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Category Archives: Stem Cell Therapy

California Stem Cell Official Duane Roth in Improving Condition

Posted: July 26, 2013 at 11:17 am

Duane Roth, the co-vice chairman of the
California stem cell agency, is improving after he was hospitalized
for treatment of a serious brain injury sustained in a bicycle accident Sunday in
the mountains east of San Diego.
According to a report on Xconomy.com,
Roth's brother, Ted, said yesterday, 

“Were certainly moving in the
right direction. We're now looking at the recovery phase.”

The article by Bruce Bigelow said Roth
has passed through the most critical period following surgery at the
UC San Diego hospital.
Roth, the 63-year-old CEO of the San
Diego technology organization, Connect, is in serious condition in a
medically induced coma.
The governing board of the California
stem cell agency yesterday took special note of Roth at its meeting and sent its best wishes to him and his family.  

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/nmnYkisG6MU/california-stem-cell-official-duane.html

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Another $23 Million to Recruit Star Stem Cell Scientists to California

Posted: July 25, 2013 at 4:55 pm

California's $46 million effort to lure
stem cell research stars to the Golden State was expanded today by
another $23 million.
Directors of the stem cell agency
approved the funds on a 14-4-1 vote. CIRM directors Jeff Sheehy and
Francisco Prieto were among those opposing the move. Prieto declared,

“We are coming up against finite resources. We have better ways to spend
our money."

 Sheehy said that CIRM is contributing to inflation in stem cell science with its lucrative recruitment grants. 

Those supporting the expansion said that the grants have had a great impact on the field, not only bringing in individual scientists, but accompanying researchers in their labs along with grants from other sources.
The additional funds will go to
institutions that have not already benefited from one of the earlier
grants in the program. Up to four awards are expected to be made.
The CIRM staff proposal on the plan
said,

“A number of California institutions
have not yet been able to secure a confirmed Research Leadership
award but would benefit greatly from the recruitment of emerging or
established leaders in stem cell biology. Participation in the CIRM
program could bring additional, exceptional researchers to
California, strengthen and synergize with other efforts to build up
local sustained research communities in stem cell biology and
medicine and provide ongoing leadership at the cutting edge of
California regenerative medicine.”

All of the California institutions
involved with the winning researchers have representatives on the
governing board of the stem cell agency. They are not allowed, however, to vote
on grants to their institutions or researchers -- only on proposals such as today's $23 expansion.
Applications are due in January with
final approval scheduled for next May. The program is not open to
businesses.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/iJ66PTxTsX8/another-23-million-to-recruit-star-stem.html

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California Stem Cell Agency Launches $70 Million Alpha Stem Cell Clinic Project

Posted: July 25, 2013 at 3:31 pm

The California stem cell agency today approved
a $70 million plan to create a network of “Alpha” stem cell
clinics that is aimed at making the Golden State one of the leading
purveyors and developers of stem cell therapies in the world.

The 29-member governing board of the California
Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)
adopted the plan on a 19-1 vote. The negative vote came from Joan Samuelson, who questioned
whether the plan was premature and whether existing scientific research justified development of the clinics. 
Sherry Lansing, a patient advocate board member and
former head of a Hollywood studio, said the proposal is “one of the
most exciting proposals that we have ever had in front of us.” She
said it was the “beginning of this dream coming true.”
Under the far-reaching proposal, which
CIRM President Alan Trounson has been promoting for two years, the
agency will finance five stem cell clinics at established
institutions in California with grants of up to $11 million. Another
$15 million will be allotted for a stem cell information and
coordination center. Major matching contributions will be expected
from award winners over the five-year terms of the grants.
The effort is aimed at drawing in
clinical trials and patients from the around the world and creating a
central bank of knowledge, know-how and regulatory expertise. It
will also guide efforts to build profits into stem cell therapies
and to develop strategies to attract investors and philanthropists.
(For more information on the plan, see here, here, here, here and
here.)
Trounson said in a statement,

“These clinics have the potential to
revolutionize how we deliver stem cell therapies to patients. Stem
cell therapies are a completely new way of treating diseases and
disorders so we need a completely new way of delivering those in a
safe and effective manner. These clinics will help us do just that
and the clinical trials carried out in this network will fulfill the
agency’s promise of bringing new therapies to patients who need
them.” 

The journal Nature Medicine has
reported that the Alpha clinics would be the first-ever “clinical
trials network focused around a broad therapeutic platform.”
The CIRM board heard no negative
comment on the plan other than the remarks by Samuelson. . However,
not everyone sees a need for it. Mahendra Rao, director of the Center
for Regenerative Medicine
 at the National Institutes of
Health(NIH)
, says its surveys of researchers have not shown a demand
for such centers. In May, a researcher at institution that likely
would be an applicant filed a blistering, anonymous comment on the
California Stem Cell Report, describing it as a "boondoggle" and "irresponsible." The scientist said,

“Another boondoggle for some medical
schools but made to order for private operators like for-profit
cancer, dialysis, and laser eye specialty clinics that do one
procedure.  I can see each of the medical schools gifted with
one as they each were gifted with about 25 million dollars for stem
cell institute buildings.”

