X-Message-Number: 6399
From:
Date: Thu, 27 Jun 1996 08:03:42 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: SCI.CRYONICS Trans Time newsletter 2
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THE TRANS TIMES
Life Extension through Cryonic Suspension
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Volume 5 Number 3 June 1996
[SECOND HALF OF NEWSLETTER]
BioTime Products, Hextend9 (trademark) and Pentalyte9
(trademark), Presented at Medical and Scientific Meetings
Biotime, Inc. recently announced that Dr. George V. Letsou
presented the results of his research on ice-cold blood
substitution with Hextend, BioTime's blood plasma volume expander
and hypothermic blood substitute. In this study, whole body
perfusion with cold, oxygenated Hextend was shown to protect the
heart and brain of laboratory animals during four hours of deep
hypothermia. The presentation was made yesterday by Dr. Letsou at
the 76th Annual Meeting of the American Association For Thoracic
Surgery, held at the San Diego Convention Center. Dr. Letsou is
Associate Professor of Surgery at the Baylor College of Medicine
in Houston.
Dr. Letsou said "chilled blood substitution with Hextend can
potentially allow extended periods of time for surgery on the
heart and brain, during which circulation can be substantially
reduced, or even arrested. When adapted to clinical surgery,
these techniques should prove valuable in the repair of aneurysms
of the aorta and the cerebral circulation, and in reducing the
body temperature of transplant donors before removal and
transplantation of vital organs."
Dr. Letsou's talk follows a series of presentations describing
research with Hextend made at the Experimental Biology '96
meeting held in April at the Washington Convention Center in
Washington, D.C. Dr. Roger Jacobs, Director of the Surgical
Research Laboratory at New York's Metropolitan Hospital Center,
reported on studies in which Hextend, and PentaLyte (a
physiologically balanced pentastarch-based solution recently
developed by BioTime for indications which require the
replacement of lesser volumes of blood compared to Hextend) were
substituted for more than 3/4 of the circulating blood of rats.
Results indicated that both solutions could adequately replace
blood volume, but that blood albumin and total protein levels
returned faster in the PentaLyte-hemodiluted animals compared to
those whose blood was diluted with Hextend.
Dr. Jacobs said "these findings suggest that PentaLyte may be
eliminated from the blood more quickly than Hextend. Since
overall survival of rats in which a large amount of their blood
volume was replaced by Hextend was slightly better than when the
replacement was with PentaLyte, PentaLyte may prove to be more
ideal for clinical use when smaller volumes of blood are lost, as
patients may more quickly restore smaller amounts of blood
constituents. However, when replacement of large amounts of blood
volume is necessary, it may be better to use a product such as
Hextend, which can endure longer in the circulation."
Stephen Kehrer, Director of BioTime's Surgical Research
Laboratory, also presented data at this conference which showed
that rats subjected to partial blood substitution after fasting
and severe cold stress were much more likely to survive if their
blood volume was maintained with Hextend than with a commercially
used plasma expander. Dr. Paul Segall, BioTime president and
chief executive officer, said "better survival in Hextend-treated
animals may be related to the higher blood glucose levels
observed. Hextend provides glucose whereas the commercially
available product does not. BioTime has submitted an
Investigational New Drug Application to the Food and Drug
Administration and is currently planning Phase III clinical
trials of Hextend for use in surgery in which large volumes of
blood are lost."
Additional research on the use of Hextend supplemented with cold-
protective agents was presented by Dr. Hal Sternberg, BioTime's
research vice president. He described experiments in which
hamsters were completely blood substituted at hypothermic
temperatures with BioTime solutions, and then placed in sub-zero
freezing baths for periods of up to two hours. These animals
reached deep body temperatures as low as -4 degrees C, and then
were revived to consciousness and reactivity. An analysis of
brain tissue immediately following revival indicated that
substantial freezing and thawing of the tissues of the brain had
occurred. Dr. Sternberg said "these experiments reveal that
mammals can survive--at least for short periods--partial freezing
of vital organs, if their blood is replaced with solutions which
guard against some of the damage caused by ice crystallization.
These studies suggest that techniques for maintaining a wide
variety of tissues and organs in frozen or partially frozen
states for extended time periods may be achievable when adequate
solutions and protocols are developed. This breakthrough could
lead to long term organ and tissue banking for transplantation."
BioTime, headquartered in Berkeley, California, is engaged in the
research and development of synthetic blood plasma volume
expanders and low temperature blood substitute solutions and
technology for use in surgery, emergency trauma treatment, the
preservation of organs awaiting transplant, and other
applications.
TRANS TIME is the only cryonics firm that uses cryonic suspension
solutions based upon BioTime's formulations.
BioTime Stock Goes into Orbit
by Art Quaife, Ph.D.
Back in 1988, TRANS TIME was one of the initial investors in
Cryomedical Sciences, along with Drs. Paul Segall, Hal Sternberg,
and Harold Waitz. When our colleagues withdrew from Cryomedical
in 1991, we sold most of our shares for a $500,000 profit. We
exchanged a few shares for shares in BioTime, Inc., newly formed
by the same principals.
