In this episode, Marty discusses business in Maryland with Elaine E. Haynes, President and CEO of KaloCyte, Inc., a pre-clinical biotech startup developing a synthetic red blood cell substitute.

KaloCyte, Inc., a preclinical-stage healthcare biotechnology company developing a synthetic, bio-inspired red blood cell substitute for use in settings when stored red blood cells are not available, has been selected to present this week at both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Innovation Conference (NIC) and the Life Sciences Summit (LSS) in New York City.

New Center for Blood Oxygen Transport & Hemostasis will develop diagnostics and therapeutics that could revolutionize emergency and critical care medicine. 

The BioPark also offers a community of people who are working on similar companies in similar areas.

“We’re delighted to be here,” Haynes said. “It’s been clear that the community is happy to have us here and is motivated to help us be successful, the university in particular.”

Baltimore’s proximity to key stakeholders, like research institutions and the government, also played a role in the move, Haynes said.

A small biotechnology company developing a synthetic blood for use when supplies are low or unavailable is moving to Baltimore from St. Louis and affiliating with the University of Maryland BioPark.

During a trauma, blood loss is the leading cause of preventable death, but bags of blood aren’t always available, such as on the battlefield or at a mass casualty scene. There is no real blood substitute, though some products are in the works.

ErythroMer, the blood product created by the Missouri biotechnology firm KaloCyte, is in development and could be tested in humans in two to three years, the company reports. If proved safe and effective, it could become the only such blood substitute able to be freeze-dried for longer-term storage and transport.

That would make ErythroMer more useful in military or domestic trauma settings, as well as in developing countries, company officials said.

As announced last week, the team that is commercializing a synthetic blood product relocated from St. Louis to downtown Baltimore, with the company taking up residence at UMB and joining the University of Maryland BioPark as an affiliate.

Nearby, at the campus’ University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), cofounder Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Allan Doctor is directing the recently formed Center for Blood Oxygen Transport & Hemostasis (CBOTH), while cofounder Dr. Dipanjan Pan is leading nanobiofabrication at the center and become a professor at UMSOM and University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

KaloCyte joins as an affiliate of the university’s BioPark, or biomedical research park, with the goal of bringing its synthetic red blood cell substitute to market. The product, called ErythroMer, is designed to take the place of blood in trauma situations or other times when it may be unavailable.

A St. Louis biotechnology company backed by $6 million in funding has relocated to a small space in one of the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s research facilities.

KaloCyte joins as an affiliate of the university’s BioPark, or biomedical research park, with the goal of bringing its synthetic red blood cell substitute to market. The product, called ErythroMer, is designed to take the place of blood in trauma situations or other times when it may be unavailable.