Category Archives: Stem Cell Therapy

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares ofBrainstorm Cell Therapeutics (BCLI) soared 20.88% to $4.69 on higher-than-average volume in morning trading Wednesday ahead of the biotech company's data release on Monday.

Brainstorm intends to release the final results from its Phase 2a trial of its stem cell therapy NurOwn on Monday. The company describes NurOwn as an "autologous, adult stem cell therapy technology" designed to treat ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

The company will host a conference call on Monday to discuss the results.

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Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics (BCLI) Stock Rises Ahead of ALS Treatment Trial Data Release

When Pearland residents Todd and Linsey Hyatts son, Tucker Beau, received a diagnosis of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis when he was just two years old, the future looked agonizing for the previously precocious little boy. His parents refused to lose hope, however, and took a chance on stem cell therapy to improve Tuckers quality of life.

Now at age six, Tucker Beau looks and acts like any other normal boy his age, save for taking rests more often. He has had two separate stem cell infusions in August and November that have turned his slow, painful decline into a fading memory.

Celltex Therapeutics Corp., a Houston-based biotechnology company located in the Galleria area, uses proprietary technology to isolate, multiply and store their clients own stem cells to be used for regenerative therapy. This therapy has been proven effective with many conditions, including vascular (e.g. Raynauds Disease, kidney artery disease), autoimmune (e.g. arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus) and degenerative (e.g. Parkinsons, Alzheimers) diseases.

To get stem cells for a client, fat is extracted from the abdomen in a minimally invasive process that takes 15 30 minutes with no recovery time. This fat is then taken to Celltex, where the components of the fat are separated.

Celltex isolates the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and places them in a nutrient-rich environment to grow. The initial extraction contains about 250,000 stem cells. Celltexs methods can produce one billion cells from that original extraction in as little as 5 weeks, making it unnecessary for clients to have a second extraction in most cases. The cells are frozen and banked at Celltexs lab, ready if and when the client needs another infusion, whether that is in three months or 30 years.

Adult [as opposed to embryonic] MSCs have the remarkable potential of migrating to different parts of the body, recognizing sites of injury and inflammation, and are then able to transform into many different types of cells, says Celltex Chairman and CEO David Eller.

Celltex takes great care in providing safe, pure cells to their clients. The Quality Control Dept,, headed up by QC Manager Kathy Gohlke, tests the cells at different stages throughout the process to ensure that no contaminants are present and that the cells are healthy and viable. Should contaminants be found at some point, which has only happened once out of about 500 clients served since 2011, a second fat extraction may be required.

Erik Eller, Head of Operations, explained that Celltex is also prepared for all kinds of negative scenarios so that the banked cells will stay safe. In the event of a long-term power failure, large generators located on site automatically provide electricity for up to two weeks. An even longer-term solution is in the works. The actual vats that the cells are stored in do not require electricity at all.

The labs at Celltex contain two clean rooms; one for manufacturing and another for Quality Control. These rooms are kept at a constant and optimal temperature, are pressure controlled and the air is continuously filtered through hospital-grade HEPA filters to reduce the chances of contamination. Employees who work in the clean rooms must be covered from head to toe in protective gear to keep the stem cells as healthy as possible.

When a client is ready for treatment, Celltex ships that persons harvested stem cells to either Guadalajara or Cancun Mexico, where the client will receive the infusion in a top-of-the-line hospital by a licensed physician.

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Houston-based company leads nation in medical wave of the future

Experimental treatment kills off, then 'resets' the immune system

WebMD News from HealthDay

By Dennis Thompson

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Dec. 29, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- An experimental therapy that kills off and then "resets" the immune system has given three years of remission to a small group of multiple sclerosis patients, researchers say.

About eight in 10 patients given this treatment had no new adverse events after three years. And nine in 10 experienced no progression or relapse in their MS, said lead author Dr. Richard Nash of the Colorado Blood Cancer Institute at Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center in Denver.

"I think we all think of this as a viable therapy," Nash said. "We still need to perform a randomized clinical trial, but we're all pretty impressed so far, in terms of what we've seen."

In multiple sclerosis, the body's immune system for some unknown reason attacks the nervous system, in particular targeting the insulating sheath that covers the nerve fibers, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. People with the more common form, called relapsing-remitting MS, have attacks of worsening neurologic function followed by partial or complete recovery periods (remissions).

Over time, as the damage mounts, patients become physically weak, have problems with coordination and balance, and suffer from thinking and memory problems.

This new therapy seeks to reset the immune system by killing it off using high-dose chemotherapy, then restarting it using the patient's own blood stem cells. Doctors harvest and preserve the patient's stem cells before treatment, and re-implant them following chemotherapy.

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Stem Cell Therapy for MS Shows Promise

Stem cells grown under low oxygen. These stem cells from Stemedica are licensed to CardioCell.

