Stem Cell Clinic

Researchers and Doctors alike pursuing the field of stem cell research in treating heart attack survivors – Medical Herald

By Stem Cell Doctors

Key Takeaways:

The effects of myocardial infarction (heart attack) and congestive heart failure is a daunting task facing doctors and researchers alike. Heart attacks cause irreversible damage to the heart by weakening the heart muscle and making it less efficient in pumping blood through the circulatory system. It is noteworthy to remember that heart cannot take care of itself, meaning it has got minimum strength to regenerate whereby the untraceable muscle is replaced by a scar tissue. This leaves patients with a reduced cardiac role, which often leads to heart failure when the heart fails to accede to the demand placed upon it by the body in distributing blood. Current diagnosis treats the fallible symptoms such as low blood pressure but does not go to the seat of all problems. It is very well understood by this paradigm that heart is very reluctant and on second thoughts does not offer itself for being substituted for by the body.

Mayo Clinics are attributed with introduction of repairing heart attacks in individuals with aid of stem cells. Stem Cells restore cardiac muscle back to its original form meaning, the condition it was in before the heart attack, thus giving a roadmap to how the stem cells may function. Doctors at Mayo Research believe in the mouse model with the mouse prototype being an initial foray into advanced clinical trials in heart patients.

A study published in NPJ Regenerative Medicine digs out that human cardiopoietic cells present in the bone marrow mutate with defunct proteins to counter complex changes caused by a heart attack. The cardiopoietic cells are derived from stem cell sources of bone marrow.

The extent of transformation that a heart attack bears is too large for the heart attack to correct itself or to prevent any complexities from arising. However, cardiopoetic stem cell therapy induces change for the better partially or fully with minimum 85% of cellular functions promising to respond favourably to treatment. This was reiterated by Dr. Andre Terzic of Mayo clinics Center to Regenerative Medicine. He is senior author in this study.

Consecutive Heart Attacks leads to heart failure:

The heart muscles are sustained by an oxygen-rich blood flow to keep the heart pumping-contracting and expanding. However, during a heart attack, the arteries leading the blood flow are hindered by blockages in the artery. With no further outgo of blood, that area of the heart that is sourced by the artery begins to collapse involuntarily and a unhealthy scar tissue forms in the area. This could lead to a heart failure that eventually gives rise to heart failure.

A new insight into how stem cells repair the lifeless heart could pave the way to finding how stem cell therapy can help in the broader scheme of things.

The incisive insight in study of stem cells is lacking as to how it will rejuvenate other functional mechanisms, throwing light on the most intimate yet singularly comprehensive or regenerative mechanism in the body. Though customarily heart is considered to be a tough customer, it fails to pump blood as efficiently as it could from decapitated areas, and is the reason behind patients who have suffered a heart attack need to ingest a life-time of medicines to mitigate another heart attack and ensure its smooth functioning.

Heart Attack is the leading cause of death in the U.S as noted by Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The research additionally states that in a heart attack, the cardiac tissue dies involuntarily, thus weakening the heart.

The diseased heart responded to cardiopoeitic stem cell treatment with growth of blood vessels along with new heart tissue, so said Kent Arreli, Phd, Mayo Clinic Cardiovascular Researcher and first author of the study.

The Research: Leading the way

There is this research that delves upon the diseased hearts of mice that did not receive human cardiopoietic stem cell therapy with those that did. The result gave vent to the belief that more than 4000 cardiac proteins were present, 10 % of which suffered damages by a heart attack.

While we were always expecting a normal heart function after this study, the present outcome quite bewildered us where the diseased hearts shifted to and fro and came to rest on a healthy pre-diseased heart.

Cardiopoietic Stem Cells are being put to test in advanced clinical trials in heart patients.

It has been corroborated that current findings in stem cell therapy will bring some additional guidance and will steer therapeutic exercise in the near future.

Though it has to this point been proven, the fruitful remedies of stem cell therapies for heart failure, there are several unproven stem cell remedy experiments that are not still not ready to exercise in the real world.

A heart attack has been understood to happen when blood supply is cut-off to that portion of the heart muscle that causes irreparable damage and with time and many repeat attacks, a scar is formed resulting in a heart failure!

It is for over 2 decades that scientists have studied the positive benefits of stem cells which might repair a frail and damaged heart and restore it and these cell types can be made from other cells also coming as it does under the umbrella tern cardiac regeneration.

Cardiac Regeneration:

Cardiomyocites are highlighted here that are the beating muscle cells located in the chamber of the heart, Although scientists can grow cardiomycites in the lab from embryonic stem cells, growing them from the heart itself is showcasing itself plausibly.

