About Us
The Problem
Shock is the inadequate flow of fluid through the organs and tissues of the body that can lead to death. Examples of causes of shock are loss of blood, dilation of blood vessels or inadequate pumping of the heart. After shock occurs the tissues produce increased amounts of substances or mediators that cause tissue damage and make shock difficult to reverse such as nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor, platelet activating factor, prostaglandins or leukotrienes.
In addition, when blood or other currently available fluids are given to restore adequate flow some of the oxygen gets converted to toxic reactive oxygen species that can cause cell death. Thus, the very act of correcting hypovolemia or inadequate flow is a double-edged sword. To date no fluid used to restore flow in shock addresses this paradox.
Background
Dr. Cuthbert Simpkins as a licensed physician and trauma surgeon, faced the grim reality of some patients dying in his operating room or the intensive care unit, even after their traumatic injuries had been repaired, due to a lack of a more effective resuscitation fluid.
On one particular occasion, he was deeply troubled by the death of a 17-year-old girl who died due to the effects of hypovolemia in spite of the successful surgical repair of her injuries. This case and others like it drove him to study and experiment with several combinations and permutations of the then known resuscitation fluids. He hoped to find a fluid mix that would work in smaller volume and that would minimize the biochemical disruption caused by the combination of trauma and blood loss. The result of his work led to a colloidal fluid that appears in the animal model to be more effective and safer than other products. He initially named the colloidal fluid VIVACELLE (now referred to as VBI-1 and VBI-S).