Obama: science should trump politics

President Obama, lifting an eight-year limit on federal funding of stem cell research, today portrayed his decision as part of a broader move to focus on science instead of politics.

Besides signing an executive order (read it here) reversing the Bush administration restrictions, Obama is also issuing a presidential memorandum (read it here) directing the head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to develop a strategy for restoring scientific integrity to government decision making.

The goal, the president said: "To ensure that in this new administration, we base our public policies on the soundest science; that we appoint scientific advisers based on their credentials and experience, not their politics or ideology; and that we are open and honest with the American people about the science behind our decisions."

On embryonic stem cell research in particular, Obama acknowledged the religious-based opposition. But he said there is an ethical way to do such research.

"Rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values," he said in the East Room of the White House, filled with advocates of stem cell research who cheered and applauded his annoucement. "In this case, I believe the two are not inconsistent. As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering. I believe we have been given a capacity and will to pursue this research -- and the humanity and conscience to do so responsibly."

Under Bush's order, taxpayer money could only be used for research on a small number of stem cell lines created before Aug. 9, 2001. Since, hundreds more stem cell lines have been created, but off-limits to federal funding.

While urging Congress to give more money to stem cell research, Obama is leaving to Congress the particularly controversial issue of whether taxpayer money should be used to experiment on embryos themselves. A congressional ban has been in place since 1996. He also made clear he opposes cloning for human reproduction.

The president also said that while stem cell research holds much promise in the treatment of spinal cord injuries, diabetes, and Parkinsons disease, there is no certainty.

"But that potential will not reveal itself on its own," Obama said. "Medical miracles do not happen simply by accident. They result from painstaking and costly research from years of lonely trial and error, much of which never bears fruit, and from a government willing to support that work.

"Ultimately, I cannot guarantee that we will find the treatments and cures we seek," he added. "No president can promise that. But I can promise that we will seek them -- actively, responsibly, and with the urgency required to make up for lost ground. Not just by opening up this new frontier of research today, but by supporting promising research of all kinds, including groundbreaking work to convert ordinary human cells into ones that resemble embryonic stem cells.

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Obama: science should trump politics

Post Regenexx Stem Cell Treatment Results for JR’s Knee | Rejuv Medical, Minnesota – Video

Post Regenexx Stem Cell Treatment Results for JR #39;s Knee | Rejuv Medical, Minnesota
JR Burgess had a sport related knee injury. JR, went to Joel Baumgartner, MD to under go the stem cell injections for regenerative growth in his knee. Rejuv Medical has been following JR #39;s incredible results and recovery from the stem cell procedure that he has had done at Rejuv Medical of Saint Cloud, MN. http://www.rejuvmedical.com

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Post Regenexx Stem Cell Treatment Results for JR's Knee | Rejuv Medical, Minnesota - Video

Exceptional growth factors for cartilage in osteoarthritis- wnts! – Video

Exceptional growth factors for cartilage in osteoarthritis- wnts!
http://www.stemcellsarthritistreatment.com Cartilage repair and growth requires multiple key factors. Among these are Wnts. Wnts are proteins involved in the development of the skeleton and control cartilage growth. However, Wnt, if control of its effects are lost, can lead to diseases characterized by either excess bone and cartilage growth or inadequate bone and cartilage growth. So the judicious application of growth factors when it comes to stem cell treatment for osteoarthritis must take this into account. http

By: Nathan Wei

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Exceptional growth factors for cartilage in osteoarthritis- wnts! - Video

Osiris Therapeutics Establishes Direct Sales Force for Grafix®

COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. (OSIR), the leading company focused on developing and marketing stem cell products to treat serious medical conditions, announced today the introduction of a proprietary, direct sales force for Grafix, a premium cellular repair matrix for serious wounds including diabetic foot ulcers. The team of biologics sales professionals will initially be deployed in 10 major metropolitan areas throughout the United States and is expected to double over the coming year. Field representatives are supported by the Osiris medical affairs staff and a world-class team of stem cell scientists. This organization will enable Osiris to offer wound care practitioners a uniquely sophisticated service, only available from the cell therapy leader with 20 years of experience in the space.

"The decision to take Grafix into the wound care market with our own proprietary sales force was based upon a number of factors, including meaningful progress being made in reimbursement and favorable market dynamics," said Frank Czworka, Executive Director, Wound Care of Osiris Therapeutics. "However, the primary driver behind this initiative is the positive clinical results our physicians and surgeons are experiencing with Grafix. We continue to invest significant resources in Grafix to further demonstrate the clinical benefit it offers patients while favorably impacting overall healthcare costs. A product of this importance deserves a specialized, highly trained sales force."

