Family ties: Trinity woman with leukemia receives stem cells from brother

CHAPEL HILL Kathy DeClue loves her youngest brother Don Hammed for many reasons. These days, Dons selflessness is at the top of her list.

Don donated the stem cells I received during my transplant, said Kathy, 57, of Trinity, in Randolph County. It was a favor I never thought Id have to ask for. But I would have done the same for him if he needed me to.

Kathy needed the stem cell transplant to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a cancer of the blood cells. For some CLL patients, the disease progresses slowly and they may never need treatment. For others, like Kathy, the disease was on fast-forward and required aggressive medical attention.

From the start, we knew that the CLL was behaving like a high-risk disease and was resistant to just about all the therapies we have, said James M. Coghill, MD, assistant professor of hematology and oncology at the UNC School of Medicine, a member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and the leader of Kathys health care team.

The stem cell transplant on April 25 was the best option for trying to get her disease under control, and Kathy had the luxury of three siblings who were a perfect match to donate stem cells. Shes had a supportive family every step of the way. Im sure they would be willing to donate bone marrow again if she needed it.

Besides Don, 46, of Kernersville, N.C., brother Butch Hammed, 56, and sister Rose Tucker, 60, both of Roanoke, Va., were perfect matches. Having multiple matches is unusual as most patients, at best, have a one-in-four chance of getting a perfect match, Dr. Coghill said.

Don got the nod because he was young, healthy and had never been pregnant, Dr. Coghill said. Generally, we try to go with males as donors because female donors who have been pregnant develop antibodies that can increase the chances of graft vs. host disease or rejection.

Rose, the mother of three children, jumped, cried and screamed when she found out she was a perfect match for her sister and her best friend.

I wanted to be a match and her donor so bad, and I was really disappointed when they went with Don, Rose said. They told me Id have enough to do as her caregiver, and as it turned out, I did.

Rose, who was laid off from her child day care job last year, came to Chapel Hill and tended to Kathys every need during the preparations for the transplant and the 100 days post-transplant that Kathy was required to stay at SECU Family House.

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Family ties: Trinity woman with leukemia receives stem cells from brother

World First: Islet Transplant Into Man Using Sernova's Cell Pouch(TM) for Treatment of Diabetes

LONDON, ONTARIO and EDMONTON, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Aug. 16, 2012) - Sernova Corp. ("Sernova" or the "Company") (SVA.V) and the University of Alberta today announced the treatment of the first patient with insulin-producing islets transplanted into Sernova's Cell Pouch(TM) in a Phase I/II clinical study to treat Type-1 diabetes led by Dr. James Shapiro, Professor of Surgery and Medicine, University of Alberta and Director, Clinical Islet Transplant Program. Sernova will host a conference call at 9 a.m. EDT, today, Aug. 16, 2012, to discuss the company's clinical and business developments.

"The Sernova Cell Pouch(TM) implantation and transplantation processes are simple, rapid minimally invasive procedures, conducted on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia," said Dr. Shapiro. "This offers substantial potential benefit over the Edmonton protocol and the ease of use provides an opportunity for the Cell Pouch(TM) to become the standard of care for people with diabetes if it proves to be effective in these initial trials."

The objectives of the human clinical trial are to assess the safety and efficacy of the Cell Pouch(TM) with transplanted islets in up to 20 patients with Type-1 diabetes. The study is sponsored by Sernova Corp and the University of Alberta. In the study, patients who have met the enrolment criteria and provided informed consent are implanted with the Cell Pouch(TM) prior to transplantation of donor human islets. To prevent islet graft rejection, patients in this study are treated with the best in class standard of care immunosuppression protocol. Interim analysis of the data from this clinical study is expected during H1, 2013. Further information on the trial may be found at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov (Identifier:NCT01652911).

"The Cell Pouch(TM) is a breakthrough technology which has the potential to significantly improve the lives of people living with chronic diseases such as diabetes," said Philip Toleikis, Ph.D., President and CEO of Sernova Corp. "Supported by Sernova's strong preclinical results, the treatment of patients in this clinical trial of the Cell Pouch(TM) further advances our vision for the future of providing millions of diabetic patients with the Cell Pouch(TM), and an unlimited source of insulin-producing cells protected with a local anti-rejection technology."

