Second patient cured of HIV using stem cell transplant treatment – The Japan Times

PARIS A second patient has been cured of HIV after undergoing stem cell transplant treatment, doctors said Tuesday, after finding no trace of infection 30 months after he stopped traditional treatment.

The London Patient, a cancer sufferer originally from Venezuela, made headlines last year when researchers at the University of Cambridge reported they had found no trace of the AIDS-causing virus in his blood for 18 months.

Ravindra Gupta, lead author of the study published in The Lancet HIV, said the new test results were even more remarkable and likely demonstrated the patient was cured.

Weve tested a sizeable set of sites that HIV likes to hide in and they are all pretty much negative for an active virus, Gupta told AFP.

The patient, who revealed his identity this week as Adam Castillejo, 40, was diagnosed with HIV in 2003 and had been on medication to keep the disease in check since 2012.

Later that year, he was diagnosed with advanced Hodgkins lymphoma, a deadly cancer.

In 2016 he underwent a bone marrow transplant to treat blood cancer, receiving stem cells from donors with a genetic mutation present in less than 1 percent of Europeans that prevents HIV from taking hold.

He becomes only the second person to be cured of HIV after American Timothy Brown, known as the Berlin Patient, recovered from HIV in 2011 following similar treatment.

Viral tests of Castillejos cerebral fluid, intestinal tissue and lymphoid tissue more than two years after stopping retroviral treatment showed no active infection.

Gupta said the tests uncovered HIV fossils fragments of the virus that were now incapable of reproducing, and were therefore safe.

Wed expect that, he said.

Its quite hard to imagine that all trace of a virus that infects billions of cells was eliminated from the body.

Researchers cautioned that the breakthrough did not constitute a generalized cure for HIV, which leads to nearly 1 million deaths every year.

Castillejos treatment was a last resort as his blood cancer would likely have killed him without intervention, according to Gupta.

The Cambridge doctor said that there were several other patients who had undergone similar treatment but who were less far along in their remission.

There will probably be more but they will take time, he said.

Researchers are currently weighing up whether or not patients suffering from drug-resistant forms of HIV might be eligible for stem cell transplants in future, something Gupta said would require careful ethical consideration.

Youd have to weigh up the fact that theres a 10 percent mortality rate from doing a stem-cell transplant against what the risk of death would be if we did nothing, he said.

Commenting on The Lancet study, Sharon Lewin, an infectious disease expert at the University of Melbourne, said the findings could provide comfort to patients.

But she advised caution.

Given the large number of cells sampled here and the absence of any intact virus, is the London patient cured? she said.

Unfortunately in the end, only time will tell.

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Second patient cured of HIV using stem cell transplant treatment - The Japan Times

What Jason Hope Says About New Longevity Research – HealthTechZone

Throughout the past decade, various topics related to stem cells have made headlines across all platforms. From being hailed as the most innovative method for eradicating specific diseases, to being protested by various groups and organizations, the use of stem cells has gained national attention repeatedly. With promising initial scientific findings, and avid researchers aiming to solidify the presence of stem cell usage in the realm of science on a normalized basis, increasing numbers of startups, biotech giants, and independent companies are forging ahead with stem cell-related projects. As global connectivity, technological advancements, and the marriage between medicine and technology continues to evolve swiftly, Jason Hope sees stem cells will undoubtedly remaining in the spotlight.

Over 20 years ago, scientists successfully extracted the first human embryonic stem cells, and effectively grew these cells in a lab setting. The remarkable feat of being able to successfully grow the parent cells, which essentially allow for the growth of new cells in the body, was a hopeful moment for the medical sector involved in creating effective regenerative treatments for conditions like heart disease, Alzheimers, stroke, and Parkinsons Disease. Using basic reasoning, the successful regeneration of parent cells could provide the regeneration of undesired cells, leading to anti-aging results, or effective care for many age-related conditions that deteriorate the body over time.

Though this initial breakthrough was promising, the scientific community has not yet made significant strides in bringing stem cell therapy to market in a way that is well-researched, backed by medical associations, and commonly accepted by the scientific community. In fact, the only readily utilized stem cell treatments are related to successfully growing blood cells from matching donors for patients with various blood disorders. According to entrepreneur, philanthropist, and expert in the realm of anti-aging and longevity, Jason Hope, these initial utilization of stem cells are commendable, but require a lot more research in order to maximize the potential widespread benefits of stem cells in medicine.

