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Tissera Inc. (OTCBB:TSSR
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News)
reports that Prof. Yair Reisner, head of the department of
immunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science, who leads a
research project sponsored by the Company, was invited to give a
lecture at the CTS-IPITA-IXA-2007 joint conference held in
Minneapolis MN, USA on September 15-20. This prestigious conference
is a joint collaboration of the Cell Transplant Society (CTS), the
International Pancreas & Islet Transplant Association (IPITA) and
the International Xenotransplantation Association (IXA).
Prof. Reisner gave his lecture, entitled "Embryonic
Pig pancreatic precursor tissue as a potential source for
transplantation in Type 1 diabetes”, on September 19, as part of the
Simultaneous Symposia VIII Sessions of the conference. Those
Sessions are considered as one of the high points of scientific
achievement and excellence for the joint associations' collaboration
and are chosen by the Scientific Program Committee of the conference
in the areas of basic research, clinical research and clinical
updates.
In his lecture at the conference, Prof. Reisner
presented data of a study of pig embryonic pancreatic
transplantation in a non diabetic primate, in which a readily and
less invasive accessible site for implantation in the omentum was
shown to enable growth and development of the implanted tissue with
positive histological and vascular characteristics similar to those
observed in the Company previously reported successful diabetic
mouse model experiments.
As reported in previous Company publications, a major
issue addressed in the Company's primate studies is that of the
dosage of immune suppression treatment needed for the prevention of
graft rejection. Prof. Reisner reported preliminary results from an
ongoing large animal study, in which a milder well tolerated
immune suppression treatment was used in a diabetic animal. By the
twelfth week post transplantation, insulin requirements necessary
for the maintenance of near normal blood sugar levels were reduced
to around 10% of the initial insulin doses needed before
transplantation. The pig pancreatic origin of insulin production was
verified by the measurement of pig C-peptide in the primate's
blood in response to a glucose challenge.
Altogether, while longer follow-up and additional
experiments are required to further establish these data, the
preliminary results reported in Pr. Reisner's lecture are very
encouraging in that they show that satisfactory growth and function
of the transplanted embryonic pig pancreatic tissue can be obtained
under conditions of milder and well tolerated immune suppression
treatment.
About Diabetes Mellitus
Diabetes mellitus is a severe and
debilitating chronic disease that develops in nearly 5 percent of
the world’s population. People with this disease have a shortage of
insulin or a reduced ability to use insulin, the hormone regulating
blood glucose levels, which is normally produced by the pancreas. In
the United States alone, an estimated 18 million people have
diabetes, and each year about 1 million Americans are diagnosed with
the disease. It is the sixth leading cause of death in the US and
is responsible for over 200,000 deaths a year. Insulin-dependent
(type I) diabetes accounts for around 10% of diabetics. For those
patients, suffering from an inability of their pancreas to produce
insulin, the only practical treatment possible is regular insulin
replacement by multiple daily injections. Transplantation of a
pancreas or pancreatic tissue would be beneficial to millions of
such patients in that it would restore their normal ability to
produce self insulin. Transplantation of human pancreas or
pancreatic islets is a practiced and time-honored such therapeutic
approach, but is extremely limited by the severe shortage of human
donor organs. Tissera's R&D efforts in this domain are directed
towards the development of a universally available and reliable
source of animal fetal donor pancreatic precursor tissue, suitable
for transplantation and eventual normal structural and functional
growth in human diabetics.
About Tissera
Tissera is a biotechnology company
dedicated to the development of novel tissue precursor regeneration
technologies for treating gene deficiencies and diseases in which
organ transplantation is necessary, while minimizing the dosage of
immunosuppressive drugs. Tissera obtained the license for the
worldwide exclusive rights to the technology developed by Professor
Yair Reisner and his team at the Weizmann Institute of Science in
Israel. In this research, scientists successfully implanted in mice
embryonic human and porcine organ precursor tissues, which grew into
functional organs. This research was published in Nature Medicine
and attracted worldwide scientific and media attention.
For more information please visit
Tissera website:
www.tissera.com
About the Weizmann
Institute of Science:
The Weizmann Institute of
Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world's top-ranking
multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging
exploration of the natural and exact sciences, the Institute is home
to 2,600 scientists, students, technicians and supporting staff.
Institute research efforts include the search for new ways of
fighting disease and hunger, examining leading questions in
mathematics and computer science, probing the physics of matter and
the universe, creating novel materials and developing new strategies
for protecting the environment.
http://www/weizmann.ac.il
Safe Harbor Statement
"Statements in this
document that are not purely historical are forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements in this release include
statements regarding our developing technology into a useful
product, our moving forward with our plans for trials, and our plans
to expand the Company's infrastructure. Actual outcomes and our
actual results could differ materially from those in such
forward-looking statements. Such statements, including statements
regarding freedom to operate, patentability, infringement, clinical
trials, involve significant risks and uncertainties and actual
results could differ materially from those expressed or implied
herein. Factors that could cause such differences include, but are
not limited to, risks associated with new product development
(including clinical trials outcome and regulatory
requirements/actions), competitive risks to marketed products and
availability of financing that could cause actual results to differ
materially include risks and uncertainties such as the inability to
further finance our plans and unforeseen technical difficulties in
developing our technology, which could among other things, delay or
prevent product development and our planned results. For further
risk factors see the Company's 10-KSB filed with the SEC for our
latest fiscal year."
CONTACT:
Tissera Inc.
Dr. Uri Elmaleh
uri@tissera.com
+972-52-5716669
SOURCE:
Tissera, Inc.
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