Conference Call

The conference call to discuss Sernova's clinical and business developments may be accessed by dialing 866-532-1852 for domestic callers and +443-842-7644 for international callers. Please specify to the operator that you would like to join the "Sernova conference call" or "conference ID: 21155379."

About The Cell Pouch(TM)

The Cell Pouch(TM) is a proprietary medical device that, following subcutaneous implantation, incorporates with tissue and microvessels forming a natural environment for transplantation of therapeutic cells. Multiple preclinical studies demonstrated the Cell Pouch(TM) to provide a safe environment for transplantation, as well as long-term efficacy of therapeutic cells. Sernova's goals for the Cell Pouch(TM) for diabetes include providing a safe and natural site for islets to significantly increase the number of patients currently treated with intraportal delivery of donor islets and to provide a safe environment for virtually unlimited available sources of insulin-secreting cells such as insulin-producing stem cells and xenogeneic cells. This vision combined with local anti-rejection protection of the cells could enable millions of patients with insulin-dependent diabetes to be treated without limitation to availability of cells.

About Sernova

Sernova Corp. is a clinical stage health-sciences company focused on commercializing medical technologies. Sernova is currently developing a platform technology for a number of serious disease indications, starting with a novel treatment for insulin-dependent diabetes, using the novel Cell Pouch System(TM) for transplantation and long-term survival of therapeutic cells and its patented Sertolin(TM) cell technology which can provide an immune-protected local environment for therapeutic cells.

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World First: Islet Transplant Into Man Using Sernova's Cell Pouch(TM) for Treatment of Diabetes

Small caps round-up: ReNeuron, Eckoh, Healthcare Locums

LONDON (ShareCast) - Clinical-stage stem cell group ReNeuron surged on Tuesday after saying that the Data Safety Monitoring Board gave a favourable recommendation to proceed to the with a higher dose of its ReN001 stem cell therapy in a clinical trial. 'This represents a further important milestone for the study as we make our plans for a subsequent Phase II clinical trial application with ReNeuron's ReN001 cell-based treatment for stroke disability,' said ReNeuron's Chief Executive Michael Hunt. The therapy is being administered in ascending doses to a total of 12 stroke patients who have been left disabled by an ischaemic stroke. The group also announced that one patient in the trial has now been successfully treated with ReN001 and discharge from hospital with no acute safety issues arising. Shares jumped 14.91% to 3.7p. Speech recognition and payment solutions group Eckoh (LSE: ECK.L - news) has secured a two-year contract with UK baby website Kiddicare to provide secure card payment services over the phone. "This is the second EckohPROTECT contract to be secured in quick succession through the new referral agreement with a global service provider that was announced in May 2012," the firm said. Shares were up 7.84% at 13.75p. Healthcare Locums (LSE: HLO.L - news) , the nursing, media and social services recruitment group, saw shares rocket 23.29% to 2.25p today after announcing that it would not bother filing a defence against legal claims in the US as it has no interests in the country and therefore does not abide by US law. The complaint accuses the company and some of its former directors of making "misrepresentations" during 2012 concerning its profitability and accounting practices, something that the firm disagrees with. The group told the plaintiffs' US counsel that the underlying claim is "wholly without merit and that if proceedings are commenced in the proper forum they will be strenuously defended." BC

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Small caps round-up: ReNeuron, Eckoh, Healthcare Locums

Cytomedix Reports Second Quarter 2012 Financial Results and Provides Corporate Update

GAITHERSBURG, MD--(Marketwire -08/14/12)- Cytomedix, Inc. (CMXI) (the "Company"), a regenerative therapies company commercializing and developing innovative platelet and adult stem cell technologies, today reported financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2012.

Separately, the Company announced that it accepted the early termination of the previously announced exclusivity period granted to a top 20 global pharmaceutical company and ceased negotiations for a distribution agreement for the Company's AutoloGel System in wound care, which would have expired August 30, 2012. The $4.50 million received by Cytomedix to date for this exclusivity was non-refundable. The Company is now free to re-engage with other interested parties experienced in wound care to pursue potential partnerships and commercial agreements for the product.

