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"Comfort News" for California's Stem Cell Research Effort

Posted: July 11, 2013 at 4:03 pm

The California stem cell agency has
enjoyed a spate of good financial and scientific news this week from
the biotech industry as the research effort pushes on with its
mission of turning stem cells into cures.
The $3 billion agency is
scheduled to make its last grants in less than three years and, given
the glacial pace of medical research, needs all the help it can get
by then to bring a stem cell therapy close to the marketplace – the
promise it made to voters when the agency was created nine years ago.
CIRM, as the agency is known, requires
not only steady scientific progress but also a rosy outlook for the
industry, which has languished in past years as major investors
shunned the field. This week, CIRM garnered good news on both fronts.
There was enough so that the agency
even touted it on the agency's research blog in an item by
Neil Littman, CIRM's business development officer. He said it all
helps to leverage CIRM investments and create a favorable investment climate. The good news included yesterday's announcement that
Viacyte, Inc., of San Diego, Ca., has come up with $10.6
million needed to match a $10.1 million, much-ballyhooed award from CIRM last fall. The Viacyte financing
includes important support from Big Pharma, in the form of Johnson &
Johnson
. CIRM has pumped a total of $39.4 million into Viacyte.
Another CIRM award winner,
Cellular Dynamics International, Inc., of Madison, Wisc., yesterday
announced its price on its upcoming stock offering to raise up to $53
million. Cellular Dynamics scored $16 million from the agency last
March.
The “comfort news” for CIRM also included Monday's announcement that Capricor, Inc., a private Beverly Hills company benefiting from $27 million from the California stem cell agency, is merging with publicly traded Niles Therapeutic, Inc., of San Mateo. The merger is aimed at providing better access to capital.
And then there was Tuesday's news that a $20 million CIRM disease team award is paying off with the beginning of a clinical trial by Calimmune of Tucson, Az. for an HIV treatment.
All on top of the news in June when bluebird bio of Masschusetts brought in $101 million on its stock offering. Bluebird is the recipient of a $9.4 million CIRM award.
The rosy news comes amid a generally
better outlook for biotech in general. John Carroll, editor of Fierce
Biotech,
 this week noted that there were only 11 biotech stock offerings last
year. He wrote,

“In the last 6 months, though, the
industry has seen a tremendous rebound, with almost twice that number
of IPOs in half the time. And there's no sign that the great leap
into the public market is waning, with 10 more IPOs in the queue.”

Carroll's comments were echoed in a
piece by Peter Winter on Bioworld headlined “Bubbleology and Biotech's Bull Run.”
All of this plays into what some might
call the “everybody's-doing-it dance" or the “lemming
syndrome,” depending on your point of view. The reality is that
big investors and venture capitalists are timid souls and need the
comfort of companionship-in-risk as they fork over tens or hundreds
of millions of dollars on something that may not pay off for a decade
or more. No one wants to be the out-front pioneer who winds up with
financial arrows in his or her back. Being in a crowd provides an
illusion of safety.
Of course, there is always the caveat
about how markets and investors are fickle. A piece of bad news can
translate quickly into major reversals as Apple has learned over the
last year. Nonetheless, the folks at the stem cell agency have to  be feeling good today.

Source:
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Jeunesse® Global Revolutionary Anti Aging Skin Care with Stem Cells – Video

Posted: July 11, 2013 at 1:44 pm


Jeunesse® Global Revolutionary Anti Aging Skin Care with Stem Cells
Info / Join Online : http://www.Network888.JeunesseGlobal.com At Jeunesse®, we #39;ve turned science fiction into science fact. We #39;re redefining youth and shifti...

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Successful Stem Cells Infusion for Multiple Sclerosis on Canadian Patient – IMH in Pune – Video

Posted: July 11, 2013 at 1:44 pm


Successful Stem Cells Infusion for Multiple Sclerosis on Canadian Patient - IMH in Pune
One of the Patient Mr Watters Richard Anthony, 42yrs old suffering from Multiple Sclerosis disease,Stem Cells therapy consultant - Dr.Mallik Javeri Dr.Amit...

By: InamdarHospital Pune

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Successful Stem Cells Infusion for Multiple Sclerosis on Canadian Patient - IMH in Pune - Video

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FDA won’t legalize animal stem cells

Posted: July 11, 2013 at 1:44 pm

STEM cell products that have been sourced from animals will not gain approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Stem cell-based products of animal origin as well as other products classified as restricted are not allowed to be registered or used, said the FDA via Circular 2013-017 released on Wednesday.

