How The Personal Experience Of This Biotech Company's Leadership Became The Cornerstone Of Its Growth Story

BioStem Technologies Inc. BSEM is a biotechnology company in the cutting-edge regenerative medicine field focused on harnessing elements of perinatal tissue derived from the human placenta for manufacturing structural tissue allografts to heal wounds. 

Perinatal tissues are an abundant source of human extracellular matrix proteins, growth factors and small molecules with proven use in a wide range of therapeutic applications. Because of their placental origin, these tissues are known to possess unique biological properties, including being angiogenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic, anti-microbial and immune privileged, that make them ideal for producing wound-healing allografts.

Allografts can help solve many issues ranging from chronic wounds — a prevalent and costly problem in the US — to burns and surgical applications, and BioStem is on a mission to help.

How Did BioStem Come To Be?

BioStem CEO Jason Matuszewski and Chief Operating Officer Andrew Van Vurst co-founded the company in 2014.

Matuszewski, who holds a degree in mechanical engineering technology, had a passion for racing. As a young engineer, he worked with a race team, where he met Van Vurst’s father, also a racing aficionado, at the track. 

When Van Vurst’s father developed side effects from radiation treatment for cancer, resulting in partial paralysis and speech impairment, Van Vurst returned from the military to explore treatment options that would help his father regain motor function,  speech and overall quality of life.

These included regenerative medicine, utilizing material derived from a human umbilical cord, that was being used to help restore tissues or organs damaged because of age, disease, injury or other issues.

In 2013, Van Vurst and his father discovered South Florida-based medical tourism company Caribbean International Holdings, which was offering stem cell treatments in the Dominican Republic.

The regenerative medicine therapy proved to be a great success for Van Vurst’s father, who regained his speech, vastly improved his motor skills and overall quality of life. Because the treatment was so successful, Van Vurst and his father developed a passion for regenerative medicine.

At the time, Matuszewski, who had worked as a technical engineer at SC Johnson and in manufacturing and quality engineering for ATI Ladish Forging, Nemak and HUSCO International Inc., was starting to get interested in biologic allografts through his work in material science.

And One Good Thing Led To Another

The trio invested in Caribbean International, taking control of the company in 2014 and continuing its medical tourism business in Mexico. 

After several pharmaceutical acquisition and sales, the trio realized that they wanted to refocus and go back to their roots in regenerative medicine to help people based on the experience Andrew’s father had.

In 2018, Matuszewski and Van Vurst embarked on the development of scalable, perinatal tissue-based products with the mission of “We Manufacture Products That Change Lives”. They acquired assets of ANU Life sciences to accelerate BioStem Technologies into a developer and manufacturer of tissue allografts. 

The development of BioStem’s proprietary BioRetain technology, which creates a dehydrated human amniotic membrane allograft from human placenta while preserving the natural integrity of amniotic tissue, got the ball rolling on BioStem’s Vendaje suite of products that offer a wide variety of topical covering applications in wound healing.

BioRetain’s gradual and controlled dehydration methodology and electron beam sterilization of the allografts enable the Vendaje products to be safely stored for up to five years without losing their therapeutic properties.

To date, the company has produced over 20,000 allografts, including its own Vendaje line of products as well as contract manufacturing for many key industry players. Its Vendaje line recently received reimbursement from CMS and the company is implementing strategies to expand coverage for its current and future product offerings. The CEO recently stated in a presentation that there is a keen focus on executing its sales initiatives, including growing its direct sales force to 25 representatives by end of year 2023. 

BioStem’s product offering includes three types of allografts:

• Vendaje^® allografts that can be placed over open wounds to improve the healing process after surgery
• Vendaje AC^®  multilayer allografts for major surgeries, severe burns and complex wounds, including diabetic foot ulcers and infected wounds 
• Vendaje Optic^® allografts that are used to repair surgical incisions or wounds on the eye through the use of thinner coverings that are suitable for delicate ophthalmic use

Because of their experience with regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, the BioStem leadership team believes the birth tissue space is a viable option to develop innovative products in the US and is confident the company’s products will be successful and will continue to grow.

To learn more about BioStem and its products visit its website.

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Featured photo by Olga Kononenko on Unsplash