The researcher continued,

“The NIH at various times has tried
to organize clinical trials groups with infrastructure, like quick
reaction forces, ready to gear up for a new trial at the drop of a
hat. They mainly did nothing but suck money, kept staff employed,
because there are generally few drugs ready for early human trials
and each treatment that is brought along requires a unique contract,
ethics reviews, and different facilities, equipment and staff than
planned for.  The latest incarnation are CTSAs or CTSIs,
clinical and translational science centers funded by the federal NIH
that most if not all California medical schools already have.”

The RFA for the proposal is expected to
go out in October and approval of funding coming one year from now. Here is the link to today's CIRM press release on the plan. 

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/EBbBzLL9dQQ/california-stem-cell-launches-70.html

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Coming Up: Live Coverage of Today's California Stem Cell Meeting

Posted: July 25, 2013 at 9:54 am

The California Stem Cell Report will
provide live, wall-to-wall coverage of today's meeting of the
governing board of the $3 billion California stem cell agency.
At the top of the agenda is a $70
million proposal aimed at creating a string of Alpha stem cell clinics in
California that would serve as a foundation for the state's stem cell
business. Also on tap are other proposed grant programs, including a
$23 million expansion of a researcher recruitment effort and a $35 million round aimed at removing roadblocks to turning research into
cures.
Stories will be filed as warranted
throughout the day based on the Internet audiocast of the proceedings. 

Interested parties can also listen in
on the meeting via the Internet. Instructions can be found on the agenda.  

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/Vi8IGlL2TzY/coming-up-live-coverage-of-todays.html

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Stem Cell Lines and Paid-for Eggs: Stem Cell Agency Delays Action on Easing Restrictions

Posted: July 24, 2013 at 6:04 pm

A key panel of the California stem cell
agency today balked at approving a plan to ease restrictions on
using stem cell lines derived from women who were paid for their
eggs.
The proposal had been scheduled to be
taken up tomorrow by the governing board of the $3 billion agency,
but the board's standards working group delayed action.
In response to a question, Kevin
McCormack
, a spokesman for the agency, said in an email,

“It was felt that more discussion
was needed before moving to a vote so another meeting is going to be
scheduled.”

In 2006, the CIRM governing board
approved regulations that banned the use of CIRM funds for stem cells
lines derived using compensation. That rule would be modified under
today's plan, which would permit the CIRM governing board to approve
the use of such lines following a staff study evaluating scientific and ethical issues.
Their use would be allowed if the lines would “advance CIRM's
mission.”

The delay came after four
organizations, including the Center for Genetics and Society in
Berkeley, argued that the plan is vague and did not adequately
address safety issues.
The four-page statement by the groups
said that the plan does not appear to have met “numerous concerns”
raised in 2009 in a document co-authored by the CIRM staff. Those
concerns include long-term risk and ethical issues.
Under the proposal, the groups said
that the agency governing board

“...will decide whether to approve a
grantee’s request to use a stem cell line created with paid-for
eggs on the basis of whether doing so 'will advance CIRM’s
mission.' This criterion is much too vague, and doesn’t include
consideration of the health or welfare of the women who undergo egg
retrieval. Protecting the well-being of women providing eggs is not
even mentioned (though perhaps it could be considered as an element
of the fifth of five 'factors to be considered by the ICOC(the agency
board),' 'whether the donation…was consistent with `best practices’
at the time of donation').”

The standards group also heard from a
UCLA researcher who argued on behalf of the change. Kathrin Plath
said she and her colleagues wanted to use a paid-for stem cell line
from the Oregon experiment that cloned human stem cells.

(An earlier version of this item said the change under consideration would ease restrictions on "purchasing" stem cell lines. The word "purchasing" was changed to "using.")
Here is the text of the statement by
the four organizations.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/QECOGHuAvIc/stem-cell-lines-and-paid-for-eggs-stem.html

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$70 Million Alpha Stem Cell Clinic Project Garners Mainstream Media Attention

Posted: July 24, 2013 at 3:22 pm

California's $70 million plan for a
chain of “Alpha” stem cell clinics today received its first major
attention from the mainstream media.
The story came in the state's largest
circulation newspaper, appearing this morning on the home page of the
website of Los Angeles Times.
The Alpha project would create five clinics
around the state and a coordination/information center under a
concept that comes before the governing board of the state's $3
billion stem cell agency at its meeting tomorrow in Burlingame, Ca. Funds could be
awarded as early as a year from now. (For more information, see here
and here.)
Reporter Eryn Brown quoted Natalie
DeWitt
, special projects officer for CIRM, as the stem cell agency is known, and Maria Millan, a CIRM
medical officer. Brown wrote,

“Clinics to conduct trials of stem
cell therapies have different needs than clinics designed to deliver
conventional therapies, DeWitt and Millan said. They need special
facilities for handling the cells safely, as well as imaging
equipment to track the cells once they're delivered into a patient’s
body.  Some of this infrastructure already exists, but other
parts of it still need to be perfected.  Establishing clinics to
house multiple trials might create the critical mass needed to get
the infrastructure in place, they said....

