Category Archives: Stem Cell Therapy

OLDSMAR, Fla., May 3, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - Cryo-Cell International, Inc. announced the appointment of Linda Kelley, Ph.D., as chief scientific officer. Dr. Kelley is responsible for overseeing Cryo-Cells state-of-the art laboratory, translational medicine initiatives and quality assurance program at its stem cell and cord blood banking facility in Oldsmar, Florida. She joins the company from the Dana Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard, where she was the director of the Connell OReilly Cell Manipulation Core Facility.

Dr. Kelley is an internationally recognized, cord blood stem cell scientist whose accomplishments have helped expand the scope of stem cell therapies from bone marrow transplantation to the treatment of heart, kidney, brain and other degenerative diseases. She was a member of the board of trustees of the Foundation for Accreditation of Cellular Therapy and chaired its Standards Committee. Dr. Kelley was one of 12 scientists selected by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science to serve on the panel that advised Congress on how to allocate $80 million in funding to optimally structure a national cord blood stem cell program.

While director of the Cell Therapy Facility at the University of Utah, she established that states first umbilical cord blood collection program that enabled families to donate their childrens cord blood to the national inventory. Dr. Kelley earned graduate and post-doctoral degrees in hematology and immunology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., where she also served as assistant professor in the Department of Medicine.

As a leader in our field, Cryo-Cell is delighted to have someone of Dr. Kelleys caliber directing our laboratory and translational medicine initiatives. Her expertise will ensure that we continue to exceed the industrys quality standards and maintain our tradition of offering clients the absolute best in cord blood, cord tissue, and menstrual stem cell cryopreservation services, said David Portnoy, chairman and co-CEO at Cryo-Cell. Under her guidance, Cryo-Cell will be propelled to the forefront of regenerative medicine.

Kelley replaces Julie Allickson, Ph.D., who is joining the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM), where she will manage translational research. WFIRM is led by Anthony Atala, M.D., a Cryo-Cell board member and preeminent stem cell scientist.

The opportunity to work in a cutting-edge facility with a staff that is exceptionally well trained was very attractive to me, said Dr. Kelley. But equally important in my decision to join Cryo-Cell, was the commitment that co-CEOs David and Mark Portnoy have made to support the advancement of regenerative medicine through partnerships with Stanford University and private research facilities. Cryo-Cell is unique among stem cell cryopreservation firms in that regard.

About Cryo-Cell International, Inc. Cryo-Cell International, Inc. was founded in 1989. In 1992, it became the first private cord blood bank in the world to separate and store stem cells. Today, Cryo-Cell has over 240,000 clients worldwide from 87 countries. Cryo-Cell's mission is to provide clients with state-of-the-art stem cell cryopreservation services and support the advancement of regenerative medicine. Cryo-Cell operates in a facility that is compliant with Good Manufacturing Practice and Good Tissue Practice (cGMP/cGTP). It is ISO 9001:2008 certified and accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks. Cryo-Cell is a publicly traded company, OTC:QB Markets Group Symbol: CCEL. Expectant parents or healthcare professionals who wish to learn more about cord blood banking and cord blood banking prices may call 1-800-STOR-CELL (1-800-786-7235) or visit http://www.cryo-cell.com/.

Forward-Looking Statement Statements wherein the terms "believes", "intends", "projects", "anticipates", "expects", and similar expressions as used are intended to reflect "forward-looking statements" of the Company. The information contained herein is subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results anticipated in such forward-looking statements or paragraphs, many of which are outside the control of the Company. These uncertainties and other factors include the success of the Company's global expansion initiatives and product diversification, the Company's actual future ownership stake in future therapies emerging from its collaborative research partnerships, the success related to its IP portfolio, the Company's future competitive position in stem cell innovation, future success of its core business and the competitive impact of public cord blood banking on the Company's business, the Company's ability to minimize future costs to the Company related to R&D initiatives and collaborations and the success of such initiatives and collaborations, the success and enforceability of the Company's menstrual stem cell technology license agreements and umbilical cord blood license agreements and their ability to provide the Company with royalty fees, the ability of the reproductive tissue storage to generate new revenues for the Company and those risks and uncertainties contained in risk factors described in documents the Company files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and any Current Reports on Form 8-K filed by the Company. The Company disclaims any obligations to subsequently revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements.

