Circe: A little liver goes a long way

Circe Biomedical Inc. is combining porcine liver cells with semi-permeable membranes to buy time for acute liver failure patients until either a transplant is available or their liver regenerates to a life-sustaining functional state.

Circe is a spin out of W.R. Grace & Co., a specialty chemicals company that had businesses in filtration membranes and dialysis systems. The company believes that this experience in membranes and its choice of porcine cells instead of human liver cells have combined to make its HepatAssist Liver Support System a commercially viable product...