Dr. David Gorski, a prominent skeptic of therapies offered outside the scientifically controlled clinical trial system, has published an extensive and critical look at the stem cell therapy Gordie Howe received in early December to help him recover from a serious stroke.

I had email exchanges with Gorski while writing my article last week on the treatment, which uses stem cells provided by San Diego-based Stemedica. Gorski, whose previous blog post at Science-Based Medicine on Howe's treatment caught my attention, follows through with an analysis of the clinical trial setup used by Novastem, a Mexican stem cell company licensed by Stemedica to use its cells.

Dr. Murray Howe and his hockey great father, Gordie Howe, on a fishing trip in Saskatchewan in 2013. / Courtesy Murray Howe

"As sympathetic as I am to the Howe family, Im sorry. I reluctantly have to say that Murray Howe really should know better," Gorski wrote. "If Gordie Howe was treated as part of a clinical trial, then Novastem should have treated him for free! Thats because if it is running a clinical trial, it should treat everyone on the trial for free. Thats the way its done ethically."

I asked Novastem president Rafael Carrillo about the financial issue for my article. Carrillo said Novastem doesn't have deep pockets like a big pharmaceutical company, so it needs to charge for the treatment to pay its expenses. Without that money, it can't afford the trial. Patients wouldn't get the opportunity to get care that could help them, Carrillo said. Moreover, this arrangement is legal under Mexican law.

Gorksi views this as unethical, even if it's legal. He objects to the free treatment given to Gordie Howe, because it amounts to publicity for Novastem that will attract paying customers. And even if Howe is doing better, as appears to be the case, it's not possible to tell definitively whether stem cells helped.

The U.S. system has its own flaws, Gorski says, because patient expenses not related to the clinical trial are not paid for.

"Patients who dont have health insurance will often have a huge difficulty paying for their care not related to the clinical trial and thus will have difficulties accessing cutting-edge clinical trials because they cant pay for their own regular care," Gorski wrote. "Yay, USA!"

Stemedica is offering its own U.S. trial of the therapy, but people must have had the stroke at least six months ago. That's because people make the most improvement within six months after a stroke. So delaying treatment until after that point will make it easier to detect improvement caused by the stem cell treatment.

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More about Gordie Howe's therapy

NEW DELHI: India may soon have an official database on stem cell donors and recipients. The health ministry is evaluating a proposal along with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to create a donor registry as part of the National Health Mission (NHM), a senior official told TOI.

The proposal suggests enrolling all district hospitals in the first phase to seek stem cell details from across the country. "Once a stem cell donor registry is in place, a willing donor can be contacted and one can coordinate easily. Also, this would enhance access to safe blood," the official said.

Stem cells, found in bone marrow, are like building blocks which can grow into any normal cell of the body such as red blood cells to carry oxygen, white blood cells to fight infection, or platelets to stop bleeding.

Apart from the donor registry, the ministry is also looking at creating facilities for human leucocyte antigen (HLA) typing. HLA-typing is a process conducted for matching donors and recipients of stem cell. HLA-typing is necessary to minimize rejection of stem cell transplant, experts say.

Once created, this would be the first government registry in the country. Till now, such registries have been run in the country by a few NGOs such as Bharat Stem Cells.

According to Bharat Stem Cells, there is usually 25% chance of a patient finding a matching donor within the family. The rest depend on unrelated voluntary stem cell donors.

Stem cell therapy has been shown to be effective in various blood disorders and in treatment of cancer. It is widely used in bone marrow transplantation. However, stem cell treatment remains expensive because of limited research as well as unavailability and lack of coordination between donors and recipients. Some private hospitals charge as much as Rs 1 lakh per session for stem cell therapy. On an average, stem cell treatment is estimated to cost around Rs 15-16 lakh.

According to the official, the idea behind including stem cell into NHM is to make it affordable by creating records and providing facilities.

Stay updated on the go with The Times of Indias mobile apps. Click here to download it for your device.

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Stem cell registry will make cancer treatment cheaper

Las Vegas, Nevada (PRWEB) December 29, 2014

Top Las Vegas pain management clinic, Nevada Pain, is now providing over ten effective knee arthritis treatments. New treatments include regenerative medicine therapies such as PRP and stem cell therapy. Call (702) 323-0553 for more information and scheduling.

Knee arthritis affects tens of millions of Americans, often leading to significant disability. This may make it difficult to participate in recreational activities or play with one's kids or grandkids. While a total joint replacement typically has excellent outcomes, there are potential serious complications. Therefore, the procedure should be avoided or delayed until all other options have been attempted.

Nevada Pain offers the latest, cutting edge options for knee arthritis relief. This includes platelet rich plasma therapy, known as PRP therapy, along with stem cell therapy. The stem cell therapy is offered with either bone marrow derived stem cells or amniotic derived stem cells.