Hope, who has devoted much of his philanthropic endeavors within the medical industry via groups like the SENS Organization, recognizes that most stem cell implementations are rightfully considered experimental until appropriate research, testing, and development can occur. As an expert in the realm of anti-aging, and the championing of increasing health throughout a lifetime, Jason Hope recognizes the potential distrust that can be formulated by the general public as a result of eager companies making lofty claims or promoting potentially faulty treatments not yet fully vetted by the medical community. Thus, while he remains avidly enthralled by the potential maximization of stem cell therapies, hope supports the long-term research needed to safely, successfully, and effectively generate breakthrough stem cell treatments.

Providing continued backing for the extensive research completed at the SENS (Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence) Organization, Hopes contributions aid in the research aiming to create preventative treatments for degenerative diseases and utilizing breakthrough science to increase the overall long-term quality of life for individuals. Instead of focusing on the treatment of symptoms and the disease throughout the progression of the condition, the scientists at SENS work to examine ways to successfully prevent the disease from happening. Through this boundary-pushing work, a lot of their research focuses on stem cell intervention. According to Hope, stem cell treatments for Parkinsons Disease are now in the second stage of clinical trials at SENS. While the process of undergoing such extensive trials may appear slow, it is crucial to maintaining overall public support via successful treatment launches and promising in terms of the long-term possibilities linked to stem cell treatments.

In addition to the research being conducted by SENS, preliminary medical studies are being conducted with a myriad of uses for stem cells. Experimental stem cell transplants of retinal cells were recently utilized in a small research study of macular generation, providing initially promising results for the handful of patients who have received artificially generated retinal cells. Elsewhere, scientists have begun to explore ways to minimize potential rejection of stem cells in organs like the liver, through maximizing the most conducive environment for stem cells to thrive. While these slow-moving vehicles of change are less prominent than startups promising the proverbial Fountain of Youth via experimental stem cell treatments, these medically sound research studies are forming the backbone of stem cell treatment for the future.

As with all scientific and medical innovations, Hope also recognizes the potential risks, hurdles, and roadblocks within the growing field of stem cell research, and integration into medicine. From supply chain concerns to potential long-term side effects, and the risk of overly eager startups making too-lofty claims, Hope understands that the road to the everyday utilization of stem cells remains lengthy and potentially bumpy. However, the proverbial juice may very well be worth the squeeze in this example. As stem cells harvest the potential power to overturn the degenerative effects of some of the most prominent diseases, allow individuals to maintain active health for elongated periods of time, and increase the quality of life for countless individuals, expanding upon the initial promising research is potentially a pivotal point for the medical community and humankind. Though the road to successful scientific integration of stem cells is long, the potential healthcare benefits are limitless, and according to industry experts like Jason Hope, worth investing in, exploring, and championing.

About Jason Hope

An avid entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist, Jason Hope is a futurist involved in the championing of technological advancement, community involvement, and innovative medical interventions. Deeply passionate about the anti-aging, longevity, and human advancement niche of biomedicine, Hope remains actively involved in various scientific organizations.

After receiving a degree in Finance from ASU, and a subsequent MBA from ASUs W.P. Carey School of Business, Hope developed a successful mobile communications company. Professionally, he currently focuses on investing in startups and developing grant programs for small businesses.

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What Jason Hope Says About New Longevity Research - HealthTechZone

Here’s how to treat coronavirus, according to research – Daily Nation

By XINHUAMore by this Author

China has released the seventh version of the diagnosis and treatment guideline on the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

Here are some drugs and therapies that have been recommended by the guideline, and some medicines that have been found to have the potential to defeat the virus and have entered clinical trials.

Chloroquine Phosphate, a widely used anti-malaria and autoimmune disease drug, has been used for more than 70 years.

The drug has been used in treating 285 critically ill Covid-19 patients in a hospital in Wuhan, and no obvious adverse reactions have been found so far.

