Category Archives: Cell Therapy

SAN DIEGO , June 11, 2012 /CNW/ - Fate Therapeutics, Inc. in collaboration with BD Biosciences, a segment of BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), today announced the introduction of the first induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-related product resulting from the collaboration between the two companies. BD SMC4 is a patent protected, pre-formulated cocktail of small molecules for improving cellular reprogramming efficiencies and for enabling single-cell passaging and flow cytometry sorting of iPSCs in feeder cell-free and other pluripotent cell culture systems.

"iPSCs have the potential to redefine the way medical research is conducted," said Dr. Charles Crespi , Vice President at BD Biosciences. "However, most current reprogramming technologies are inefficient, which slows research efforts. BD SMC4 is an exciting complement to the BD portfolio of stem cell technologies that can accelerate the pace of research, and, ultimately, drug development."

The collaboration between BD Biosciences and Fate Therapeutics seeks to provide life science researchers and the pharmaceutical community reliable access to advanced iPSC tools and technologies. These technologies are for use in human disease research, drug discovery and the manufacture of cell-based therapies. The identification of the small molecule additives, and their use in an industrial platform for iPSC generation and characterization was recently published in the journal, Scientific Reports (Valamehr et al Scientific Reports 2, Article number: 213, 2012).

"Our research focus has uncovered novel technologies to enable the commercial and industrial application of iPS cells," said Dr. Peter Flynn , Vice President of Biologic Therapeutics at Fate Therapeutics. "The BD SMC4 media additive was developed at Fate to enable our scientists to internally perform high-throughput generation, clonal selection, characterization and expansion of pluripotent cells, and we are excited to empower the stem cell research community with these important iPSC technologies through our collaboration with BD."

iPSC technology holds great promise for disease modeling, drug screening and toxicology testing as well as for autologous and allogeneic cell therapy. Building on the foundational work of its scientific founders, Drs. Rudolf Jaenisch and Sheng Ding, Fate Therapeutics is developing a suite of proprietary products and technologies to overcome the remaining technical hurdles for iPS cell integration into the therapeutic development process. Under the three-year collaboration, Fate and BD will co-develop certain stem cell products using Fate's award-winning iPSC technology platform, and BD will commercialize these stem cell products on a worldwide basis. The iPSC product platform of Fate Therapeutics is supported by foundational intellectual property including U.S. Patent No. 8,071,369, entitled "Compositions for Reprogramming Somatic Cells," which claims a composition comprising a somatic cell having an exogenous nucleic acid that encodes an Oct4 protein introduced into the cell.

About Fate Therapeutics, Inc. Fate Therapeutics is an innovative biotechnology company developing novel stem cell modulators (SCMs), biologic or small molecule compounds that guide cell fate, to treat patients with very few therapeutic options. Fate Therapeutics' lead clinical program, ProHema, consists of pharmacologically-enhanced hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), designed to improve HSC support during the normal course of a stem cell transplant for the treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies. The Company is also advancing a robust pipeline of human recombinant proteins, each with novel mechanisms of action, for skeletal muscle, beta-islet cell, and post-ischemic tissue regeneration. Fate Therapeutics also applies its award-winning, proprietary induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology to offer a highly efficient platform to recapitulate human physiology for commercial scale drug discovery and therapeutic use. Fate Therapeutics is headquartered in San Diego , CA, with a subsidiary in Ottawa , Canada . For more information, please visit http://www.fatetherapeutics.com.

About BDBD is a leading global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and sells medical devices, instrument systems and reagents. The Company is dedicated to improving people's health throughout the world. BD is focused on improving drug delivery, enhancing the quality and speed of diagnosing infectious diseases and cancers, and advancing research, discovery and production of new drugs and vaccines. BD's capabilities are instrumental in combating many of the world's most pressing diseases. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Franklin Lakes , New Jersey, BD employs approximately 29,000 associates in more than 50 countries throughout the world. The Company serves healthcare institutions, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, the pharmaceutical industry and the general public. For more information, please visit http://www.bd.com.

SOURCE Fate Therapeutics, Inc.