Additional treatments for knee arthritis include cortisone injections, which have been a gold standard for decades. They may provide months of consistent pain relief. Hyaluronic acid injections into the arthritic knee have been shown to offer six to twelve months of pain relief to most individuals.

Knee bracing is also offered along with TENS units, physical rehabilitation, pain medications and topical pain creams. Success rates are impressive for achieving pain relief and avoiding knee surgery.

Along with treating knee arthritis pain, Nevada Pain offers therapies for all types of back and neck pain, sciatica, scoliosis, neuropathy, RSD, spinal stenosis and much more. Treatment is offered by Board Certified, Award Winning providers.

Most insurance is accepted and there are multiple locations in the greater Las Vegas area. Call (702) 323-0553 for more information and scheduling.

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Las Vegas Pain Management Clinic, Nevada Pain, Now Offering Over Ten Effective Treatments for Knee Arthritis with ...

Dr. Murray Howe and his hockey great father, Gordie Howe, on a fishing trip in Saskatchewan in 2013.

Hockey legend Gordie Howe is making a dramatic recovery from a serious stroke thanks to stem cell therapy developed by San Diego-based Stemedica, his family says. Some medical scientists aren't so sure, however.

Howe, 86, suffered the stroke in late October, leaving him unable to walk and disoriented. He began improving within hours after receiving the stem cells in early December, said Dr. Murray Howe, a radiologist and one of Howes sons. For example, Howe insisted on walking to the bathroom, which he previously could not do.

"If I did not witness my father's astonishing response, I would not have believed it myself," Murray Howe said by email Thursday. "Our father had one foot in the grave on December 1. He could not walk, and was barely able to talk or eat."

"Our father's progress continues," the email continued. "Today, Christmas, I spoke with him on FaceTime. I asked him what Santa brought him. He said 'A headache.' I told him I was flying down to see him in a week. He said, 'Thanks for the warning.'"

Howe is receiving speech and physical therapy at his home in Lubbock, Texas, and his therapists say he is much better than before receiving the stem cells.

Howe received the treatment from Novastem, a Mexican stem cell company that has licensed the use of Stemedica's cells for clinical trials approved by the Mexican government. Howe was given neural stem cells to help his brain repair damage, and stem cells derived from bone marrow to improve blood circulation in the brain. The procedure took place at Novastem's Clinica Santa Clarita in Tijuana.

Such use of unproven stem cell therapies outside the U.S. clinical trial system draws objections from some American health care professionals. They warn of the potential for abuse, say there's a lack of rigorous scientific standards, and call for tighter federal regulation of the proliferation of stem cell treatments.

Nevertheless, patients with ailments that don't response to approved treatments continue to seek such care. These patients and families say they have the right to make their own judgments. And they may not have time to wait for proof, so they're willing to take a chance.

Stemedica says it follows U.S. government law, and requires those licensing its stem cells in foreign countries to obey the laws of those countries.

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Did stem cells really help Gordie Howe?

The Newport Beach Stem Cell Treatment Center provides cutting-edge care for patients with a wide variety of degenerative disorders using adult stem cell regenerative therapy. Our highly trained physicians and medical team are focused on providing you with the most innovative techniques and advanced procedures for harvesting and deploying adult stem cells from your own fat. We are also committed to clinical research and the advancement of regenerative medicine.

We are dedicated to the principles of personalized patient care and individualized attention. Our plastic surgeon, a pioneer in liposuction, and topnotch team of registered nurses and technicians are experienced in harvesting and deploying adult stem stems. In addition, our comfortable in-office surgery center is fully accredited by the Institute for Medical Quality, a division of the California Medical Association. Our goal is to provide you with the best possible care in a friendly and professional atmosphere.

Fat is the bodys most abundant repository of adult stem cells, containing thousands of times more stem cells than bone marrow. New technologies at the Newport Beach Stem Cell Treatment Center make it possible for us to remove a few ounces of a patients fat through liposuction, separate out the stem cells in a special process that yields extremely high numbers of viable cells, and return them back into the patients body via IV or injection. Performed in a physicians office under sedation and local anesthesia and using a sterile closed system technology (so the cells never come into contact with the environment), there is minimal discomfort and risk of infection. And because the cells come from the patients own body, there is no risk of rejection or disease transmission.

Posted by Mark Baldwin on Nov 28, 2012 in Cardiac / Pulmonary

Posted by Mark Baldwin on Nov 28, 2012 in Cardiac / Pulmonary

Posted by Mark Baldwin on Nov 28, 2012 in Cardiac / Pulmonary

Posted by Mark Baldwin on Nov 28, 2012 in Cardiac / Pulmonary

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Newport Beach Stem Cell Treatment Center - Stem Cell ...