In the latest version of the treatment guideline, Chloroquine Phosphate is recommended for Covid-19 patients from 18 to 65.

The amount for patients over 50 kg is 500 mg per dose twice a day for seven days.

The guideline also noted that patients should take less than three antiviral drugs.

Tocilizumab, with the common brand name Actemra, is an injectable synthetic protein that blocks the effects of IL-6 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

IL-6 is a protein that the body produces when there is inflammation.The latest version of the guideline suggests the use of Tocilizumab in patients with an increasing level of IL-6 and with extensive lesions in both lungs or severe symptoms.

Chinese researchers have found that a cause of death for severe and critically ill patients infected with the novel coronavirus is cytokine storm, an overreaction of the immune system.

These patients are found with a higher level of IL-6 in their blood.

Last month, the increasing level of IL-6 was recommended as a warning sign that the patient's situation could possibly deteriorate.

Currently, the drug is under clinical trials in 14 hospitals in Wuhan and a total of 272 severe patients had been treated with Tocilizumab as of March 5.

Convalescent plasma, processed from the plasma collected from recovered Covid-19 patients, contains a large number of protective antibodies.

As of February 28, 245 Covid-19 patients have received the therapy and 91 cases have shown improvement in clinical indicators and symptoms.

According to health authorities, plasma therapy has proved safe and effective.

4. TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been proven effective in treating Covid-19 patients.

With TCM treatment, patients with mild symptoms have seen their fever or cough alleviated, according to medical experts.

For severely ill patients, TCM helped relieve symptoms and restore blood oxygen saturation, preventing the patients' conditions from developing into critically ill cases.

TCM decoction Qingfei Paidu Soup has been recommended to medical institutions nationwide on February 6 after data analysis on 214 cases.

As of February 29, the decoction is used in 66 designated hospitals in 10 provincial-level regions in China.

Favipiravir, an influenza drug available on overseas markets, has been put in a parallel controlled study in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, with 80 patients enlisted.

The initial outcome of the trial shows the drug has relatively obvious efficacy and low adverse reactions.

Experts have suggested expanding the trial to further observe and study its effect.

Remdesivir, developed against Ebola infections by American pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, has shown fairly good antiviral activity against the novel coronavirus at the cellular level.

Cao Bin, a respiratory expert who is leading the Remdesivir programme, said on Wednesday that two trials for Remdesivir are going on smoothly and China will share the data with the international community after the programme is completed.

Clinical studies on stem cell therapy, which can inhibit the overreaction of the body's immune system, have also been carried out to treat severe patients.

As of February 21, four patients who have received the therapy have been discharged from hospital, and the trial is expected to be further expanded. Currently, three kinds of stem cells mesenchymal, lung and embryonic stem cells are used in treatments.

Researchers usually inject stem cell products into the lungs.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a new stem cell drug, CAStem, which has shown promising results in animal experiments.

The research team has applied for urgent assessment by the National Medical Products Administration.

Approvals by the ethics committee, and clinical observation and evaluation, are in progress.

Several research and trials on applying stem cells to treat Covid-19 patients have been carried out in the country.

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Here's how to treat coronavirus, according to research - Daily Nation

Pipeline: Investigational Therapies for COVID-19 – Monthly Prescribing Reference

While no specific treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is currently available, several therapies are being investigated globally.*

Antivirals

AbbVie: the Company is collaborating with select health authorities and institutions to determine the antiviral activity of lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra) against COVID-19.

AIM ImmunoTech: developing Ampligen, a broad-spectrum antiviral that will be tested as a potential treatment for COVID-19 in Japan. A significant survival effect was observed in a trial evaluating mice infected with the earlier Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) coronavirus.

Gilead: developing remdesivir, a broad-spectrum antiviral agent that is being investigated in a double-blinded, placebo-controlled study sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In addition, Gilead is initiating two phase 3 trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of remdesivir in adults diagnosed with COVID-19, following a rapid review and acceptance by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the investigational new drug filing for the novel antiviral.

Immunotherapies and Other Investigational Therapies

Algernon Pharmaceuticals: developing ifenprodil, an N-methyl-d-aspartate (NDMA) receptor glutamate receptor antagonist, which is being prepared for US clinical trials for COVID-19 based on results of an animal study that showed the investigational therapy significantly reduced acute lung injury and improved survivability in H5N1 infected mice.