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Fate Therapeutics And BD Biosciences Launch BD™ SMC4 To Improve Cellular Reprogramming And IPS Cell Culture Applications

SAN DIEGO , June 11, 2012 /CNW/ - Fate Therapeutics, Inc. in collaboration with BD Biosciences, a segment of BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), today announced the introduction of the first induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-related product resulting from the collaboration between the two companies. BD SMC4 is a patent protected, pre-formulated cocktail of small molecules for improving cellular reprogramming efficiencies and for enabling single-cell passaging and flow cytometry sorting of iPSCs in feeder cell-free and other pluripotent cell culture systems.

"iPSCs have the potential to redefine the way medical research is conducted," said Dr. Charles Crespi , Vice President at BD Biosciences. "However, most current reprogramming technologies are inefficient, which slows research efforts. BD SMC4 is an exciting complement to the BD portfolio of stem cell technologies that can accelerate the pace of research, and, ultimately, drug development."

The collaboration between BD Biosciences and Fate Therapeutics seeks to provide life science researchers and the pharmaceutical community reliable access to advanced iPSC tools and technologies. These technologies are for use in human disease research, drug discovery and the manufacture of cell-based therapies. The identification of the small molecule additives, and their use in an industrial platform for iPSC generation and characterization was recently published in the journal, Scientific Reports (Valamehr et al Scientific Reports 2, Article number: 213, 2012).

"Our research focus has uncovered novel technologies to enable the commercial and industrial application of iPS cells," said Dr. Peter Flynn , Vice President of Biologic Therapeutics at Fate Therapeutics. "The BD SMC4 media additive was developed at Fate to enable our scientists to internally perform high-throughput generation, clonal selection, characterization and expansion of pluripotent cells, and we are excited to empower the stem cell research community with these important iPSC technologies through our collaboration with BD."

iPSC technology holds great promise for disease modeling, drug screening and toxicology testing as well as for autologous and allogeneic cell therapy. Building on the foundational work of its scientific founders, Drs. Rudolf Jaenisch and Sheng Ding, Fate Therapeutics is developing a suite of proprietary products and technologies to overcome the remaining technical hurdles for iPS cell integration into the therapeutic development process. Under the three-year collaboration, Fate and BD will co-develop certain stem cell products using Fate's award-winning iPSC technology platform, and BD will commercialize these stem cell products on a worldwide basis. The iPSC product platform of Fate Therapeutics is supported by foundational intellectual property including U.S. Patent No. 8,071,369, entitled "Compositions for Reprogramming Somatic Cells," which claims a composition comprising a somatic cell having an exogenous nucleic acid that encodes an Oct4 protein introduced into the cell.

About Fate Therapeutics, Inc. Fate Therapeutics is an innovative biotechnology company developing novel stem cell modulators (SCMs), biologic or small molecule compounds that guide cell fate, to treat patients with very few therapeutic options. Fate Therapeutics' lead clinical program, ProHema, consists of pharmacologically-enhanced hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), designed to improve HSC support during the normal course of a stem cell transplant for the treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies. The Company is also advancing a robust pipeline of human recombinant proteins, each with novel mechanisms of action, for skeletal muscle, beta-islet cell, and post-ischemic tissue regeneration. Fate Therapeutics also applies its award-winning, proprietary induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology to offer a highly efficient platform to recapitulate human physiology for commercial scale drug discovery and therapeutic use. Fate Therapeutics is headquartered in San Diego , CA, with a subsidiary in Ottawa , Canada . For more information, please visit http://www.fatetherapeutics.com.

About BDBD is a leading global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and sells medical devices, instrument systems and reagents. The Company is dedicated to improving people's health throughout the world. BD is focused on improving drug delivery, enhancing the quality and speed of diagnosing infectious diseases and cancers, and advancing research, discovery and production of new drugs and vaccines. BD's capabilities are instrumental in combating many of the world's most pressing diseases. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Franklin Lakes , New Jersey, BD employs approximately 29,000 associates in more than 50 countries throughout the world. The Company serves healthcare institutions, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, the pharmaceutical industry and the general public. For more information, please visit http://www.bd.com.

SOURCE Fate Therapeutics, Inc.

