Sernova has provided an update on trials of its Cell Pouch System – an implantable and scalable medical device which forms a natural environment in the body for therapeutic cells which release necessary proteins or factors to treat chronic diseases, including diabetes.
Last week, Sernova implanted two patients in its second cohort with its 10-channel Cell Pouch, which has 50% more islet capacity than the eight-channel Cell Pouch used in the first study cohort. This higher dose of cells spreads the treatment out within the device chambers, which Sernova believes can increase the efficacy even further.
Patients receive the Sernova Cell Pouch device implant under the skin of the belly area, at the level of the muscle under the fat tissue and Sernova claims that patients do not really notice it is there because of how deep the implant is.
Although a major problem with implanted devices is the body’s response to ‘wall it off’, islets in the trial managed to survive and produce insulin with the Sernova Cell Pouch because the device enables tissue to grow into it, become a part of the body and hence not be rejected.
Sernova aims to develop an implantable device for the treatment of insulin-dependent diabetes and reports that the technology is “rapidly moving towards the clinic.”
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