Financial Highlights for the Second Quarter (all comparisons are with the 2011 second quarter)

Clinical and Corporate Highlights of the Second Quarter and Recent Weeks

Management Discussion

Martin P. Rosendale, Chief Executive Officer of Cytomedix, said, "During the second quarter we continued to make significant strides in advancing our position as a fully integrated regenerative medicine company as we achieved a number of key milestones that position us for future growth. In addition, our commercial products posted record quarterly sales and we made important advances with our products and pipeline.

"The agreement to end the exclusivity period and cease negotiations for an AutoloGel distribution agreement is not a reflection of the clinical or commercial value of AutoloGel in wound care, but rather is a result of a unique set of circumstances with the potential partner that precluded arriving at a favorable outcome. I want to emphasize that the decision is in no way tied to the final CMS determination for CED. Moreover, we received $4.50 million in non-dilutive financing for providing the exclusivity period and are now in a position to reengage in discussions with other interested potential partners. We are encouraged by the interest in PRP in wound care since the CMS final decision was published. With the early release of the exclusivity period, we will accelerate discussions with potential experienced wound care partners.

"We were very pleased that CMS reversed its long-standing non-coverage decision for autologous PRP and has now agreed to coverage through its CED program. This provides for an appropriate research study with practical study designs we are confident will demonstrate that patients treated with AutoloGel consistently experience clinically significant health outcomes. Importantly, payment for the product under CED is expected to be sufficient to cover the anticipated cost of collecting the evidence. We have already begun our interaction with CMS following the release of the final decision memo and look forward to further defining the specifics of the protocols for the research studies and clinical questions to be answered through the CED program."

Commenting on clinical progress with the Company's ALDH bright cell technology, Mr. Rosendale said, "Our Phase II RECOVER-Stroke trial has expanded to new sites and we look forward to our next milestone, which will be the DSMB safety assessment following the treatment of the initial 30 patients. We reasonably expect this to occur during the fourth quarter and continue to maintain that the ALDH bright cell population offers a novel and differentiated cell population with significant clinical upside. In addition we were pleased to report the initiation of a Phase I collaboration with the Duke University Medical Center with funding from the Robertson Clinical & Translational Cell Therapy Program. We expect to announce and initiate another sponsor-funded Phase II clinical study by year end in a peripheral arterial disease indication. These studies are intended to leverage our positive clinical experiences in critical limb ischemia and stroke.

"The first half of the year was marked by significant progress in areas that are important to our strategic plan. We expect the second half of the year to be equally productive as we work toward achieving a number of value-creating clinical and corporate milestones," concluded Mr. Rosendale.

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Cytomedix Reports Second Quarter 2012 Financial Results and Provides Corporate Update

LifeCell gets 50,000 customers in stem cells banking

Chennai, Aug 14 (IBNS)

Stem cells derived from the umbilical cord are known to have the potential to treat over 75 serious medical conditions.

To enhance awareness, LifeCell partnered with model and actor Lisa Ray, who had undergone successful stem cell therapy for treatment of blood cancer.

Lisa continues to endorse the brand.

Whilst India is the worlds largest birthing country, the penetration of the stem cell storage has been a dismal 0.2pc compared to the global average which is between 5pc in the US to as high as 25pc in Singapore.

LifeCell said it believes that poor awareness rate and per capita income are the primary reasons for low penetration in the Indian market, yet is optimistic that India would soon reach the global benchmarks.

Mayur Abhaya, Managing Director and CEO said, When we launched our services in 2004 the medical fraternity was not even aware of the concept of stem cell banking. It was our responsibility to create awareness amongst both the doctors and the expectant parents about its enormous scope in the future."

The stem cell storage industry is growing at a rate of 30-40pc per year. More and more innovative services have been launched in the space of stem cell preservation such menstrual blood banking. (IBNS)

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LifeCell gets 50,000 customers in stem cells banking

Rasheda Ali, Daughter of Legendary Muhammad Ali and Advisory Board Member of BrainStorm, Visits Company Laboratories …

NEW YORK & PETACH TIKVAH, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics (BCLI), a leading developer of adult stem cell technologies and CNS therapeutics, announced that Rasheda Ali Walsh, daughter of the legendary Muhammad Ali, visited the Companys laboratories as well as its cleanrooms at Hadassah Medical Center, where she received a briefing on the companys clinical trial conducted there. Ms. Ali Walsh, an internationally known advocate for promoting research and awareness of neurodegenerative diseases, is a member of the Advisory Board of BrainStorm.