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Fate Therapeutics And BD Biosciences Launch BD™ SMC4 To Improve Cellular Reprogramming And IPS Cell Culture Applications

07-06-2012 07:52 Stem cells differ from other types of cells as they are unspecialized cells that are capable of differentiating into almost any type of specialised cells. Stem cells have the ability to replace the diseased and damaged tissue in the body, without the risk of rejection and any side effects. Therapy performed using stem cells is termed as "Regenerative medicine" and has many potential benefits in treating a wide variety of diseases and injuries. The journal is the major open access forum for translational research in stem cell therapies.

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OMICS Group :: Journal of Stem Cell Research

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Stem cell therapy offers new treatment options for pets -- and humans

LEUVEN, BELGIUM--(Marketwire -06/08/12)- TiGenix (EURONEXT:TIG)

TiGenix obtains national reimbursement in the Netherlands for breakthrough cartilage therapy ChondroCelect

TiGenix (EURONEXT:TIG) announced today that its innovative cartilage repair therapy ChondroCelect has obtained national reimbursement in the Netherlands. The Dutch National Health Authority (NZa) has formally announced that ChondroCelect is to receive national reimbursement retroactively per January 1, 2012. Previously ChondroCelect was made available in the Netherlands under a risk-sharing scheme.

"We are delighted with the decision of the NZa to reimburse ChondroCelect, and look forward to working with Dutch orthopedic centers of excellence and health insurers to routinely make this breakthrough therapy available to the right patients in the Netherlands," said Eduardo Bravo, CEO of TiGenix. "Dutch clinicians and scientists have been instrumental in ChondroCelect's development and four Cartilage Expert Centers in the Netherlands have already gained extensive experience with the procedure. After having obtained national reimbursement in Belgium last year, this constitutes another major step in improving patient access to this innovative therapy. We remain optimistic that we can obtain national reimbursement in other European countries later this year."

About TiGenix

TiGenix NV (EURONEXT:TIG) is a leading European cell therapy company with a marketed product for cartilage repair, ChondroCelect, and a strong pipeline with clinical stage allogeneic adult stem cell programs for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. TiGenix is based out of Leuven (Belgium) and has operations in Madrid (Spain), and Sittard-Geleen (the Netherlands). For more information please visit http://www.tigenix.com.

About ChondroCelect

ChondroCelect is the first and currently only cell therapy that has been granted market authorisation by the European Union in accordance with the Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product regulation EC1394/2007. For more information, including the European Public Assessment Report (EPAR), prescribing information, and the Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC) please visit the European Medicines Agency (EMA) website at http://www.ema.europa.eu.

Forward-looking information

This document may contain forward-looking statements and estimates with respect to the anticipated future performance of TiGenix and the market in which it operates. Certain of these statements, forecasts and estimates can be recognised by the use of words such as, without limitation, "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "plans", "seeks", "estimates", "may", "will" and "continue" and similar expressions. They include all matters that are not historical facts. Such statements, forecasts and estimates are based on various assumptions and assessments of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which were deemed reasonable when made but may or may not prove to be correct. Actual events are difficult to predict and may depend upon factors that are beyond TiGenix' control. Therefore, actual results, the financial condition, performance or achievements of TiGenix, or industry results, may turn out to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements, forecasts and estimates. Given these uncertainties, no representations are made as to the accuracy or fairness of such forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates. Furthermore, forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates only speak as of the date of the publication of this document. TiGenix disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statement, forecast or estimates to reflect any change in TiGenix' expectations with regard thereto, or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement, forecast or estimate is based, except to the extent required by Belgian law.

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TiGenix: National Reimbursement in the Netherlands Obtained for Breakthrough Cartilage Therapy ChondroCelect(R)

06-06-2012 13:09 Mesenchymal stem cell homing to tissue damage, umbilical cord stem cells historically used for anti-aging, mesenchymal stem cells role in immune system modulation, inflammation reduction and stimulating tissue regeneration, donor stem cell safety and testing, the role of HLA matching in donated umbilical cord-derived stem cells, umbilical cord blood safety data and historical use in blood transfusions, allogeneic stem cell persistence in human mothers. Treatment information at More information on Dr. Riordan at

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Neil Riordan PhD - Stem Cell Therapy for Spinal Cord Injury (Part 3 of 5) || Stem Cell Treatments - Video

A local veterinary clinic recently added a cuttingedge treatment.

