Blog | HemaCare

An independent study published by the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston TX cites using HemaCare PBMCs to take a closer look at the SARS-CoV-2 virus to identify which of its peptide sequences would make the most effective vaccine targets.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the primary goal for scientists across the globe was to save lives by developing a safe, working vaccine as quickly as possible. To that end, they succeeded admirably; with several vaccines approved, doctors finally have a powerful way to fight back against this deadly disease.

Scientists in Japan created a new tool to study how cancer cells will hide in the body, making it easier to create new cancer cells after treatment.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, cancer is one of the top 5 causes of death in developed countries. Although many advances have been achieved regarding treatment options for different types of cancer, preventing recurrence and bolstering long-term survival in patients with advanced forms of cancer remains a challenge. The persistence of cancer stem cells in the body, which are resistant to conventional treatments, appears to be an important factor leading to cancer recurrence.

Researchers involved in the clinical investigation of a new COVID-19 vaccine cited using HemaCare healthy donor starting materials for their study.

The scientists, most of whom work at ImmunityBio in Culver City, CA, are conducting a Phase 1 clinical trial for their new dual-antigen COVID-19 vaccine. ^[1]

A new publication by scientists at the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult in the UK cites the use of HemaCare-sourced CD3+ T cells for their cancer immunotherapy research.

The successful commercialization of gene-modified cell therapies relies in part on being able to manufacture a consistent product. Many cell and gene therapy developers use lentiviral vector delivery systems to impart the therapeutic gene modifications necessary to making their therapies effective.

An independent publication cites the use of HemaCare-sourced PBMC as starting material for an assay designed to screen for factors that enhance anti-tumor cytotoxic T cell activity. ^[1]

The paper, published in the renowned scientific journal Nature, reports the study results of a scientific team working at Novartis in San Diego. Their goal is to develop a discovery platform that more closely mimics the in-vivo tumor microenvironment.