In 2012, Osiris announced that it had received transitional pass-through status from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS"), with C-Codes being designated for Grafix. More recently, specific codes were added to the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System, or HCPCS code set, for GrafixPRIME and GrafixCORE. These product-specific Q-Codes will assist healthcare providers in seeking coverage for their patients. The Q-Codes that have been established for GrafixPRIME and GrafixCORE are Q4133 and Q4132, respectively.

Grafix has been the focus of active research in the fields of chronic wounds and burns. A 62-patient pilot study, presented at the Desert Foot 9th Annual High Risk Diabetic Foot Conference, was conducted in documented chronic wounds recalcitrant to treatment with standard of care and advanced therapies. The data demonstrated a 70% probability of wound closure by week 12, with a median time to closure of 5.6 weeks. Importantly, closure required a median of only 3 applications of Grafix, resulting in a potential savings over more costly treatments.

Clinical research for Grafix is continuing, including a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial for the treatment of non-healing diabetic foot ulcers. The study is actively enrolling up to 266 patients across 20 sites within the U.S.

About Grafix

Grafix is a human cellular repair matrix containing living stem cells for acute and chronic wound repair. It is a flexible, conforming membrane that provides a high quality source of living mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and growth factors directly to the site of the wound. Grafix is produced by BioSmartTM Intelligent Tissue Processing of human placental membrane. The manufacturing process maintains the integrity of the extracellular matrix, the viability of the neonatal MSCs, and the biologically active growth factors.

About Osiris Therapeutics

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc., having developed the worlds first approved stem cell drug, Prochymal, is the leading stem cell company. The company is focused on developing and marketing products to treat medical conditions in inflammatory, cardiovascular, orthopedic and wound healing markets. In Biosurgery, Osiris currently markets Grafix for burns and chronic wounds, and Ovation for orthopedic applications. Osiris is a fully integrated company with capabilities in research, development, manufacturing and distribution of stem cell products. Osiris has developed an extensive intellectual property portfolio to protect the company's technology, including 50 U.S. and 156 foreign patents.

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Osiris Therapeutics Establishes Direct Sales Force for Grafix®

Stroke Recovery

Stroke Recovery Stroke Treatment Using Adult Stem Cells
Bryn came to Dr. David Steenblock after suffering from a stroke. After going to numerous facilities he was finally able to get help with his stroke recovery after coming to Dr. David Steenblock. Dr. Steenblock used adult stem cell treatments to help aid Bryn in his stroke recovery. Call 1-800-300-1063 for more information.

By: David Steenblock

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Stroke Recovery

Infusion of stem cells and specially generated T-cells from same donor improves leukemia survival

Feb. 27, 2013 In a significant advance for harnessing the immune system to treat leukemias, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center for the first time have successfully infused large numbers of donor T-cells specific for a key anti-leukemic antigen to prolong survival in high-risk and relapsed leukemia patients after stem cell transplantation. Both the stem cells for transplant and the T-cells came from the same matched donors.

Reporting results of a pilot clinical trial in the Feb. 27 issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine, researchers describe the use of T-cells that were taken from a donor, programmed in the lab to recognize the Wilm's Tumor Antigen 1 (WT1) and kill leukemia cells, grown in large numbers, and then infused into patients to promote anti-leukemic activity. The WT1 protein is overexpressed in leukemias and is in part responsible for why the cells have become leukemic.

The best results were achieved when some of the patients received T-cell clones that were exposed to interleukin 21 (IL-21) during the programming and growth process, based on the hypothesis that such exposure would create cells that could survive longer and produce greater anti-leukemic activity after transfer. IL-21 promotes T-cell expansion while helping those cells acquire characteristics of central memory T-cells.

"This is the first time patients have received an infusion of WT1 specific T-cells, and thus also the first demonstration that such cells can provide a therapeutic anti-leukemic effect, as has been suggested from earlier vaccine trials that induce less potent responses," said Philip Greenberg, M.D., corresponding author and head of the Immunology Program at Fred Hutch.

"Ours is also the first report to show that greatly improved T-cell in-vivo persistence can be achieved after transfer by modifying the way cells are generated in tissue culture for therapy with inclusion of the cytokine IL-21," said Aude Chapuis, M.D., lead author on the study and a research associate in the Fred Hutch Immunology Program.

The findings support expanding efforts to target WT1 and provide insights into what is necessary to establish potent and persistent T-cell responses in patients, and such second generation studies have recently been initiated at Fred Hutch. All of the patients, who were treated post-transplant at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Fred Hutch's site for patient care, received adoptively transferred infusions of billions of enhanced CD8 cytotoxic T-cell clones. They were considered at high risk of death because they had already relapsed and/or had a poor prognosis due to unfavorable characteristics of their leukemia.