The FDA said the order would include the creation, importation, promotion, marketing, and use of animal stem cells.

The circular comes on the heels of the case filed by Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Chairman Antonio Villar against individuals responsible for performing an illegal stem cell procedure on him and his wife which used sheep stem cells.

Earlier, the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) said it was looking into the recent deaths of three politicians, who supposedly traveled to Germany last year to receive animal stem cell treatments.

Aside from animal stem cells, also barred in the country are human embryos for research purposes, human embryonic stem cells and their derivatives, aborted human fetal stem cells and their derivatives, and plant parts labeled as stem cell.

In the same circular, the FDA called on stem cell service providers to start registering their products as required by the Department of Health (DOH).

The DOH earlier required registration of stem cell products in a bid to ensure public access to safe and quality stem cell treatments. (HDT/Sunnex)

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Researchers Create Inner Ear Structures From Stem Cells, Opening Potential for New Treatments

Posted: July 11, 2013 at 1:43 pm

Newswise INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana University scientists have transformed mouse embryonic stem cells into key structures of the inner ear. The discovery provides new insights into the sensory organ's developmental process and sets the stage for laboratory models of disease, drug discovery and potential treatments for hearing loss and balance disorders.

A research team led by Eri Hashino, Ph.D., Ruth C. Holton Professor of Otolaryngology at Indiana University School of Medicine, reported that by using a three-dimensional cell culture method, they were able to coax stem cells to develop into inner-ear sensory epithelia -- containing hair cells, supporting cells and neurons -- that detect sound, head movements and gravity. The research was reportedly online Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Previous attempts to "grow" inner-ear hair cells in standard cell culture systems have worked poorly in part because necessary cues to develop hair bundles -- a hallmark of sensory hair cells and a structure critically important for detecting auditory or vestibular signals -- are lacking in the flat cell-culture dish. But, Dr. Hashino said, the team determined that the cells needed to be suspended as aggregates in a specialized culture medium, which provided an environment more like that found in the body during early development.

The team mimicked the early development process with a precisely timed use of several small molecules that prompted the stem cells to differentiate, from one stage to the next, into precursors of the inner ear. But the three-dimensional suspension also provided important mechanical cues, such as the tension from the pull of cells on each other, said Karl R. Koehler, B.A., the paper's first author and a graduate student in the medical neuroscience graduate program at the IU School of Medicine.

"The three-dimensional culture allows the cells to self-organize into complex tissues using mechanical cues that are found during embryonic development," Koehler said.

"We were surprised to see that once stem cells are guided to become inner-ear precursors and placed in 3-D culture, these cells behave as if they knew not only how to become different cell types in the inner ear, but also how to self-organize into a pattern remarkably similar to the native inner ear," Dr. Hashino said. "Our initial goal was to make inner-ear precursors in culture, but when we did testing we found thousands of hair cells in a culture dish."

Electrophysiology testing further proved that those hair cells generated from stem cells were functional, and were the type that sense gravity and motion. Moreover, neurons like those that normally link the inner-ear cells to the brain had also developed in the cell culture and were connected to the hair cells.

Additional research is needed to determine how inner-ear cells involved in auditory sensing might be developed, as well as how these processes can be applied to develop human inner-ear cells, the researchers said.

However, the work opens a door to better understanding of the inner-ear development process as well as creation of models for new drug development or cellular therapy to treat inner-ear disorders, they said.

Additional researchers involved in the work were Andrew M. Mikosz, B.S., Andrei I. Molosh, Ph.D., and Dharmeshkumar Patel, Ph.D., of Indiana University School of Medicine.

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Researchers Create Inner Ear Structures From Stem Cells, Opening Potential for New Treatments

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Researchers create inner ear from stem cells, opening potential for new treatments

Posted: July 11, 2013 at 1:43 pm

July 10, 2013 Indiana University scientists have transformed mouse embryonic stem cells into key structures of the inner ear. The discovery provides new insights into the sensory organ's developmental process and sets the stage for laboratory models of disease, drug discovery and potential treatments for hearing loss and balance disorders.

A research team led by Eri Hashino, Ph.D., Ruth C. Holton Professor of Otolaryngology at Indiana University School of Medicine, reported that by using a three-dimensional cell culture method, they were able to coax stem cells to develop into inner-ear sensory epithelia -- containing hair cells, supporting cells and neurons -- that detect sound, head movements and gravity. The research was reportedly online Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Previous attempts to "grow" inner-ear hair cells in standard cell culture systems have worked poorly in part because necessary cues to develop hair bundles -- a hallmark of sensory hair cells and a structure critically important for detecting auditory or vestibular signals -- are lacking in the flat cell-culture dish. But, Dr. Hashino said, the team determined that the cells needed to be suspended as aggregates in a specialized culture medium, which provided an environment more like that found in the body during early development.