BioTime (BTIM-NASDAQ) went public in 1992 at $8.00 per share,
when biotechnology stocks were hot. Then biotechnology went cold,
and BioTime stock went even colder. It fell steadily until last
September, when it hit a low of $1.25. Since then, the stock has
exploded. It closed May 31 at $22.25. This is an increase of
1,700% in eight months. The market capitalization of BioTime is
now about $55,000,000.
The principal news during this period was that BioTime has filed
an Investigational New Drug application with the FDA to begin
Phase III pivotal clinical trials of its Hextend(trademark) blood
substitute. They are negotiating with the FDA concerning an
optimal protocol for these trials.
TRANS TIME's shares of BioTime are currently worth about
$450,000. In addition to the above-mentioned colleagues, we also
congratulate and thank the other BioTimers: Victoria Bellport,
Judy Segall, Stephen Kehrer, Eddie Monroe, and Bruce Cohen.
While we are delighted with this explosion in stock value, this
article should not be taken as a recommendation to purchase their
stock. The issue is undergoing a speculative frenzy, and BioTime
still has no significant revenues. If you are interested in their
stock, first contact them at 510-845-9535 for an annual report.
Introducing: AutoForm Service
Making complete arrangements for cryonic suspension requires
filling out a lot of forms. The significant undertaking of making
legal arrangements that we hope will keep you in suspension for
hundreds of years, if necessary, requires a fair amount of legal
paperwork.
Over the years, we have made ongoing efforts to streamline the
forms as much as possible. Still, some of our emergency
responsibility clients have not yet filled out the necessary
paperwork. If they die tomorrow, we will probably not be able to
do anything for them. We do not have responsibility for
suspending patients who have not provided the required funding
and forms.
Our current legal package contains eleven forms, of which five
are necessary and six are optional. We have just developed our
AutoForm Service as a significantly streamlined approach to
filling out these forms. Instead of filling out eleven forms,
you just fill out *one* master form. Our computers will use the
master information you supply to fill out the eleven forms for
you. This eliminates a lot of duplicated effort on your part.
For example, rather than filling in your name and address eleven
times, you now just do it once. This procedure also has the
benefit of producing professional documents where all the
information is typeset, rather than handwritten in over an
underline blank.
After you return your MasterForm, we will then send you the
completed forms for your signature. If our filled-in versions
don't correctly reflect your choices, we will be happy to rerun
the forms generation program until the documents come out to your
satisfaction.
Simply return the enclosed Enrollment Form for Emergency
Responsibility with your check, and we will promptly send the
MasterForm to you.
Upcoming Meeting
TRANS TIME holds bimonthly business meetings at which visitors
are welcome. The next meeting will be the Annual Meeting of
Shareholders, scheduled for Sunday, July 14, 1:00 p.m. at:
The Home of Judy and Paul Segall
1003 Middlefield Road
Berkeley, CA 94708
(510) 644-3153
Subscribe to THE TRANS TIMES!
Please begin my subscription to THE TRANS TIMES. I enclose ____
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Send to: TRANS TIME, INC., 10208 Pearmain Street, Oakland, CA
94603. (510) 639-1955
End of an Era
by Art Quaife, Ph.D.
The mighty FreezeMobile is no more. We have sold the TRANS TIME
van.
TRANS TIME incorporated in 1972. At that time we were working
closely with Fred and Linda Chamberlain, who had recently
incorporated Manrise Corp. Both companies planned to build their
suspension ipment into a large van, so that we could carry out
suspensions anywhere. I managed to locate two large twin walk-in
vans, and bought one for TRANS TIME and one for Manrise. We put a
snappy paint job on our van, and tiled the interior. Manrise
outfitted their van with suspension equipment, and when Fred's
father deanimated in 1976, he was suspended in their van.
>From their experience, we learned that use of a van for
suspensions was not satisfactory. The van is just too cramped for
many people to work in at the same time, especially trying to
maintain sterile procedure. It isn't realistic to believe that
one can conduct all phases of suspension in a van parked at a
remote location. Thus we never proceeded with further outfitting
our van, and instead used it for occasional hauling.
For many years, the van was parked in my driveway on Spruce
Street in Berkeley. At that time I regularly attended singles
parties. To the opening question "What do you do?," I would
answer "I am a professional immortalist. I head a cryonics
company." The reply was frequently "Have you seen that van parked
on Spruce Street? Do you know what's inside of it?" Rumors
floated through the neighborhood that we had frozen bodies stored
in it. The van became a Berkeley landmark.
Since we moved to Oakland in 1986, the van has been parked in
back of our facility and used for storage. We have not been
getting any benefit from it as a billboard, and it has been
rusting away, so we recently sold it.
[PHOTO OMITTED]
Rest In Peace: TRANS TIME FreezeMobile (1973-1996)
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