Unicyte AG, a pioneering leader in human liver stem cells and nano-extracellular vesicles, announced today the formation of its inaugural Scientific Advisory Board with the appointments of Professors Giovanni Camussi, Camillo Ricordi and Paul Robbins.

The board will work closely with Unicyte’s management team to accelerate the company’s lead candidate programs for treating diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, diabetic nephropathy and renal cancer. In addition, it will provide scientific advice for the collaboration between Unicyte and Italy’s University of Turin, in order to foster innovation and new research programs.

“We are thrilled to establish a Scientific Advisory Board for Unicyte with some of the world's leading experts in regenerative medicine, diabetes, metabolic disease and aging as we move our therapeutic programs toward clinical validation,“ said Florian Jehle, CEO of Unicyte and Vice President, Technology & Innovation Management within Research & Development at Fresenius Medical Care.

Unicyte originated from the long-standing research collaboration between Fresenius Medical Care, the world's leading provider of products and services for individuals with renal diseases, and Professor Camussi, a top expert in nano-extracellular vesicles and stem cells at the University of Turin. Now an independent affiliate of Fresenius Medical Care, Unicyte has a broad preclinical pipeline focusing on kidney and liver disorders, diabetes and oncology, and will work with partners when needed to advance these therapeutic programs.

The three new members of the Scientific Advisory Board are all highly respected scientists, with international reputations for their research and extensive work on important scientific bodies:

• Giovanni Camussi is Professor and Chairman of Nephrology in the Internal Medicine and Medical Sciences departments at the University of Turin’s School of Medicine and Biotechnology. His research focuses on the purification and characterization of stem cell-derived nano-extracellular vesicles and the characterization of their coding and non-coding RNA (ribonucleic acid) molecules. In particular, he has investigated the paracrine action of nano-extracellular vesicles.
• Camillo Ricordi is Professor of Surgery and Director of the Diabetes Research Institute and the Cell Transplant Program at the University of Miami. He led the team that performed the first series of successful clinical islet allotransplants to reverse diabetes, a procedure now used worldwide by laboratories performing clinical islet transplants.
• Paul D. Robbins is Professor of Molecular Medicine at the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida and Director of its Center on Aging. His research focuses on developing therapeutic approaches to extend health and reduce frailty using mouse models of aging.¹

Dr. Daniel Gau, Unicyte’s Head of Business Development, said: “Our Scientific Advisory Board comes at the right time to endorse our leading position in the fields of human liver stem cells and nano-extracellular vesicles, as we are anticipating first partnerships for future commercialization. At the same time, the board will guide Unicyte in identifying new areas of focus and potentially disruptive therapies, for the benefit of our patients.”

¹The academic, scientific and research activities and posts of Professors Camussi, Ricordi and Robbins are listed in more detail in an appendix, which can be found in the PDF document.

Fresenius Medical Care, the world’s largest provider of dialysis products and services, is expanding its peritoneal dialysis (PD) product range with the introduction of two new dialysis fluids. Both products contain pure bicarbonate buffers and have considerably reduced amounts of glucose degradation products (UltraLow GDP). The new fluids – bicaVera® low calcium and bicaNova® – will allow therapy to be adjusted more precisely to the individual patient’s needs in terms of calcium or buffer concentration.

bicaVera® and bicaNova® regulate the acid-base balance through a pure bicarbonate buffer, while the low calcium concentrations in these PD dialysis fluids follow the recent International Society of Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD) guidelines.

The two new PD fluids were presented this month at the 2017 European Dialysis and Transplantation Association/European Renal Association (ERA-EDTA) congress in Madrid. They will be introduced in steps in several European markets.

In peritoneal dialysis, the lining of a patient’s abdominal cavity – the peritoneum – acts as the filter for cleaning the blood. Of the approximately 3 million dialysis patients around the world, about 350,000 choose peritoneal dialysis treatment.

Fresenius Medical Care offers a wide range of products for Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) and Automated Peritoneal Dialysis (APD). These include various dialysis fluids, bag systems, cyclers for APD, and the related bag and tube systems.

For medical professionals, more information about the peritoneal dialysis products of Fresenius Medical Care is available at www.freseniusmedicalcare.com/en/healthcare-professionals/peritoneal-dialysis/peritoneal-dialysis-overview/

Quirónsalud, a unit of Fresenius Helios, is investing about €40 million to build a proton beam therapy center in Madrid. Scheduled for opening in 2019, it will be the first facility of this type for treating cancer patients in Spain. Currently, every patient who can benefit from proton beam therapy must seek treatment outside the country. In proton beam therapy, the use of a high-energy beam allows tumors to be irradiated with lower total doses of radiation and reduced exposure to surrounding tissue compared with conventional radiation therapy. Quirónsalud will also modernize and expand its radiotherapy clinics in Palmaplanas (Mallorca) and Seville.

Fresenius Helios has laid the foundation stone for a new main building at HELIOS Hospital Dr. Horst Schmidt Kliniken in the German city of Wiesbaden, near Frankfurt. The seven-story structure, with 96,000 square meters (about 1 million square feet) of floor space, is being erected beside the existing clinic. It will have 22 operating rooms, more than 900 beds, and a design that significantly reduces distances and waiting times for patients. HELIOS is investing about €200 million in the new building, while the state of Hesse is contributing €68 million. Completion is scheduled for 2020.

A consortium led by Vamed has handed over the first new building at the University Hospital in Kiel. The new unit took less than four months to build and will house a haematology-oncology ward. The building is part of a comprehensive construction and modernization project at the hospital. Completion is scheduled for 2019.