The team mimicked the early development process with a precisely timed use of several small molecules that prompted the stem cells to differentiate, from one stage to the next, into precursors of the inner ear. But the three-dimensional suspension also provided important mechanical cues, such as the tension from the pull of cells on each other, said Karl R. Koehler, B.A., the paper's first author and a graduate student in the medical neuroscience graduate program at the IU School of Medicine.

"The three-dimensional culture allows the cells to self-organize into complex tissues using mechanical cues that are found during embryonic development," Koehler said.

"We were surprised to see that once stem cells are guided to become inner-ear precursors and placed in 3-D culture, these cells behave as if they knew not only how to become different cell types in the inner ear, but also how to self-organize into a pattern remarkably similar to the native inner ear," Dr. Hashino said. "Our initial goal was to make inner-ear precursors in culture, but when we did testing we found thousands of hair cells in a culture dish."

Electrophysiology testing further proved that those hair cells generated from stem cells were functional, and were the type that sense gravity and motion. Moreover, neurons like those that normally link the inner-ear cells to the brain had also developed in the cell culture and were connected to the hair cells.

Additional research is needed to determine how inner-ear cells involved in auditory sensing might be developed, as well as how these processes can be applied to develop human inner-ear cells, the researchers said.

However, the work opens a door to better understanding of the inner-ear development process as well as creation of models for new drug development or cellular therapy to treat inner-ear disorders, they said. Additional researchers involved in the work were Andrew M. Mikosz, B.S., Andrei I. Molosh, Ph.D., and Dharmeshkumar Patel, Ph.D., of Indiana University School of Medicine.

Support for the research was provided by National Institutes of Health grants RC1DC010706, R01GM086544 and R01MH52619, a Paul and Carole Stark Neurosciences Fellowship and an Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute Predoctoral Fellowship (NIH TL1RR025759).

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FDA bans stem cells from animals, plants

Posted: July 11, 2013 at 1:43 pm

MANILA, Philippines - Stem cells taken from animals and plant derivatives are not allowed in the country, according to a circular of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In FDA Circular 2013-017, FDA acting director Kenneth Hartigan-Go said stem cells harvested from human embryos for research purposes, human embryonic stem cells and their derivatives as well as aborted human fetal stem cells and their derivatives are also not authorized.

Go said such stem cells are prohibited from creation, importation, promotion, marketing and use.

This means that selling and manufacturing of soap and other products that supposedly contain stem cells from placenta and animals, which have been flooding the market recently, are also prohibited.

The FDA circular said imported human stem cell-based products are allowed, provided they are not hand-carried and meet other requirements.

The FDA requires the use of appropriate mode of transportation and storage in transporting allogeneic stem cells or those derived from other humans and not the patient himself.

Under the guidelines previously issued by the Department of Health (DOH), only autologous stem cells, or those taken from the patients themselves, are acceptable.

In Circular 2013-012 issued last May 15, the FDA had also warned the public against receiving unapproved stem cell preparations in non-health facilities.

The agency said unapproved stem cell preparations and therapy without prior FDA-DOH approval could cause infectious diseases and severe complications which may lead to permanent disabilities, physical deformities, autoimmune diseases and even death, without the benefit of health insurance coverage.

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Stem cell therapy future of medicine? – Video

Posted: July 11, 2013 at 1:40 pm


Stem cell therapy future of medicine?
Everyone is talking about stem cell therapy. But scammers and swindlers are also taking advantage of the fad, prompting the Health Department to step in. Bue...

By: Rappler

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Stem cell therapy future of medicine? - Video

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Habib Torfi and stem cell therapy at Invitrx Therapeutics – Video

Posted: July 11, 2013 at 1:40 pm


Habib Torfi and stem cell therapy at Invitrx Therapeutics
Stem Cell Therapy.

By: Habib Torfi

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Treatment for Spinal Cord Injury with Stem Cells Therapy – Video

Posted: July 11, 2013 at 2:41 am


Treatment for Spinal Cord Injury with Stem Cells Therapy
Treatment for Spinal Cord Injury with Stem Cells Therapy, successfully results , after receiving the Stem Cells Treatment patient is regaining leg feeling an...

By: enjades

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Treatment for Spinal Cord Injury with Stem Cells Therapy - Video

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