West Virginia University Health System Selects Imagine Pharma to Provide Human Islet Isolation Services for Autologous Clinical Transplantation

First transplantation procedure successfully completed at Imagine Pharma's Cook MyoSite Facility

PITTSBURGH, May 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Imagine Pharma, a biotech company focused on advancing the commercialization of its novel IMG-1 polypeptide in Oral Delivery, Therapeutics, and Regenerative Medicine, announced today that the West Virginia University (WVU) Health System, which operates under the brand WVU Medicine, has awarded a contract to the Company to provide human clinical islet isolation services for patients undergoing a total pancreatectomy and autologous islet cell transplant (TPAIT). TPAIT is a surgical procedure to remove the diseased pancreas, harvest the insulin-secreting islet cells of the pancreas, then reinfuse or transplant those cells into the patient to manage blood sugar. Pancreatectomy without the islet transplant would result in diabetes or the inability to regulate blood sugar.

The WVU Health System is the state's largest health system and largest private employer, operating 21 hospitals. Its flagship hospital, WVU Medicine J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, has been nationally recognized as an approved NPF Center by the National Pancreas Foundation for its focus on multidisciplinary treatment of pancreatitis.

Imagine Pharma has successfully completed the first islet isolation procedure for WVU Medicine, which was performed by Imagine Pharma at the Cook MyoSite facility in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

"Autologous islet transplantation offers a reliable, scalable, cost-effective approach to chronic or total pancreatitis, providing patients with reduced pain and better quality of life," said Brian Boone, M.D., Surgical Oncologist at the WVU Cancer Institute and Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cell Biology at the WVU School of Medicine. "We are excited to work with Imagine Pharma as we grow our islet cell transplantation program."

"We look forward to working with the team at WVU Medicine to support their work in this critical area and contribute to better outcomes for their patients," said Dr. Rita Bottino, Director of Islet Services at Imagine Pharma, and an expert in the field of islet isolation.

About Imagine Pharma Islet Center
Imagine Pharma's Islet Center provides research-grade human isolated islets, tissue processing and related services to the diabetes research community. The Center currently supplies human islet cells as part of the Islet Integrated Distribution Program, (IIDP) and to support leading academic diabetes centers in the United States, including Vanderbilt University, Stanford University, University of Florida, Mt. Sinai Icahn School of Medicine in New York, the University of Pittsburgh and the Network for Pancreatic Donors with Diabetes (nPOD).

In addition to its Islet Isolation Center, Imagine Pharma's Islet Programs include islet consulting services; customized processing of pancreatic organs to provide both tissue biopsies as well as isolated islets; and on demand islet isolation from large mammal pancreatic organs. 

About Imagine Pharma
Imagine Pharma is a biotechnology company focused on developing its IMG-1 polypeptide. Research and development efforts have led to the development of three distinctive platforms for Oral Delivery, Therapeutics, and Regenerative Medicine, each with first-in-class programs that address multiple disease states in large, underserved markets. Imagine Pharma was recently selected as an approved Islet Isolation Center for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Integrated Islet Distribution Program. Imagine Pharma was founded in 2016 in Pittsburgh, PA. For more information visit: www.imaginepharma.com

About the West Virginia University Health System
The West Virginia University Health System is West Virginia's largest health system and the state's largest employer with more than 3,000 licensed beds, 4,000 providers, approximately 30,000 employees, and more than $5 billion in total operating revenues. The Health System is comprised of 21 hospitals – including J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, a 700-bed academic medical center, and the 150-bed WVU Medicine Children's Hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia – and five institutes. To learn more, visit WVUMedicine.org.

Media Contact
Imagine Pharma:
Hannah Davis
[email protected]

West Virginia University Health System: 
Heather Bonecutter
[email protected] 

SOURCE Imagine Pharma