Emmaus Life Sciences, Inc. and CellSeed, Inc. are working jointly to develop and commercialize regenerative corneal epithelial sheets in the United States, a technology called “Cell Sheet Engineering” that has restored the vision of patients with limbal stem cell deficiency in clinical trials conducted in Europe. Under the terms of the agreement, Emmaus Life Sciences and Cellseed will conduct clinical trials to seek Food and Drug Administration approval for use by patients in the United States.
The treatment is based on Cellseed’s technology of cell sheet engineering, a method for taking small quantities of a patient's own progenitor cells and culturing them in a special cell culturing dish. When the cells have grown sufficiently to create a sheet of cells, they are transplanted back into the patient. If the transplant is successful, the cells will differentiate to replace the damaged cells and restore the functions that have been lost. By using the patient’s own cells, this technology reduces the risk of tissue rejection and avoids the need to wait for a donor.