Year: 2024

Ossium in the News

After we reported the first transplant with Ossium’s organ donor bone marrow, several news outlets published stories on this milestone and what it means for the future of stem cell accessibility. Across an array of national, local, and medical news sources, medical experts and journalists chimed in about the significance of this development, calling it a “game changer” (WIRED) and a “historic step forward” (ClickOnDetroit) for the field of stem cell transplantation. 

Links to the stories are below.

National News

WIRED | Bone Marrow Donors Can Be Hard to Find. One Company is Turning to Cadavers

Fox News | Leukemia Patient Receives First-Ever Bone Marrow Transplant from Deceased Organ Donor

Forbes | The Prototype: This Startup Aims to Expand Bone Marrow Availability

The Hustle Daily Show | This Bone Marrow Bank Startup Could Save Lives

Telemundo | Una Mujer es la Primera En Recibir un Trasplante De Médula Ósea de un Paciente Fallecido

Local News (Detroit)

ClickOnDetroit | Michigan Woman One of First in World To Successfully Receive Bone Marrow from Deceased Donor

Detroit Free Press | Flint Woman with Leukemia May Be 1st to get Stem Cell Transplant from Deceased Donor

Kalamazoo Mornings With Ken Lanphear | Gift of Life Michigan President Talks About her Organization’s Role in a Historic Medical Procedure

Medical News

Clinical Trials Arena | Ossium Treats First Leukaemia Patient in Cryopreserved Bone Marrow Trial

Becker’s Hospital Review | Henry Ford Health Patient Among 1st in World to Receive Deceased Donor Bone Marrow Transplant

Ossium Health Secures BARDA Contract to Advance Bone Marrow Bank for Radiological and Nuclear Emergencies

Ossium Health, a commercial-stage bioengineering company with the first-of-its-kind bone marrow bank for processing and deploying stem cell-based therapies, today announced the signing of a contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to advance the company’s ready-to-use bone marrow for national emergency preparedness. The contract, initially funded at $21 million for its base period, has the potential to reach a total value of $125 million with additional options spanning five years.

Read the full press release here.

Ossium Health Reports Positive Initial Outcomes for First Ever Leukemia Patient Treated with Organ Donor Derived Bone Marrow

Ossium Health, a clinical-stage bioengineering company that built a first-of-its-kind organ donor-derived bone marrow bank to deploy hematopoietic stem cells for blood cancer treatment, announced positive preliminary outcomes for its first leukemia patient.

In Detroit, a 68-year-old female diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia required an urgent bone marrow transplant following an unsuccessful four-month search for a matching donor. Doctors at Henry Ford Health collaborated with Ossium in June to obtain and use Ossium’s stem cell product to treat the patient. Specifically, the patient received an infusion of 5.27 million CD34+ cells per kilogram of body weight from a donor that was a 4/8 HLA match to the patient. The doctors reported neutrophil engraftment by day 16 post-transplant and platelet engraftment by day 21. There have been no reported product-related adverse events to date.

Read the full press release here.

Ossium Ranks No. 56 on Fast Company’s 100 Best Workplaces for Innovators

Fast Company announced its sixth annual Best Workplaces for Innovators list, honoring organizations and businesses that demonstrate an inspiring commitment to encourage and develop innovation at all levels. Ossium came in at No. 56 for its company culture that encourages innovation from every corner of the organization. In addition, Ossium is a finalist on the biotech list.

“We pride ourselves in serving as a top workplace for innovators,” said Kevin Caldwell, Ossium’s CEO, Co-Founder & President. “Our business is built on the revolutionary idea of building a vast bone marrow bank that solves a critical infrastructure problem to save thousands of lives. We’ve taken daring steps to turn this bold idea into a reality. As we scale, we continue to benefit from our organizational culture that empowers employees to blaze new trails to help advance our mission.”

The 2024 Best Workplaces for Innovators list ranks 100 winners from a variety of industries, including entertainment, biotech, consumer packaged goods, marketing, education, healthcare, and many more.
“Innovation is a global priority that cuts across all industries, and this year’s list reflects that diversity,” said Brendan Vaughan, editor in chief of Fast Company. “The top ten features four companies headquartered outside of the U.S. and includes representatives from technology, advertising, finance, biotech, pharmaceuticals, ecommerce, and the nonprofit sectors.”

Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators issue (Fall 2024) is available online now, and the print issue will be on newsstands beginning September 17, 2024. To see the complete list, go to https://www.fastcompany.com/best-workplaces-for-innovators/list.

Ossium is currently searching for innovators to fill open roles at its headquarters in San Francisco and its production facility in Indianapolis. To learn more about these open positions, visit https://ossiumhealth.com/careers/.

First Surgery with OssiGraft Prime Highlights its Exceptional Utility

Our next-generation viable bone matrix, OssiGraft Prime™, has been released and used in surgery for the first time.

OssiGraft Prime builds upon the success of Ossium’s established OssiGraft™ and incorporates innovative processing advancements. The result is a more cohesive product with a gum-like consistency precisely engineered to meet the demands of orthopedic and spine surgeons. The product’s optimized handling properties enable surgeons to precisely sculpt and apply the graft in the intended location with unprecedented precision and efficiency.

“OssiGraft Prime is by far the best product on the market. I actually said ‘wow!’ out loud in the OR when I handled it in surgery for the first time,” said Dr. Jason Piraino, a leader and educator in foot & ankle surgery. “This product exceeded my expectations. It’s moldable and stays exactly where you want it, which makes it ideal for minimally invasive surgery.”

The first surgery with OssiGraft Prime, an arthroscopic ankle fusion, required the graft to be precisely shaped and placed through a narrow incision, demonstrating the product’s unique value. Surgeons working with OssiGraft Prime benefit from its ability to consistently fill odd-shaped gaps and tight spaces, allowing them to push the boundaries of possibility in orthopedic procedures.

Read the full press release here.

Ossium featured in NYSE Floor Talk

Ossium CEO Kevin Caldwell recently visited the NYSE and was interviewed on the trading floor.

In Kevin’s conversation with the NYSE’s Judy Shaw, they discussed unmet needs and inequities in the current system for finding bone marrow donors and how Ossium is solving those problems by transforming the process for bone marrow donor acquisition. As Kevin summarizes, “the basic idea is to take these cell therapies that today are both very slow and consequently also very expensive and turn them into a scalable procedure that could ultimately benefit tens of thousands of patients around the world every year.”

The interview wraps up with a discussion of the potential for Ossium to utilize its unique bone marrow banking platform to improve treatments in other fields of medicine.

Check out the full interview below.

Ossium Launches HOPE Program

Ossium recently introduced a new program that further expands access to Ossium’s bone marrow to patients around the globe. Through the HOPE (HPC Offered for PRESERVE Expansion) Program, patients that need an allogeneic bone marrow transplant but cannot participate in Ossium’s active clinical study (PRESERVE I) have a new opportunity to receive bone marrow from Ossium’s bank.

The goal of Ossium’s PRESERVE trials is to establish organ donor bone marrow as a new source of stem cells for hematologic reconstitution and unlock access to stem cell transplants for the thousands of patients who search unsuccessfully for a donor each year. Ossium launched the HOPE Program after recognizing the sheer volume of patients that need a bone marrow transplant but are unable to participate in the PRESERVE I study due to its eligibility criteria or the patient’s geography.

“Thousands of patients in the US and tens of thousands abroad desperately need a bone marrow transplant but can’t find a donor,” said Kevin Caldwell, Ossium’s CEO, Co-Founder & President. “The HOPE Program is intended to fill that gap.”

For more details, read the press release.

Ossium Health Named to Forbes’ List of America’s Best Startup Employers

We’re proud to announce that we’ve been named to Forbes’ prestigious list of America’s Best Startup Employers! This recognition places us among the top 500 U.S. startups based on employee satisfaction, reputation, and company growth.

This award reflects our dedication to fostering a work environment that attracts and retains exceptional talent. Ossium employees are driven by the profound impact our work has on individuals battling life-threatening blood and immune diseases. Our team’s unwavering dedication fuels our progress towards our company mission: improving the health, vitality, and longevity of human beings through bioengineering.

See Ossium’s appearance on Forbes’ list of America’s Best Startup Employers here.