Four of the 11 patients in the trial received infusions of T-cells that targeted WT1 and were generated in the presence of IL-21. One had detectable relapsed disease and entered complete remission shortly after the T-cells were infused. All four survived after T-cell therapy without relapse for more than 30 months without suffering graft-vs.-host-disease and required no additional anti-leukemic treatment, according to the study. GVHD is a major complication of stem cell transplantation.

Among the seven patients who received infused T-cells generated without the presence of IL-21, two showed direct evidence of anti-leukemic activity, including one patient with advanced progressive disease who had a temporary response.

Researchers undertook the clinical trial because relapse remains a leading cause of death after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for patients with high-risk leukemias. An obstacle to survival is that the beneficial graft-vs.-tumor effect of a transplant can be offset by concurrent GVHD. Interestingly, patients who develop GVHD have reduced relapse rates. This suggests that lymphocytes present in engrafted donor stem cells can cause a concurrent therapeutic graft-vs.-tumor effect. However, because donor stem cells are not selected for specificity for leukemia antigens and commonly recognized proteins expressed by many other host tissues, substantial morbidity and mortality from GVHD can occur.

The scientists theorized that infusions of T-cells that target WT1 could potentially promote additional anti-leukemic activity without inducing GVHD. WT1 is expressed 10 to 1,000 times higher in leukemic cells compared to normal CD34 blood stem cells, and the magnitude of expression correlates with the aggressiveness of acute myeloid leukemia, acute lymphoid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes.

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Infusion of stem cells and specially generated T-cells from same donor improves leukemia survival

Measure would start stem cell research center at KU Med

Topeka A bill pushed by abortion opponents that would require the Kansas University Medical Center to establish a center that focuses on adult stem cell research will be debated in the Senate on Thursday.

Senate Bill 199, which would create the Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center, was authored by 22 conservative Republican senators, including Senate President Susan Wagle of Wichita, Majority Leader Terry Bruce of Hutchinson, and Public Health and Welfare Chairwoman Mary Pilcher-Cook of Shawnee.

"This has the potential of putting Kansas on the map in making actual patient therapies available," Pilcher-Cook said.

Gov. Sam Brownback also expressed support for the concept.

"Having an adult stem cell center is not only highly plausible, it's being done and used in many places around the world," he said.

"If Kansas could take a leadership position in that, it could be a highly useful thing for people to get treatments. There are number of different maladies now being treated by non-controversial stem cell treatments," he said. He added, "Let's see what develops in the process and in the bill."

The bill would prohibit the center from using embryonic stem cells or cells taken from aborted fetal tissue. Abortion opponents oppose human embryonic stem cell research because it involves the destruction of the embryo.

Under the proposal, KU would appoint a director of the center who would be responsible for oversight of patient treatment and research with adult, cord blood and other non-embryonic stem cells.

The director could solicit grants, gifts and contributions. The bill also sets up a 13-member advisory board.

The center would require $1.1 million to renovate a lab and hire staff and $750,000 annually after that. But the funding has not been secured.

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Measure would start stem cell research center at KU Med

New Stem Cell Activating Anti-aging Serums Offer Hope for Damaged Skin

Damaged and aging skin can now be repaired and rejuvenated due to new advances in stem cell and telomerase technology. A new topical agent restores skin to a youthful appearance without a visit to a plastic surgeon or dermatologist.

Fleetwood, PA (PRWEB) February 26, 2013

Up until now, patients had to see a plastic surgeon or dermatologist to rejuvenate their skin. Recent developments and research in topical agents have made it less likely for one to need Botox, laser or fillers to restore their skin to a more youthful appearance or get rid of blemishes.

Dr. Dave Woynarowski MD, an anti-aging specialist, states that new combinations of topical serums applied to the skin have yielded some remarkable results without having painful injections or surgery.

Dr. Dave gave remarks, I was extremely skeptical about the possibility of repairing damaged skin with a topical 'on the skin' agent. After all, the cosmetics industry has been hawking this stuff for decades to the tune of several billion dollars. None of it seemed to work very well. But recently there is research to back up specific agents that, when used in combination, can do some pretty amazing age reversal, even on damaged skin. I have a lot of friends who are plastic surgeons or anti-aging dermatologists so I decided to let them have the latest serum we devised called RG-Cell and see what they said. Bottom line: The patients love it for home use as well as post-treatment recovery, and it really does work far better than any of us anticipated!

While pleasantly surprised, he also said there are drawbacks.

