VitaGen Inc. plans to sponsor an air ambulance shuttle to transport patients with fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) for enrollment into an ongoing clinical trial testing an artificial liver at the University of Chicago Hospitals.
The trial is designed to test VitaGen's ELAD Artificial Liver, an extracorporeal liver assist device that incorporates a living functional human liver cell line. It is the first investigational device to use human liver cells instead of porcine cells and is designed for continuous therapy for up to ten days. The device provides temporary hepatic replacement therapy for patients with FHF until their own liver can regenerate or until a donor organ becomes available.
VitaGen hopes that the air ambulance shuttle service will provide the University of Chicago Hospitals with more support and greater access to patients. "These services should potentially increase enrollment into our clinical trial by making available our ELAD Artificial Liver to a broader geographic area," said C. Richard Piazza, president and chief executive officer of VitaGen.
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VitaGen
Carol Conlin, RN
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