Edmonton & Ottawa-based startup offers game-changing product for cryopreservation process
Everyone knows that freezing things is an imperfect process. Take frozen food, for example – most have experienced those frozen ice crystals that change the texture and taste of their favourite meal.
The medical field experiences a similar problem when freezing cells (stem cells) and tissues, except the result is cellular death or lower quality.
Two GlycoNet investigators founded a startup company, PanTHERA CryoSolutions, to commercialize a revolutionary product for the cryopreservation, or freezing, of cells and tissues, resulting in better quality cells for cellular therapies and superior products.
“Cryopreservation is a common strategy, but the technology that was developed to do it is 70 to 80 years old,” explains Dr. Robert Ben (University of Ottawa), who co-founded PanTHERA CryoSolutions with Dr. Jason Acker (Canadian Blood Services / University of Alberta).