The “Wir für Gesundheit” hospital network in Germany continues to grow: PlusCard, a supplementary company health insurance, will be accepted starting immediately at Klinikum Ingolstadt. With more than 1,000 beds, this hospital is one of the largest in the state of Bavaria. PlusCard offers employers various coverage options to provide employees with different levels of service and comfort. “Wir für Gesundheit” was formed by hospital operators Asklepios, Fresenius Helios and Rhön, and has more than 120 partner hospitals in Germany committed to comply with quality standards far higher than those required by law.

The emergency response and global health organization AmeriCares has presented its Power of Partnership Award to Fresenius Kabi USA. The annual award recognizes the company’s commitment to helping disaster survivors and improving health care access around the world. Fresenius Kabi has backed AmeriCares since 2010. The company has supported more than 400 volunteer medical outreach trips and donated enough medicine to fill more than 350,000 prescriptions for patients in need worldwide.

Fresenius Medical Care, the world’s largest provider of dialysis products and services, has established a subsidiary focusing on regenerative medicine. Unicyte AG will pursue research into kidney and liver diseases, diabetes and cancer, and will work with additional partners when needed to advance these projects.

Fresenius Medical Care has collaborated with the University of Turin since 2003. The first, groundbreaking result of their joint research under the direction of Prof. Giovanni Camussi, Scientific Director of the university’s Torino Stem Cell Project, was the isolation and characterization of a human stem cell population from an adult liver. These liver stem cells are easy to isolate, capable of being multiplied without limit and transferrable into various other cell types, making them a potential option for regenerative medicine.

Further important discoveries were functional pancreatic islets (which mimic the function of pancreatic cells) for the treatment of diabetes, and stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (particles that support communication between cells) for the treatment of kidney and liver diseases as well as cancer. The first research results were converted recently into preclinical development projects.

On the basis of the successful partnership with Prof. Camussi, a leading expert on extracellular vesicles and stem cell research, Unicyte is continuing the joint research. The company will pursue the development projects up until the stage of clinical studies on humans. The long-term goal is to improve the lives of kidney and liver disease, diabetes and cancer patients.

Prof. Gianmaria Ajani, Rector of the University of Turin, stated: “This is an outstanding example of collaboration between industry and science. It is not only driving the development of new technologies, but is providing an educational opportunity for young people. Unicyte will attract more international sponsors and investors, and in this way secure, long-term jobs can be created.”

Dr. Olaf Schermeier, Fresenius Medical Care’s CEO for Global Research and Development, said: “We are very excited to be extending our successful collaboration with Prof. Camussi and the University of Turin. This is the right point in time to focus the outstanding scientific research on indications where there is great medical need.”

Florian Jehle, CEO of Unicyte and Vice President, Technology & Innovation Management at Fresenius Medical Care, said: “The establishment of Unicyte AG is the logical step to translate the existing research collaboration on stem cells and extracellular vesicles into clinical programs. In this way, Fresenius Medical Care is bundling its regenerative medicine research for selected indications.”

Prof. Camussi, Scientific Director of the Torino Stem Cell Project, stated: "The expectations for stem cell research have grown in recent years, but a rigorous scientific process is essential to developing targeted therapies while maintaining ethical standards. To develop sound clinical applications, our research must be reproducible and scientifically verifiable.”

Fresenius Medical Care, the world’s largest provider of dialysis products and services, has launched the 6008 CAREsystem for the treatment of patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). This new dialysis therapy system incorporates Fresenius Medical Care’s highest therapy standards while optimizing dialysis treatment and improving economic efficiency. Most importantly, it minimizes the number of risk-related handling steps and reduces complexity in therapy delivery.

The 6008 CAREsystem was introduced to specialists at the European Dialysis and Transplantation Association / European Renal Association (EDTA/ERA) conference in Vienna, which ended yesterday.

Dominik Wehner, Fresenius Medical Care’s Chief Executive Officer for Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: "The innovative 6008 CAREsystem is the next step in our Cardioprotective Hemodialysis concept: It offers a streamlined design to deliver advanced dialysis therapy more easily, leaving more time for direct patient care. As a result, more patients can benefit from improved outcomes and a higher level of care quality."

To enable significantly reduced complexity in therapy delivery, Fresenius Medical Care has developed a new, all-in-one disposable with completely pre-connected bloodlines for all treatment modalities.

Dr. Olaf Schermeier, the company’s Chief Executive Officer for Global Research and Development, stated: "Leveraging leading-edge technology, the new 6008 CAREsystem is designed to support physicians and caregivers. The reduction in the number of risk-related handling steps, and in the interactions required during the set-up and disconnection phases, reduce the pressure on staff and create an improved experience for the patient."

The numerous innovations built into the 6008 CAREsystem combine to create an enhanced dialysis therapy that enables better overall care for patients with chronic kidney failure. The 6008 CAREsystem also reduces the volume and weight of generated waste, making it even more cost-efficient and environmentally friendly.

The dialyzer (sometimes described as the "artificial kidney") and the dialysis machine are the two most important products in hemodialysis. While the dialyzer filters the patient’s blood, the dialysis machine pumps it and monitors its circulation outside the body. The machine also maintains the composition of the dialysis solution and introduces anticoagulants into the blood. Dialysis treatments generally last three to six hours, and are usually carried out three times a week.

More than half of all dialysis machines used worldwide are made by Fresenius Medical Care.

Chloramphenicol Sodium Succinate Injection, an antibiotic, expands Fresenius Kabi's anti-infective portfolio.