FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 16, 2009
Contacts:
Kenneth Eilertsen, Ph.D.
Chuck Oehler
1-225-615-8954
kjenupotential@cox.net
oehlergp@chorus.net
WBTshowcase "Early Pick" Profile: NuPotential, Inc.
February 16, 2009 –Commercializing stem cell research is not easy. Scientists must overcome hurdles including the lack of a good source of reliable, safe progenitor cells, political controversy and cost inefficiencies. Yet award-winning researcher Dr. Kenneth Eilertsen, co-founder of Lousiana-based company NuPotential, claims to have overcome these hurdles by developing new paths for cell programming.
NuPotential’s technology will be presented at the 2009 WBTshowcase (WBT09), the prestigious global investment and licensing forum held this March in Arlington-DFW, Texas.
“A lot of work is in progrss to differentiate stem cells into specialized cells—brain cells, for example,” said Chuck Oehler, NuPotential Chairman and President. “But many of the current technologies are not yet commercially viable. An important first step is a cost-effective source of good progenitor cells.”
According to Oehler, a key benefit of NuPotential’s reprogramming technology, which modifies a patient’s own cells to a state where they can differentiate into a desired cell or tissue, is that neither embryonic cells nor easily-rejected foreign cells are needed.
“Where our technology stands out is that we use a biochemical rather than transgenic reprogramming method, thus eliminating the need for viral delivery,” said Oehler. “We avoid both immune issues and viral complications.”
Oehler also indicated that the company has made a few recent discoveries that appear to help make the technology more efficent and cost effective than competing approaches.
Snapshot:
NuPotential, Inc
Kenneth Eilertsen and Chuck Oehler launched NuPotential with an NIH SBIR Fast Track grant. They have since closed a multimillion-dollar venture capital round.
The Technology
NuPotential’s Reprogrammed Pluripotent Stem Cell™ technology differentiates patient cells into new cell types, providing non-embryonic, rejection-resistant cells to develop treatments for afflictions such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s.
The Opportunity
The cell therapy market is expected to grow dramatically from $26 B. in 2005 to $96 B. by 2015. NuPotential’s patent-pending new technology addresses industry challenges and will be monetized via collaborative alliances with cell therapy, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and internal therapeutics development.
The Goal
NuPotential seeks investment.
WBTshowcase
The WBTshowcase is the world’s premier event exposing undiscovered, revolutionary energy, life science, IT and physical science technologies emerging from top universities, labs and research institutions. Each WBT is a year long collaborative effort resulting in deals vetted and mentored by investors and licensees for investors and licensees.
www.wbtshowcase.com
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