A new and innovative method to extract adipose stromal vascular fraction: application in post-prostatectomy erectile dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a significant and common medical problem which impairs quality of life of men and their partners. ED is a frequent complication after a radical prostatectomy (RP) due to surgical treatment for prostate cancer. For this condition, ED represents a significant unmet medical need, since there is no efficient treatment to repair the cellular damages following a RP. Clinical implementation of stem cell treatment represents a potential candidate for ED treatment after RP. Adult progenitor cells extracted from adipose tissue, called Stromal Vascular Fraction (SVF) have shown promising results in preclinical and clinical studies to treat post-RP ED. STEMCIS has developed a unique kit to isolate the adipose cells which hold the potential to cure post-prostatectomy ED by regenerating the damaged tissues. MECADISTEM comes in the form of a single-use kit that includes all the tools necessary to simply and rapidly (less than 30 minutes) extract adipose tissue progenitor cells mechanically (grinding, centrifugation, filtration). Compared to the state-of-the-art alternatives using “collagenase (enzymatic) digestion”, MECADISTEM does not require the use of enzymes, avoiding the problems and constraints imposed by the use of this enzymatic digestion and offering substantial time and money savings, on both technical and surgical operations. Having validated this methodology in preclinical study, this project is planned to finalise the development and market preparation of this kit. In this Phase 1 Feasibility Study, we aim to evaluate the main milestones of the project from a technical, commercial and financial point of view. Once in the market, MECADISTEM will be used by urologists and surgeons to cure ED in patients following a RP, where the current therapies have not been proven effective. It will secure the growth for STEMCIS, expecting to gain over €12 million in profits, hire 6 new people and reach a ROI of €6.28 from this project after 5 years.