Stem cell treatments surging into the clinic

Michael Scott, a ViaCyte vice president, holds the VC-01 device that holds progenitor cells that will mature to make insulin and other hormones.

More than ever before, stem cell therapies appear poised to transform medicine potentially curing heart disease, diabetes and paralyzing injuries, among other ailments.

But its also clear that such innovations will be very expensive.

How the government, insurers and patients will pay for what could be a flood of these new treatments drew the attention of more than 700 biomedical and health-care executives Tuesday at the 2014 Stem Cell Meeting on the Mesa.

The annual conference, held on La Jolla's Torrey Pines Mesa, will run through Thursday. It brings together the business and academic worlds of cell therapy, including but not limited to stem cell treatments.

In California alone, 131 clinical trials are taking place with stem cells, according to Clinicaltrials.gov, a government website that tracks clinical trials. Patients are being treated for conditions such as blindness from retinal diseases, HIV, leukemia, sickle cell disease, stroke and aging of skin.

The recent proliferation of clinical trials marks great progress toward the ultimate goal of getting new treatments to patients, said stem cell researcher Jeanne Loring, who directs the Center for Regenerative Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla.

Its been a sea change from last year, said Loring, who is working with some colleagues in planning their own stem cell trial to treat Parkinsons disease.

Theyre developing replacement neurons grown from artificial embryonic stem cells called induced pluripotent stem cells. The process begins with cells derived from the skin of patients to be treated.

Home-grown milestone

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Stem cell treatments surging into the clinic