Sugar Land, Tx. (Apr 6, 2023) – As Houston-area biotechnology company Hope Biosciences marks their seventh year of service, the team remains is fixated on other numbers—numbers of mesenchymal (adult) stem cells cultured, countries served, new products launched, and FDA-authorized clinical research studies supported thus far.
The answers, a testament to that very team? Four-hundred-and-four billion stem cells cultured since inception, 140 billion in this seventh year; five countries served; three new products launched; and more than 35 research studies supported to date.
“Our mantra continues to be ‘accessibility’,” expounds Donna Chang, CEO, Hope Biosciences, LLC. “Seeing our cells accessed through an increasing array of well-designed, well-executed trials is extremely rewarding, and gives us a glimpse of what the future looks like. I reflect on the last year with joy and hope—from banking newborn stem cells from the Philippines, to providing cells for FDA-authorized research at multiple locations, we’ve done a lot! We are privileged to benefit from formation of relationships that will help us do even more in the year to come.”
It was an exciting year in the community for Chang and her team, who were particularly active at educational events—she attended national biotechnology conferences and university roundtables, while team members shared Hope with the community at college health expos and career fairs, and city health events. There was even time to squeeze in a morning to talk to local middle schoolers their career day earlier in the year, and usher in fall by sponsoring an artist at the Kerrville Chalk Festival.
Meanwhile, Hope Biosciences’ stem cells remained at work in an expanding scope of FDA-authorized research in a variety of clinical settings, including hospitals, universities, and non-profit research organizations. Studies in COVID-19, “Post-COVID” Syndrome, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, traumatic brain injury, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), primary lateral sclerosis (PLS), cerebral palsy, and spinal cord injury continued, with additional work beginning in polyneuropathy, muscular dystrophy, lupus, chronic musculoskeletal pain, severe osteoarthritis, and psoriatic arthritis. Impacts were shared widely in peer-reviewed science journals, as a previous Stem Cell Research and Therapy piece on Hope Bio’s work in rheumatoid arthritis was joined by Journal of Translational Autoimmunity coverage of Hope Biosciences’ cells countering lupus. Results from a traumatic brain injury trial at UTHealth and “Long Haul” COVID trials using Hope Bio’s cells are forthcoming.
More people than ever before came through the doors, as Hope Bio grew their local client base in addition to welcoming stem cell bankers from new countries. Several “pop-up shop” days allowed customers to purchase Hope Bio’s latest innovation in skincare, Wondercell gel. Hope Bio enthusiastically accommodated a nearly threefold increase in requests for tours, including student groups from Houston Christian University, University of Houston, several local high schools, and a night with the Fort Bend County Chamber of Commerce.
“Post-COVID, I see people who want to take control of their health and their healthcare seeking out Hope Biosciences,” reflects Julie Joo, Operations Director, among Hope Biosciences’ longest-tenured team members. “They know cell therapy can not only help in the fight against degenerative disease, illness, and injury, but that access to biotechnologies like ours are part of the solution to the fiscal and social challenges plaguing our country’s healthcare system. I am glad to be here, every day working hard to make accessibility a reality in our country.”
The sense of pride and gratitude is echoed by others at Hope Bio.
“I have the privilege of translating Hope’s work into imagery,” explains videographer Taylor Smith, in his fourth year on Hope Bio’s communications team. “To me, the optimal images, narrative, and music carry power to speak strongly to clients and supporters from many backgrounds, seeking out cell therapy for a wide variety of reasons. I want to provide them hopeful moments grounded in clear, accurate information. The magnitude of what we do, how we do it, and why always strikes me; if I do my job to the best of my ability, hopefully it impacts you, too.”
Hope Biosciences is a biopharmaceutical company developing adult stem cell therapeutics for a variety of clinical indications, and the only clinical grade adult stem cell banking facility in the nation serving both adults and newborns. Founded in 2016, Hope Biosciences banks pure mesenchymal stem cells harvested from adult fat or from a newborn’s placenta. How stem cells are preserved, nourished, and grown influences whether those cells can be effectively used when patients need them. A patented process allows Hope Bio’s cell culturists to generate more than 1,000 doses of fresh, pure, undifferentiated cell therapy treatments for each client, exponentially more than any individual can be projected to use in a lifetime. The volume of cells is important because Hope Bio’s research shows that repeated treatments are needed over time to treat chronic disease or injury. Hope Bio’s technology also creates a five-day cell viability window, unprecedented in stem cell culturing, which means Hope Biosciences can confidently ship stem cells throughout the continental United States and, as proved this year, far beyond.
Hope Biosciences occupies a unique position in the regenerative medicine space, noteworthy both for patented cell culture methods and effectiveness getting cells to patients through robust collaboration with academic and clinical research organizations. A proprietary cell culturing process makes Hope Biosciences the gold standard in producing high volume, consistent, repeatable mesenchymal stem cells for clinical purposes; Hope Biosciences actively partners with organizations and teams in need of cellular products for in vitro, preclinical, and clinical projects. To date, stem cells cultured at Hope Biosciences have been and are at work in more than 35 FDA-authorized studies.
Learn more about Hope Biosciences at www.hope.bio.