Dr. Tina Gemeinhardt, owner of Tsawwassen Animal Hospital, is excited to be offering stem cell therapy to animals suffering from arthritis and joint issues.

"I'm excited about trying to bring some relief to dogs that are living in pain," she said.

The therapy, which uses stem cells harvested from fat that is surgically removed from the dog, is, in most cases, able to offer relief from the pain and stiffness associated with

Gemeinhardt said once it's determined the therapy is the right course of treatment for an animal, body fat is surgically removed and sent to a lab in California where the stem cells are harvested. The harvested stem cells are then sent back to the vet clinic within 48 hours and injected into the joints in question.

Gemeinhardt, who added the treatment to the clinic's list of services earlier this year, said it's not quite clear exactly how the stem cells work.

"Stem cells seem to inherently know what needs to be done in that area," she said.

The treatment is not a cure-all - the arthritis is still there but the symptoms are lessened - and it does not work instantly. The vet said most animals start to notice a difference in a month or so, and some might require follow up injections.

She said about 85 per cent of animals receiving stem cell therapy have had a beneficial response, while 15 per cent saw no response.

Beatrice, a seven-yearold chow chow, has seen remarkable results. Owner Rose McClelland said Beatrice had been having problems with arthritis in her hips for years and medication wasn't working any more.

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Treatment eases arthritis pain in dogs

SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire -06/04/12)- Medistem Inc. (MEDS) announced today positive safety data from the first 5 patients enrolled in the Non-Revascularizable IschEmic Cardiomyopathy treated with Retrograde COronary Sinus Venous DElivery of Cell TheRapy (RECOVER-ERC) trial. The clinical trial uses the company's "Universal Donor" Endometrial Regenerative Cells (ERC) to treat Congestive Heart Failure (CHF).

According to the study design, after 5 patients enter the trial, they must be observed for a two month time period before additional patients are allowed to enter the study. Patient data was analyzed by the study's independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), which concluded that based on lack of adverse effects, the study be allowed to continue recruitment.

"Medistem is developing a treatment for CHF that uses a 30-minute catheter-based procedure to administer the ERC stem cell into the patients' hearts. The achievement of 2 month patient follow-up with no adverse events is a strong signal for us that our new approach to this terrible condition is feasible," said Thomas Ichim, CEO of Medistem.

The RECOVER-ERC trial will treat a total of 60 patients with end-stage heart failure with three concentrations of ERC stem cells or placebo. The clinical trial is being conducted by Dr. Leo Bockeria, Chairman of the Backulev Centre for Cardiovascular Surgery, in collaboration with Dr. Amit Patel, Director of Clinical Regenerative Medicine at University of Utah.

"As a professional drug developer, I am very optimistic of a stem cell product that can be used as a drug. The ERC stem cell can be stored frozen indefinitely, does not need matching with donors, and can be injected in a simple 30-minute procedure into the heart," said Dr. Sergey Sablin, Vice President of Medistem and co-founder of the multi-billion dollar NASDAQ company Medivation.

Currently patients with end-stage heart failure, such as the ones enrolled in the RECOVER-ERC study, have no option except for heart transplantation, which is limited by side effects and lack of donors. In contrast to other stem cells, ERC can be manufactured inexpensively, do not require tissue matching, and can be administered in a minimally-invasive manner. Animal experiments suggest ERC are more potent than other stem cell sources at restoring heart function. The FDA has approved a clinical trial of ERC in treatment of critical limb ischemia in the USA.

About Medistem Inc. Medistem Inc. is a biotechnology company developing technologies related to adult stem cell extraction, manipulation, and use for treating inflammatory and degenerative diseases. The company's lead product, the endometrial regenerative cell (ERC), is a "universal donor" stem cell being developed for critical limb ischemia and heart failure. A publication describing the support for use of ERC for this condition may be found at http://www.translational-medicine.com/content/pdf/1479-5876-6-45.pdf.

Cautionary Statement This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of our securities. This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking information. Factors which may cause actual results to differ from our forward-looking statements are discussed in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Medistem Achieves Important ERC Stem Cell Clinical Trial Milestone