CEL-SCI: developing an immunotherapy using LEAPS, a patented T cell modulation peptide epitope delivery technology, to stimulate protective cell-mediated T cell responses and reduce viral load.

Innovation Pharmaceuticals: developing brilacidin, a defensin-mimetic, that mimics the human innate immune system and causes disruption of the membrane of pathogens, leading to cell death. It has already been tested in humans in phase 2 trials for other indications.

Mesoblast Limited: investigating remestemcel-L, an allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) product candidate, as a treatment for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by COVID-19. Remestemcel-L, which is comprised of culture-expanded MSCs derived from the bone marrow of an unrelated donor, is administered in a series of intravenous infusions and is believed to have immunomodulatory properties to counteract inflammatory processes.

Q BioMed: partnering with Mannin Research to develop a potential treatment that addresses vascular leakage and endothelial dysfunction, which may potentially help patients with severe cases of COVID-19.

Takeda: developing an anti-SARS-CoV-2 polyclonal hyperimmune globulin (H-IG) to treat high-risk individuals with COVID-19 (TAK-888). Pathogen-specific antibodies from plasma will be collected from recovered patients (or vaccinated donors in the future) and will be transferred to sick patients to improve the immune response to the infection and increase the chance of recovery.

Tiziana: developing TZLS-501, which has been shown to rapidly deplete circulating levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the blood, a key driver of chronic inflammation. Excessive production of IL-6 is believed to be associated with severe lung damage observed with COVID-19 infections.

Vaccines

Altimmune Inc: developing a single-dose, intranasal vaccine against COVID-19 using its proprietary NasoVAX technology. The vaccine is moving toward animal testing.

Applied DNA Sciences: collaborating with Takis Biotech to develop a DNA vaccine candidate using PCR-based DNA (LinearDNA) manufacturing systems; preclinical testing in animals are expected to begin in the second quarter of 2020.

Codagenix Inc: co-developing a live-attenuated vaccine with the Serum Institute of India using viral deoptimization.

GlaxoSmithKline: collaborating with Clover Biopharmaceuticals to develop a protein-based coronavirus vaccine candidate (COVID-19 S-Trimer) using Clovers proprietary technology (Timer-Tag) and combining it with GSKs pandemic adjuvant system.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals: developing a DNA vaccine (INO-4800) to address COVID-19; human trials to begin in the US in April.

Johnson & Johnson: partnering with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to develop a vaccine using Janssens AdVac and PER.C6 technology, which provide the ability to rapidly upscale production of an optimal vaccine candidate.

Moderna Inc: vials of the Companys mRNA vaccine (mRNA-1273) have been shipped to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to be used in a phase 1 study in the US.

Novavax: currently evaluating multiple recombinant nanoparticle vaccine candidates in animal models; initiation of phase 1 testing is expected in late spring of 2020. The COVID-19 vaccine candidates will likely include the saponin-based Matrix-M adjuvant to enhance immune responses.

Sanofi: collaborating with BARDA to develop a vaccine using Sanofis recombinant DNA platform. The DNA sequence encoding the antigen will be combined into the DNA of the baculovirus expression platform and used to produce large quantities of the coronavirus antigen which will be formulated to stimulate the immune system to protect against the virus.

*This list is not all inclusive. Updates will be made as more information becomes available.

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Pipeline: Investigational Therapies for COVID-19 - Monthly Prescribing Reference

Muscle cell atlas developed to aid muscular disease and injury research – Drug Target Review

Researchers have created a new technical resource atlas which maps the 15 distinct cell types involved in muscle repair for disease and therapy research.

Scientists have created a cell atlas which catalogues the activity of almost every kind of cell involved in muscle repair. The researchers hope their resource could be used to simplify muscular disease research and potentially lead to better injury rehabilitation strategies.

The collaborative efforts of a team from Cornell Universitys Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology Resource Center, both US, allowed researchers to analyse the gene expression signatures of thousands of cells taken from actively regenerating murine muscle tissue.

