Stemgen® is indicated for use in combination with Neupogen® (filgrastim) in the setting of autologous peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) transplantation for patients at risk of poor PBPC mobilisation to increase the number of PBPC collected in the apheresis harvest, thereby increasing the proportion of patients reaching a PBPC target for transplantation.
Stemgen is a 166 amino acid protein produced by Escherichia coli (E coli) bacteria into which a gene has been inserted for soluble human stem cell factor. Stemgen is an analogue endogenous human stem cell factor (SCF), also called c-kit ligand, steel factor and mast-cell growth factor. In combinations with other cytokines, SCF induces proliferation and increases receptiveness to lineage commitment of primitive and mature hematopoietic progenitors. Stemgen alone is not sufficient to increase peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPC) but when administered in combination with filgrastim, it synergistically increases the number of PBPC’s in the peripheral blood.