"Additionally, they said, CIRM
hopes that such collaboration would encourage stem cell companies to
share information -- speeding their own work and also helping out
policymakers and insurers who are trying to figure out how they'll
pay for stem cell therapies in the future.”

The Times quoted the
California Stem Cell Report as saying last week,

 “The Alpha clinics
are aimed at creation of a sturdy foundation for the stem cell
industry in California, capitalizing on the burgeoning, international
lure of stem cell treatments.”

The proposal envisions Alpha stem cell
clinics at major, established institutions around the state. It is
possible that two could be located in the Los Angeles area at
institutions such as UCLA, USC, Cedars-Sinai or the City of Hope, all
of which have representatives on the stem cell agency's governing
board. Other likely locations are in the San Francisco Bay area and
San Diego, again at facilities such as Stanford, UC San Francisco and
UC San Diego that have representation on the agency board.

Institutions competing for the grants,
including businesses, will be subject to closed-door. peer review
prior to final action by the full governing board.  

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/s_-mm4nTU_0/70-million-alpha-stem-cell-clinic.html

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UCLA Researcher Calls for Easing of Restrictions on Stem Cell Lines Derived from Eggs From Paid Providers

Posted: July 24, 2013 at 10:07 am

A UCLA researcher has spoken out in
support of a proposal to allow use of California stem cell agency
funds to purchase stem cell lines derived from eggs provided by women
who have been paid for the service.
Kathrin Plath, an associate professor, said in a letter to the agency that she and her colleagues would like to use a line from the Oregon SCNT
experiment by Shoukhrat Mitalipov in which human stem cells were cloned. Currently agency funds cannot be used for that purpose as
a result of regulations that are the extension of a state law that
bars use of agency funds for payment for eggs.
The agency's standards group meets later today to consider changing those regulations. The proposal will
then go before the full board tomorrow.
Plath, who has received $5 million from CIRM, said,

“In my lab, we are ... interested in
understanding what happens to the somatically silenced X chromosome
when differentiated cells are reprogrammed by SCNT. The key question
is: are these SCNT-ESCs more similar to iPSCs or
fertilization-derived ESCs with respect to the epigenetic state of
the X chromosome. Furthermore, it has been shown in mouse
reprogramming that the active X chromosome becomes deregulated during
SCNT-based reprogramming, and we would like to address this problem
in the human system as well.

“We believe that the comparison of
the epigenetic states between fertilization-derived ESCs, SCNT-ESCs
and human iPSCs is important for a better characterization of these
cells and understanding of their epigenetic nature.”

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/2YTtgbJCtRw/ucla-researcher-calls-for-easing-of.html

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‘The results are profound’; Stem cell therapy used to treat animal ailments – Video

Posted: July 21, 2013 at 3:41 am


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'The results are profound'; Stem cell therapy used to treat animal ailments - Video

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FAQ1-Stem Cell Therapy – Video

Posted: July 21, 2013 at 3:40 am


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California Stem Cell Agency to Commit 20 Percent of Remaining Cash

Posted: July 21, 2013 at 3:01 am

The California stem cell agency next
Thursday is expected to move forward with plans to give away $128
million, roughly 20 percent of its remaining funds.
The programs include the $70 million Alpha clinic plan, an ambitious five-year project that would be one
of the $3 billion agency's hallmark efforts. The other “concept”
rounds up next week include a $35 million “tools and technology”RFA and $23 million to recruit four more star, stem cell scientists to California.
The agency has committed about $1.8
billion of its $3 billion so far with about $700 million available
for future spending. The remainder is going for the agency's
administrative expenses. Cash for new grants is expected to run out
sometime in 2017. Total cost of the agency's efforts run to about $6
billion because it operates with money borrowed by the state and must
pay interest.
The agency is currently engaged in
developing a plan to develop new sources of funding with an eye on
some sort of public-private model. It solicited proposals in May for
help with the effort, with the goal of completing a plan by this
fall. At last report, however, the contract with the consultant had
not been let.
The “strategic roadmap,” as it is
called, is likely to come up at next week's governing board meeting
along with a review of agency goals for the 2013-14 fiscal year.
On the agenda is a proposal to modify the agency's ban on use of its funds to purchase stem cell lines derived from human eggs supplied by women who have been paid. That proposal will
also be heard by the agency's standards group next Wednesday.
The agency has additionally been busy
implementing recommendations from a performance audit in May 2012.
The audit said the agency was laboring under a range of problems that
include protection of its intellectual property and management of its
nearly 500 grants plus an inadequate ability to track its own
performance. A staff Power Point presentation seems to indicate that it is making substantial progress in solving the problems identified by the audit.
Next week's meeting will be in
Burlingame near the San Francisco Airport. Two remote locations where
the public can participate are also available in Los Angeles.
Addresses can be found on the agenda.

The California Stem Cell Report will
provide live coverage of the meeting based on the Internet audiocast
with stories filed as warranted.  

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/8Zu2WtPeFrI/california-stem-cell-agency-to-commit.html

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