The paper published in Cell Reports is the culmination of data from approximately 35,000 individual cells. This atlas is a list of the fifteen unique cell types involved in muscle cell repair, itemising their similarities and differences to provide a technical resource for anyone studying skeletal muscle.

The internal structure of muscles is made up of multiple cell types grouped into fibres.

Because we have such a large dataset, it helps us frame a number of hypothesis-driven questions about not only which cells are involved, but how they are communicating with each other, said research leader Ben Cosgrove, assistant professor in the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering. This resource enabled us to ask: What molecular signals are one type of cells sending to the other cells within the process of muscle repair?'

According to the researchers, the muscle cell atlas emphasises how much heterogeneity exists within each cell type, which enables scientists to explore specific molecular variations that may have previously been overlooked.

The team have already used their atlas to identify how proteins called syndecans enable muscle stem cells to decide between replenishing the stem cell population or differentiating into mature myofiber cells that replace damaged muscle tissue during muscle cell repair.

We took this huge atlas and partitioned it down to the stem cells. And then we organised the stem cells in a way that gives us a framework to think about variation and the choices the cells are making, Cosgrove said.

They identified that syndecan-related variations may direct how muscle stem cells respond to signals from their neighbouring cells and therefore how they differentiate.

Now that we know more about what is happening in the healthy, normal adult repair process, we can ask How do the cellular players get misallocated and misactivated in the disease settings?' Cosgrove said. The team is currently using the atlas to study muscle repair deficiency in ageing and muscular dystrophy.

Related topicsAnalysis, Analytical techniques, Disease research, Drug Targets, Genomics, Informatics, Protein, Protein Expression, Proteomics, Regenerative Medicine, Sequencing, Targets

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Muscle cell atlas developed to aid muscular disease and injury research - Drug Target Review

Lonza looks to Cocoon to drive cell therapy shift – Bioprocess Insider – BioProcess Insider

Lonza has partnered with several academic clinical centers to assess the manufacture of cell therapies in a decentralized setting using its automated Cocoon point-of-care (PoC) platform.

Swiss contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Lonza announced independent research collaborations with Stanford University School of Medicine, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. The collaborations will see the tech transfer of cell therapy manufacturing processes developed at the respective research institutes into the Cocoon platform.

The Cocoon system is a patient-scale, closed, and automated manufacturing system intended for the manufacture of a variety of autologous cell therapy protocols, including CAR-T, but also tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs).

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center is one of several institutes collaborating with Lonza on the Cocoon tech. Image: Joe Mabel/creativecommons

It is clear that manufacturing autologous cell therapies requires a paradigm shift, Eytan Abraham, head of personalized medicine at Lonza, told Bioprocess Insider. The current manual processes will not allow these therapies to scale and some therapies are more challenging to manufacture and deliver in a centralized manufacturing model.

He added the Cocoon technology forms part of a wider program of R&D, platform development and process improvement at Lonza aimed at serving the increasing number of patient-scale, personalized therapies.

The platform offers advantages including increased number of unit operations in one system, faster process set-up due to its plug and play cassette, reduced clean room space required and reduced staff for handling.

The news comes a year after Lonza inked a collaboration with Israels Sheba Medical Center intended to confirm the benefits of using the Cocoon system to make autologous cell therapies in a PoC environment.

The Cocoon system was developed by Octane Biotech. Lonza acquired an 80% stake in the company in 2018, and is now driving the development of patient-scale manufacturing including autologous cell therapies with Cocoon, according to Abraham.

Lonza has been working with Octane on the Cocoon platform for about four years, three of these as an evaluation phase, and as a majority shareholder only since November 2018, he told us. It was critical for us to assure that the technology is mature enough and meets the needs of our varied customer base.

While Lonza is offering the Cocoon system as a tech offering, it has also integrated the platform into its cell and gene therapy offering and installed the equipment at its Houston, Texas site.

The plan is to use the Cocoon technology in either centralized manufacturing in our own facilities as a CDMO service, or at our customers facilities as a technology. A decentralized model of hubs and point of care is also possible. As such, we are working with different partners to enable all three options, and we believe that all three will be viable and important.

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Lonza looks to Cocoon to drive cell therapy shift - Bioprocess Insider - BioProcess Insider