I think that may have been me.My understanding is that using...

I think that may have been me.

My understanding is that using beta cells harvested from organ donors (cadavers) has always been the standard way of sourcing.

So putting it bluntly, unfortunately there likely still won’t be enough people (specifically organ donors) dying each year for this to be possible. What BTM MIGHT help do is help make the transplants stretch further - one transplant currently require 2-3 donors and might last x many years. If BTM could help stretch it a few more years, that is helpful. There’s also research into single donor islet transplants (improving either harvesting efficiency, or minimising cell loss once implanted, etc). That could compound this.

I’ve said this before but BTM is ONE piece in a HUGE puzzle. It won’t add meaningfully to sales until other pieces click into place. I don’t know how common islet transplants are now, but there were 750 WORLDWIDE in the 12 years from 2000-2012. That’s not many (and not much BTM either)

If you do a search for “growing islet cells in a lab”, JDRF outlines the some research there. That, if cost isn’t prohibitive, would solve the islet supply issue.

Then there’s the still immunosuppressants issue. It is generally considered not even worthwhile to perform an islet transplant because it would require taking immunosuppressant drugs as long as the islet cells function. Genetically modified hypoimmune beta cells would solve this. THEN it might be time for BTM to shine.

The main reason for the study is to explore one more place that we can stick the cells in. That’s it. The neodermis is ideal because there’s a large surface area and it’s very accessible - easy to put in, easy to monitor, and easy to retrieve cells if needed. But its critical shortcoming is low oxygen tension (cells don’t get enough oxygen, they would usually be sitting right on numerous central veins and arteries connected straight to the heart) and low vascular density. Here, they are simply not viable, so the liver tends to be the preferred site. I presume the hope of thi: study is that BTM can do such an incredible job of vascularising the cells that it overcomes this.

If using BTM to implant into the neodermis works, amazing, we have a proof of concept showing a new suitable (more suitable?) site to implant into. We can have that in our back pocket, and if one day the other puzzle pieces click into place, we’re off to the races with a new indication.

Part of me thinks that the main, immediate benefit to the company and us as shareholders, is simply as a proof of concept to show that PNV helps vascularisation better than any competition does. Helps with other indications.

I’m sorry if this post comes across a bit pessimistic, I’ve had a rough night diabetes wise. No one wants this to be a solution more than I do but there is still a long way to come before we get there.