Regenerative Medical Solutions, Inc., is a start-up biotechnology company originating from Dr. Jon Odorico’s laboratory’s academic research at the University of Wisconsin. We were founded in 2012 with a vision to harness the regenerative property of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to produce pancreatic β (beta) islet cells to cure diabetes.
Diabetes is the result of the pancreas producing too little or no insulin (Type 1 diabetes) or the failure of organs to respond to insulin properly which ultimately leads to beta cell exhaustion and demise (Type 2 diabetes) and is the world’s fastest growing disease. Diabetes represents a global health crisis with more than 400 million people across the world affected by it. It is estimated by the American Diabetes Association that one person is diagnosed with diabetes every 17 seconds and that every 6 seconds a person dies from diabetes. According to the Centers for Disease Control, one out of every three Americans will have type 2 diabetes by 2050, illustrating the urgency of a successful therapeutic for diabetes. As of 2018, approximately 34.2 million Americans (10.5% of the population) suffered from diabetes, resulting in direct medical costs of $237 billion. About 90-95% of 34.2 million Americans are affected by Type 2 Diabetes (T2D). Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) afflicts approximately 1.6 million Americans.
Although delivery of recombinant insulin is a life-saving therapy for many patients, it is imperfect. Fewer than 1 in 3 patients currently achieve recommended levels of blood glucose control resulting in diabetes-related complications. This lack of proper blood glucose control, even among patients with access to adequate diabetes care, underscores the fact that it is extraordinarily difficult for artificial systems such as insulin pumps and insulin injections to recapitulate the exquisite sensitivity and responsiveness of the body’s own insulin delivery system, the pancreatic beta cell. Therefore, replacement of the beta cells that are destroyed in T1D patients with beta cells from another source has remained a therapeutic goal of T1D therapy. It is well known that many patients with T2D ultimately develop exhausted beta cells which eventually die rendering the patient relatively insulin deficient. Increasingly pancreatic transplants are being performed for T2D across the US. Surgical β cell replacement treatments, such as pancreas or islet transplantation, supply functional β cells to effectively regulate blood glucose; yet, patients frequently suffer from surgical complications, immunological rejection, immunosuppressive medication side effects and toxicities, including cancer and infections. Furthermore, the current shortage of allogeneic pancreas and islets from cadaver organ donors severely limits the number of patients that can receive a transplant (<1000 per year in the US) and unfortunately fails to address the severe burden of this disease which afflicts hundreds of millions of patients. In conclusion, the unmet needs to manage, treat and cure diabetes are high and represent an opportunity for RMS to cure diabetes and become a successful biotechnology company that will continue to harness the power of stem cells for therapeutic applications.
Regenerative Medical Solutions (RMS), a privately-owned company operating near Madison, Wisconsin, has assembled a team of experts under the leadership of renowned stem cell researchers to develop a protocol to grow healthy and resilient pancreatic cells.
