marker profile further comprises CD31-, and CD45-.
3. An isolated population of stem cells, obtained from human adipose tissue having a CD marker profile comprising a combination of STRO-1+, CD29+, CD44+, CD49D+, low or undetectable levels of CD106, CD71+, CD90+, CD105+, CD31-, and CD45-.
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