BrainStorms President, Mr. Chaim Lebovits, and CEO Dr. Adrian Harel accompanied Ms. Ali Walsh for a meeting with Prof. Dimitrios Karussis, Principal Investigator of the Companys ongoing Phase I/II clinical trial at Hadassah, and Prof. Tamir Ben-Hur, Head of the Neurology Department. The group discussed the latest innovative treatments for neurodegenerative diseases and BrainStorms leading role in this area.

Having heard so much about the recent positive interim safety report and the outstanding progress being made by BrainStorm at Hadassah, I felt the need to actually meet the team in person, commented Ms. Ali. The amazing work being done here gives a ray of hope to patients and families worldwide that autologous stem cell transplants may be the answer theyve been waiting for to overcome neurodegenerative diseases.

According to Dr. Adrian Harel, BrainStorms CEO, The support and encouragement by world-renowned individuals like Rasheda Ali is important for increasing awareness of the need for a cure for debilitating neurodegenerative diseases. We are hopeful that this awareness will lead to more widespread efforts by governments and health organizations worldwide to fund research in this area and provide assistance to patients and their families.

About BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics, Inc. BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. is a biotechnology company engaged in the development of adult stem cell therapeutic products derived from autologous bone marrow cells and intended for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. The Company holds the rights to develop and commercialize its NurOwn technology through an exclusive, worldwide licensing agreement with Ramot, the technology transfer company of Tel-Aviv University. For more information, visit the companys website at http://www.brainstorm-cell.com.

Safe Harbor Statement Statements in this announcement other than historical data and information constitute "forward-looking statements" and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc.'s actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. Terms and phrases such as may, should, would, could, will, expect, likely, believe, plan, estimate, predict, potential, and similar terms and phrases are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks associated with BrainStorm's limited operating history, history of losses; minimal working capital, dependence on its license to Ramot's technology; ability to adequately protect the technology; dependence on key executives and on its scientific consultants; ability to obtain required regulatory approvals; and other factors detailed in BrainStorm's annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q available at http://www.sec.gov. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on BrainStorms forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on the beliefs, expectations and opinions of management as of the date of this press release. We do not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results or assumptions if circumstances or managements beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, unless otherwise required by law. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.

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Rasheda Ali, Daughter of Legendary Muhammad Ali and Advisory Board Member of BrainStorm, Visits Company Laboratories ...

Stem cell cure for implants under research at Toronto hospital

TORONTO To arthritis patients, they still seem like wonders of modern medicine: artificial hip and knee implants that curb chronic pain.

In fact, 14,000 Canadians a year receive hip replacements and more than 21,000 undergo knee replacements, the numbers soaring over the last decade.

If Dr. Nizar Mahomed and colleagues at the University Health Network (UHN) in Toronto succeed with fascinating new research, however, such surgery will eventually become a thing of the past.

The operations are, in fact, anything but panaceas, never really restoring people to their healthiest state, and often requiring replacement when the implant wears out, acknowledges Dr. Mahomed, head of orthopedics at the UHNs Toronto Western Hospital.

With those limitations in mind, the UHN is pursuing research that aims to find a biological cure for joints decimated by osteo-arthritis, the most common form of the disease. Most dazzling among several experiments is a project that uses stem cells to create bone and cartilage, which researchers hope can be turned into a sort of organic joint implant that would fuse with existing tissue and regenerate diseased knees and hips.

Theoretically, the limits imposed on artificial joint-replacement patients would be forgotten.

If we can find biological repair options, then basically were restoring the joint back to its native health state, Dr. Mahomed said. There would be no restrictions. You could go and run a marathon if youd like. And theres no concern that it is going to wear out, because weve basically restored it back to its [original] state of health.

The research is prodded along by the reality of a field that in some ways has progressed little in recent decades. Drugs used today for osteo-arthritis simply treat the symptoms and are essentially the same as prescribed 30 years ago, said Dr. Mahomed.

Joint replacements, the last-ditch treatment, have been around for half a century. Neither is anything like a cure.

One of the UHN projects is generating cartilage and bone using both embryonic stem cells and those that can be extracted from bone marrow, blood or even fat of any adult patient.

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Stem cell cure for implants under research at Toronto hospital