Hemosol Inc., a Canadian company that produces human bloodsubstitute products, announced that it will join forces with theCentral Laboratory of the Netherlands Red Cross BloodTransfusion Service (CLB) of Amsterdam to develop cross-linked hemoglobin solutions.

The agreement provides CLB and Hemosol of Toronto withreciprocal non-exclusive rights to each other's technology forpurposes of research and development.

Alun Davies, Hemosol's president and chief executive officer,said this agreement provides complementary advantages toboth parties. "We will no doubt benefit from CLB's expertise inclinical research and the regulatory processes in Europe, andtheir skill in manufacturing products," he said.

And Hemosol's expertise lies in protein chemistry, which it usesto cross-link and oligomerize human hemoglobin with oxidizedraffinose, a complex sugar molecule. The company is alsoworking on cross-linking methods based on acyl phosphateesters. Hemosol is planning clinical trials of its first bloodsubstitute product, Hemolink, for early 1994.

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