Contact: David Portnoy Cryo-Cell International, Inc. 813-749-2100 dportnoy(at)cryo-cell(dot)com

This article was originally distributed on PRWeb. For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/5/prweb9469228.htm

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Cryo-Cell International Taps Leader in Stem Cell Therapy to Serve as Chief Scientific Officer

Milwaukee, WI (PRWEB) May 02, 2012

Academic and industry leaders in gene and cell therapy will be featured at a Media Event in Philadelphia, PA on May 15, 2012, immediately preceding the 15th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) on May 16-19, 2012. The event will focus on recent clinical developments in targeted biotherapeutics for various diseases.

Members of the media will also receive complimentary full-access registration to the ASGCT 15th Annual Meeting at the Pennsylvania Convention. To complete your registration to the Media Event and the Annual Meeting, please visit the ASGCT website.

2:00 pm 2:20 pm: Gene and cell-based immunotherapy for cancer Many cancers are known to acquire the ability to suppress anti-tumor immune responses in the host. The genetically modified cells developed and used in this clinical trial are designed to reawaken immune cells that have been suppressed by the leukemia and stimulate the generation of so-called memory T cells, which can provide ongoing protection against recurrence. Although long-term effectiveness of this novel treatment is not yet known, the doctors have found that months after infusion, the new cells had multiplied and continued their seek-and-destroy mission against cancerous cells throughout the patients bodies. The new paradigm provides a tumor-attack roadmap for the treatment of other cancers including lung, myeloma, ovarian cancer and melanoma.

Carl June, MD is currently the Director of Translational Research at the Abramson Cancer Center,, an Investigator of the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, and a tenured Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania.

2:20 pm 2:30 pm: Question and answer period

2:30 pm 2:50 pm: Gene therapy for hemophilia B Hemophilia B is an X-linked bleeding disorder caused by a deficiency of blood coagulation Factor IX, and patients need to be infused with the newly developed long-acting protein concentrates twice a month. Advances in gene therapy using intravenous infusion of an AAV vector expressing human Factor IX in a clinical trial on hemophilia patients have significantly improved circulation of Factor IX levels that transformed their disease from severe hemophilia to mild hemophilia. Other strategies are also under development that may confer the ability to correct the disease permanently by gene therapy.

Katherine High, MD is the William H. Bennett Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Director of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics at the Children Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. High has pioneered safe and effective clinical translation of genetic therapies for inherited disorders including hemophilia B, and she is a Past President of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy.

2:50 3:00 pm: Question and answer period

3:00 pm 3:20 pm: Gene and cell-based therapy for severe combined immunodeficiency Severe combined immunodeficiency (ADA-SCID, a.k.a. bubble boy disease) is a rare disorder of immunity and without treatment; children affected with ADA-SCID will succumb to infections within the first two years of life. Over the past years >40 patients have been treated with gene-corrected hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, which has led to the regeneration of immune cells and the reconstitution of immune function in >70% of the patients. While hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from a matched donor remains the therapy of choice for ADA-SCID, the results obtained by the current clinical trials have indicated that gene and cell therapy should be considered as the first treatment option in the absence of a matched donor.

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A Media Event on Clinical Developments in Gene and Cell Therapy

Public release date: 1-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Charles Casey charles.casey@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu 916-734-9048 University of California - Davis Health System

UC Davis Health System researchers are a step closer to launching human clinical trials involving the use of an innovative stem cell therapy to fight the virus that causes AIDS.

In a paper published in the May issue of the Journal of Virology, the UC Davis HIV team demonstrated both the safety and efficacy of transplanting anti-HIV stem cells into mice that represent models of infected patients. The technique, which involves replacing the immune system with stem cells engineered with a triple combination of HIV-resistant genes, proved capable of replicating a normally functioning human immune system by protecting and expanding HIV-resistant immune cells. The cells thrived and self-renewed even when challenged with an HIV viral load.

"We envision this as a potential functional cure for patients infected with HIV, giving them the ability to maintain a normal immune system through genetic resistance," said lead author Joseph Anderson, an assistant adjunct professor of internal medicine and a stem cell researcher at the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures. "Ideally, it would be a one-time treatment through which stem cells express HIV-resistant genes, which in turn generate an entire HIV-resistant immune system."

To establish immunity in mice whose immune systems paralleled those of patients with HIV, Anderson and his team genetically modified human blood stem cells, which are responsible for producing the various types of immune cells in the body.

