Pluristem's PLacental eXpanded (PLX) Cells

Pluristem’s PLX cells are being developed as allogeneic therapeutic products. Pluristem retrieves mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) from the placenta (obtained after birth) and places these cells in its proprietary PluriX™ Bioreactor System. The PluriX™ Bioreactor expands these cells over several weeks. After expansion, the MSCs are separated from the culture used in the PluriX™ Bioreactor. These separated cells are known as Placental eXpanded (PLX) cells . Following production, PLX cells are stored “ready to use” and shipped to hospitals or clinics for use as a primary or adjuvant cellular therapy.

PLX cells have been found to possess favorable characteristics that Pluristem believes will allow these cells to be used in the treatment of a variety of disorders. These characteristics include the PLX cell’s ability to be not only immune privileged but immuno-suppressive, both favorable immunological qualities that should help prevent and even treat the rejection reactions that so often occur with transplantation. Additionally, Pluristem has evidence to suggest that PLX cells are totipotent and able to evolve into a variety of tissue types, including bone, cartilage, muscle, tendon, ligament and the supporting environment for hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Therefore, Pluristem believes their proprietary PLX cells may be useful in a spectrum of diseases including hematological malignancies, limb ischemia, neurological disorders and orthopedic injuires.

A depiction of this process is provided in Figure 7.

Figure 7

Pluristem's process of developing PLX-BMT