This procedure takes longer to see results. It is not as aggressive, painful or expensive as injections, fillers, lasers or surgery, and it cannot be expected to deliver the same results in the same time frame.

The more wrinkled, sun damaged or blemished your skin is, the longer it takes using topical serums to reduce the damage youve accumulated. But, there is no down time either because you dont burn, puff or cut the skin. Its also very easy to use, so you dont have to depend on a skin care professional to administer it. Anyone can use it!

Of course, Dr. Dave encourages visiting a skin care professional first.

Your plastic surgeon, dermatologist or a good cosmetologist may actually already have RG-Cell, although it is very new and hard to get. Odds are the cutting edge ones will know about it and already carry it.

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New Stem Cell Activating Anti-aging Serums Offer Hope for Damaged Skin

Sweet news for stem cell's 'Holy Grail'

Feb. 26, 2013 Scientists have used sugar-coated scaffolding to move a step closer to the routine use of stem cells in the clinic and unlock their huge potential to cure diseases from Alzheimer's to diabetes.

Stem cells have the unique ability to turn into any type of human cell, opening up all sorts of therapeutic possibilities for some of the world's incurable diseases and conditions. The problem facing scientists is how to encourage stem cells to turn into the particular type of cell required to treat a specific disease.

But researchers at the University of Manchester's School of Materials and Faculty of Life Sciences have developed a web-like scaffold, coated with long-sugar molecules, that enhances stem-cell cultures to do just this. The scaffold is formed by a process known as 'electrospinning', creating a mesh of fibres that mimic structures that occur naturally within the body.

The team's results -- presented in the Journal of Biological Chemistry -- are particularly promising, as the sugar molecules are presented on the surface of the fibres, retaining structural patterns important in their function. The sugars are also 'read' by the stem cells grown on the surface, stimulating and enhancing the formation of neuronal cell types.

Lead author Dr Catherine Merry, from Manchester's Stem Cell Glycobiology group, said: "These meshes have been modified with long, linear sugar molecules, which we have previously shown play a fundamental role in regulating the behaviour of stem cells. By combining the sugar molecules with the fibre web, we hoped to use both biochemical and structural signals to guide the behaviour of stem cells, in a similar way to that used naturally by the body. This is the Holy Grail of research into developing new therapeutics using stem cell technology."

The group anticipate that the combination of the sugar molecules with the fibre web will aid both the growth of stem cells and the formation of different cell types from the stem cell population.

Possible applications include tissue engineering, where the meshes could support cells differentiating to form bone, liver or blood vessels, for example. The meshes also have potential therapeutic implications in the treatment of diseases such as multiple osteochondroma (MO), a rare disease creating bony spurs or lumps caused by abnormal production of these sugar molecules.

Co-author Professor Tony Day, from Manchester's Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell-Matrix Research, said: "This cross-faculty collaboration provides exciting new possibilities for how we might harness the adhesive interactions of extracellular matrix to manipulate stem cell behaviour and realise their full therapeutic potential."

The study was funded by the Medical Research Council and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Human Frontiers Scientific Programme.

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Sweet news for stem cell's 'Holy Grail'

Duke doctor: Stem cell therapy might help heart disease patients

Durham, N.C. People with heart disease have more treatment options than ever. However, sometimes nothing gets rid of continued chest pain known as angina. Researchers say they are looking at a special stem cell therapy to help those patients.

Danny Darden, 49, has heart disease and frequent chest pain despite two years worth of every treatment, surgery and medication available to stop it.

If I walk around the block, I give out and have chest pains, he said.

Duke cardiologist Dr. Tom Povsic included Darden in a phase 3 trial looking for benefits of a special stem cell therapy to stimulate the growth of new vessels feeding blood to the heart.

In certain patients, the arteries can no longer be fixed, or bypass surgery can't be used to fix the arteries. And in those patients, novel therapies are sorely needed, Povsic said. So, the stem cells in this particular case are obtained from the patient themselves.

The cells, originating in the bone marrow, are stimulated and released into the blood stream, extracted and then administered directly into the heart through a special catheter.

Last week, I was injected with the stem cells, Darden said. I'm excited to be in it, because I feel it's going to work, and even if it (doesnt) work for me, it's going to work for other people.

The study is blind, meaning Darden may have received a fake infusion. Participants are followed for two years. A smaller previous study showed promising results.

The benefit that was seen in the early study far exceeds what was seen with many medicines that are approved for angina relief, Povsic said.

Researchers say if the stem cell therapy benefits are confirmed in patients with angina, it could also be studied in patients dealing with stroke, heart attack or heart failure.

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Duke doctor: Stem cell therapy might help heart disease patients