Building on work that members of the team have pursued over the last decade, they developed several anti-HIV genes that were inserted into blood stem cells using standard gene-therapy techniques and viral vectors (viruses that efficiently insert the genes they carry into host cells). The resulting combination vector contained:

a human/rhesus macaque TRIM5 isoform, which disrupts HIV from uncoating in the cytoplasm a CCR5 short hairpin RNA (shRNA), which prevents certain strains of HIV from attaching to target cells a TAR decoy, which stops HIV genes from being expressed inside of the cell by soaking up a critical protein needed for HIV gene expression These engineered blood stem cells, which could be differentiated into normal and functional human immune cells, were introduced into the mice. The goal was to validate whether this experimental treatment would result in an immune system that remained functional, even in the face of an HIV infection, and would halt or slow the progression toward AIDS.

The results were successful on all counts.

"After we challenged transplanted mice with live HIV, we demonstrated that the cells with HIV-resistant genes were protected from infection and survived in the face of a viral challenge, maintaining normal human CD4 levels," said Anderson. CD4+ T-cells are a type of specialized immune cell that HIV attacks and uses to make more copies of HIV.

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Study using stem cell therapy shows promise in fight against HIV

RED BANK, NJ--(Marketwire -04/30/12)- American CryoStem Corporation (CRYO.PK - News) announced the launch of its new adipose tissue and adult stem cell testing services to assist physicians involved in tissue engraftment, regenerative medicine procedures and cellular therapies utilizing adult adipose derived stem cells. The new testing services provide physicians an affordable method for self assessment of their procedures and methods to better understand the relationship between tissue quality and engraftment success.

American CryoStem recognizes the need for independent testing services as reinforced by the increasing focus and scrutiny of physician office based tissue laboratories by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The menu of testing services includes full 14 day sterility testing, viability testing, growth assay and additional tests for each selected service. The tests can be ordered individually or in multiples over time and are designed to allow physicians to self evaluate their current methods and performance, or to assess new methods or devices designed to improve procedure and tissue quality. Long term and customized programs are available upon request. Physicians enrolled as a provider of the Company's stem cell storage services can obtain discounts for individual and multi test programs.

"We are very excited about rolling these new services out to our existing providers and all participants in the tissue engraftment, regenerative medicine and cellular therapy markets. We believe that this is the first such program offered commercially and meets a critical need for the advancement of the regenerative and cellular therapy markets," said Anthony Dudzinski, the Company's COO. "Now there is a way for physicians to assess their own performance without the need to overcome the significant costs of purchasing and maintaining their own testing facilities."

The new testing services are offered by ACS Laboratories reflects the Company's increasing branding and commercialization of products and services developed around its proprietary clinical tissue processing and storage methodologies. ACS Laboratory incorporates its proprietary cGMP/cGTP aseptic methods and FDA guidance's into these services to ensure the highest quality and most useful information for physicians.

About American CryoStem: American CryoStem Corporation (CRYO.PK - News) markets clinical processing services and patented products for Adipose (fat) Tissue and Adipose Derived Adult Stem Cells. The Company's clinical processing, patented cell culture media products and cellular preservation platform supports the science and regenerative medicine applications being developed globally. The Company provides the highest quality, clinically processed cells assuring their purity, viability and growth capabilities, while at the same time developing cutting edge applications, therapies and patented laboratory products and services for consumer and commercial applications.

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American CryoStem Announces ACS Laboratories Adipose Tissue and Adult Stem Cell Testing Services

by JEAN ENERSEN / KING 5 News

KING5.com

Posted on April 27, 2012 at 11:01 PM

A Bellevue doctor is one of only two researchers in the country testing stem cells as an anti-aging treatment.

Working with volunteer patients, Dr. Fredric Stern extracts stem cells with a liposuction-like procedure. The cells are then mixed with a special medium.

"Half is saved cyrogenically for future use and the other half is shipped to the laboratory in Arizona where on that end the stem cells are grown further," Stern said.

The end product goes into a cream called tropoelastin. The hope is that high concentrations of a patient's own stem cells in the cream will boost the skink's ability to repair itself.

If the eye cream proves successful in the eight-week study, the company will also offer a facial cream. Both could be available within a few months.

Stern said he expects the price to be comparable to high-end cosmetic products that typically cost hundreds of dollars.

Stern said the skin treatment is just the beginning. He said wound care is another possible use.

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Bellevue doctor tests stem-cell cream as anti-aging therapy