Interest in circumcision more than foreskin deep

10 August 2011 - 17:03 By Joseph Lewis, bu email
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I recently saw both your articles regarding the sale of infant foreskins to pharmaceutical companies. Africa must be informed that western "humanitarian aid" organisations may be interested in a little more than just "public health."

The following products are also derrived from infant foreskins:
 
Dermagraft-TC 
Dermagraft-TC which is an artifical skin created from harvested foreskins from infant circumcision.[1] It is made and sold by Advanced Tissue Sciences (ATS), which is a corporation based in La Jolla, CA. Dermagraft-TC is FDA approved,[2][3] and it sells for about $3,000 per square foot; one foreskin contains enough genetic material to grow 250,000 square feet of skin.[4]
References
1.↑ "Dermagraft-TC: Overview". Advanced Biohealing, Inc.. http://www.dermagraft.com/about/overview/. Retrieved 2011-03-06. "Dermagraft is manufactured from human fibroblast cells derived from newborn foreskin tissue." 
2.↑ "Dermagraft-TC". MediLexicon. http://www.medilexicon.com/drugs/dermagraft-tc.php#GeneralInformation. Retrieved 2011-03-06. "...fibroblast-derived temporary skin substitute for the treatment of partial-thickness burns that has been approved for marketing by the FDA." 
3.↑ "Advanced Tissue Sciences' temporary wound covering Dermagraft-TC approved for marketing by FDA". Transplant News. 2007-03-28. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-47248437.html. Retrieved 2011-03-06. "...the Food and Drug Administration has approved Dermagraft-TC for marketing, making it the first human fibroblast-derived temporary skin substitute to be approved." 
4.↑ Circumcision. Daecher M. Icon 1998;2(2):70-3.

Apligraf
 Apligraf is a synthetic skin created from harvested foreskins.[1] It is FDA approved,[2] and it is made and sold by Organogenesis, which a corporation based in Canton, MA. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. has global marketing rights to Apligraf.
References
1.↑ "Apligraf: How Is It Made?". Organogenesis. http://www.apligraf.com/professional/what_is_apligraf/how_is_it_made/. Retrieved 2011-03-06. "Human keratinocytes and fibroblasts are derived from neonatal foreskins" 
2.↑ "Apligraf". Organogenesis. http://www.organogenesis.com/products/bioactive_woundhealing/apligraf.html. Retrieved 2011-03-06. "Apligraf® is the first bio-engineered cell based product to receive FDA approval (in 1998)." 
 
AlloDerm
AlloDerm(R) which is a skin graft created from harvested infant foreskins.[1] It is approved by the FDA[2] and it is made and sold by LifeCell Corporation (Nasdaq:LIFC), which is a corporation based in Branchburg, NJ.[3]
References
1.↑ "LifeCell Research Demonstrates Potential". Business Wire. 1995-05-16. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-16828845.html. Retrieved 2011-03-06. "...the culturing of human neonatal foreskin keratinocytes..." 
2.↑ "AlloDerm®Tissue Matrix defined". LifeCell Corporation. http://www.lifecell.com/alloderm-regenerative-tissue-matrix/95/. Retrieved 2011-03-06. "...screened and tested according to FDA regulations..." 
3.↑ "Index". LifeCell Corporation. http://www.lifecell.com. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
 
 
The following corporations stand to gain from the acquisition of infant foreskins, and the public needs to be informed about them.
 
