Lipo patients can store fat stem cells

SAN DIEGO, May 16 (UPI) -- Patients having liposuction will soon be able to store their stem cells taken from excised fat, U.S. firm Bio-Matrix Scientific said Wednesday.

Bio-Matrix will be the first U.S. company to provide a commercial bank of "non-controversial," fat-derived adult stem cells, said the company's chairman and chief executive officer David Koos.

"Stem cell banking commercially in the United States has been focused around cord blood," he said in a statement. "Our big competitive advantage is that we anticipate being the first company to commercially bank adult stem cells. There are research entities that bank adult stem cells on a short-term basis strictly for research purposes. For commercial purposes -- namely patients wanting to store their stem cells -- we believe that we will be the first in the U.S. to do that."

Koos added," Because we've chosen adult stem cells derived from fat we feel we have a leg up in that competitive arena because we're going to be dealing directly with plastic surgeons, cosmetic surgeons and other professionals in the tissue management industry."

Bio-Matrix said it is also ramping up a second business focused on medical instruments for adult stem cell research and tissue management.