Advanced Tissue Sciences
Advanced Tissue Sciences is a corporation based in La Jolla, CA. They are the makers of Dermagraft-TC, which is an artifical skin created from harvested foreskins from infant circumcision.[1] They are also the makers of NouriCel, another product made from harvested foreskins,[2] and one of the main ingredients of SkinMedica's TNS Recovery Complex product.[3]
Earnings
Dermagraft-TC is FDA approved,[4][5] and it sells for about $3,000 per square foot and one foreskin contains enough genetic material to grow 250,000 square feet of skin.[6]
Advanced Tissue Sciences has sold about $1 million worth of cultured dermis to Proctor & Gamble, Helene Curtis, and other such businesses for pre-market testing. Advanced Tissue Science's foreskin-derived merchandise held a $32 million stock offering in the beginning of 1992.[7]
In 1996 alone, Advanced Tissue Sciences could boast of a healthy $663.9 million market capitalization performance.[8]
References
↑ "Dermagraft-TC: Overview". Advanced Biohealing, Inc.. http://www.dermagraft.com/about/overview/. Retrieved 2011-03-06. "Dermagraft is manufactured from human fibroblast cells derived from newborn foreskin tissue." 
↑ "The Foreskin Mafia". Acroposthion.com. http://www.acroposthion.com/acroposthion_019.htm. Retrieved 2011-03-06. "TNS contains... NouriCel-MD which is... a combination of Natural Growth Factors, matrix proteins, and soluble collagen. Human Growth Factors extracted from cultured cells of foreskin..." 
↑ "SkinMedica Introduces TNS Recovery Complex". SkinMedica. 2002-02-12. http://www.corporate.skinmedica.com/press/2002/skinmedica-launches-tns-recovery-complex. Retrieved 2011-03-06. "TNS Recovery Complex is the only product containing a professional concentration of NouriCel®, a new cosmetic ingredient from leading tissue-engineering company Advanced Tissue Sciences." 
↑ "Dermagraft-TC: General Information". Advanced Tissue Sciences. MediLexicon International Ltd. 2011. http://www.medilexicon.com/drugs/dermagraft-tc.php#GeneralInformation. Retrieved 2011-05-07. "Dermagraft-TC is the first human, fibroblast-derived temporary skin substitute for the treatment of partial-thickness burns that has been approved for marketing by the FDA." 
↑ "Advanced Tissue Sciences' temporary wound covering Dermagraft-TC approved for marketing by FDA". Transplant News. HighBeam Research. 1997-03-28. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-47248437.html. Retrieved 2011-05-07. "the Food and Drug Administration has approved Dermagraft-TC" 
↑ Circumcision. Daecher M. Icon 1998;2(2):70-3.
↑ Julie Pitta. Biosynthetics. Forbes 10 May 1993: 170-171 Note: The 32-page Advanced Tissue Sciences, Inc. 1997 Annual Report refers to "fibroblasts" but does not contain the word "foreskin."
↑ Biotech's Big Discovery. Hall CT. San Francisco Chronicle. October 25, 1996: E1, E4.

Organogenesis
Organogenesis is a corporation based in Canton, MA.[1] They profit from Apligraf, which is a synthetic skin created from harvested foreskins.[1] Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. has global marketing rights to Apligraf.
Call for increase of foreskin harvesting
WE MUST BE ABLE TO OBTAIN ADEQUATE SOURCES OF SUPPLY
"We manufacture Apligraf for commercial sale, as well as for use in clinical trials, at our Canton, Massachusetts facility. Among the fundamental raw materials needed to manufacture Apligraf are keratinocyte and fibroblast cells. Because these cells are derived from donated infant foreskin, they may contain human-borne pathogens. We perform extensive testing of the cells for pathogens, including the HIV or "AIDS" virus. Our inability to obtain cells of adequate purity, or cells that are pathogen-free, would limit our ability to manufacture sufficient quantities of our products."
-- Organogensis, 2001 Annual Report (Delaware: Organogenesis, 2001), p.8.
References
↑ 1.0 1.1 "Headquarters". Organogenesis. http://www.organogenesis.com/about_us/headquarters.html. Retrieved 2011-03-06. "The corporate headquarters and manufacturing facility are located in Canton, Massachusetts." 

LifeCell Corporation
LifeCell Corporation (Nasdaq:LIFC) is a corporation based in Branchburg, NJ.[1] The profit from the creation and sale of AlloDerm(R) which is a skin graft created from harvested infant foreskins.[2]
References
↑ "Index". LifeCell Corporation. http://www.lifecell.com. Retrieved 2011-03-06. 
↑ "LifeCell Research Demonstrates Potential". Business Wire. 1995-05-16. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-16828845.html. Retrieved 2011-03-06. "...the culturing of human neonatal foreskin keratinocytes..."
 

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