Stem cells are inserted in the heart using a catheter. These stem cells are taken from the bone marrow and now that they are in place, they rejuvenate damaged heart tissues. There are pros and cons with this technique of insertion of stem cells into the heart. Having said that, it comes as no surprise when a donor who may be a stranger donates a stem cell which could be unacceptable to the body. But a positive point is that donor problems do not pose a big problem that helps the doctors to forge ahead relentlessly.

Long term effects are a bother still and more trials have to be conducted to probe the longevity question.

Though it comes as no surprise now with stem cells being delivered to the heart is possible and error-free, but the evidence is not noteworthy. There are 61 centers in all in the United States that accomplish the stem cell therapy to bring to life people with heart failure. These centers charge an estimated USD 7694 for a single treatment of autologous stem cells. ( from ones own body) which portrays a lot of scope with some 17 patients who were infused with stem cells taken from their own hearts to succeed in an unequivocal way.

Wrapping Up:

Two methods have come to light so far in passing stem cells into the body with one coming from external donors and the other being fed by ones own body. It has to be revealed still as to which method comes as more cogent in its delivery. When can one say with authority that stem cell therapy has come to stay? It is a few years down the line, some say with a view that it is work in progress and others are of the opinion that there is much work to be done.

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Researchers and Doctors alike pursuing the field of stem cell research in treating heart attack survivors - Medical Herald

Weston man builds epic motorcycle to promote saving lives through Be The Match donations – Wausau Daily Herald

By Stem Cell Doctors

Todd Euen of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and Mark Ecklund of Weston stand behind the Be the Match motorcycle that Ecklund designed and built. Ecklund donated life-saving stem cells to Euen.(Photo: Photo courtesy of Mark Ecklund)

WESTON - It's a gleaming, curvy, sport-style motorcycle with a distinctArt Deco look, and there's no other bike like it on Earth.

Mark Ecklund of Weston took two years of painstaking, detail-oriented work to build it, hand-fabricating most of its body work from thin aluminum. For just the tail section, the 53-year-old machinist took two weeks to patiently and gently tap using a hand-held, hammer-like metal molding toolapiece of aluminum into the shape he wanted.

The project represents the ability to save lives. Mark created the motorcycle to honor and promote Be The Match, a worldwideorganization that works to matchdonors of life-saving bone marrow and stem cells to people suffering from blood cancers such a leukemia and lymphoma. In 2012, Mark donated stem cells that were used to save the life of a 53-year-old Pennsylvania man, who is a husband, father and grandfather.

Mark is a serial inventor who has built and designed things such as a one-person hovercraft, a safety faucet that prevents scaldingand an improved version of a compound bow, and it's his habit to enthusiastically andcompulsively throw himself into projects. But even for his standards, this motorcycle, once a brand-new Indian cruiser, is special.

A year after the transplant, Ecklund and the stem cell recipient, Todd Euen of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, met and became instant friends. The experience was so gratifying that Ecklund can't even begin to explain it. All he can say is that the motorcycle is a physical manifestation of those feelings, and a vehicle to promote Be The Match. He and his wife, Chris Ecklund,are doing anything they can to encourage people to register for Be The Match donations.

"We want to bring that awareness to people, to have more people register," Chrissaid.

The motorcycle is a work of art, Mark said, "that is more of a campaign."

Todd Euen and his family have grown close to Mark Ecklund and his wife, Chris. They posed for this portrait: Front row, left to right: Kaiden Miller (Todd's grandson), Khloe Miller (granddaughter), Rachael Euen (daughter) and Kylie Miller (granddaughter). Middle row, left to right: Amy Euen (Todd's wife); Emily Euen (daughter); Chris Ecklund. Back row: Erik Euen (son); Todd Euen; Mark Ecklund.(Photo: Courtesy of Todd Euen)

Todd, a controller at a Ford dealership, was diagnosed with leukemia in July 2012. In order to save his life, doctors rushed him to Pittsburgh, located about 66 miles west of Johnstown. If Todd hadn't gotten treatment, he likely would have died within two weeks, doctors told him.

"I was in shock," Todd said.

He received Mark's donation in a procedure done on Christmas Eve of 2012.

Be The Match requires that donors and recipients wait a yearafter procedures before connecting with each other. After that year passed, Todd contacted Mark to get to know him and thank him.

"I didn't know what to expect when I met him. He basically saved my life," Todd said. "It was real emotional when we met. ... Our family is forever grateful to him."

Mark Ecklund's motorcycle is etched with information about the Be The Match donor program.(Photo: Courtesy of Mark Ecklund)

Chris and Mark decided to become donors when Mark turned 35. They both regularly give blood, and it was Mark's idea to do more.

"We just wanted to help people," Mark said.

They found Be The Match, did a little research, and then, almost on a whim, drove to the Appleton office of Be The Match to register. Chris still hasn't been matched with a recipient.

"I'm really jealous of Mark," she said.

After meeting Todd , Mark came up with the idea to design and build the Be The Match motorcycle. He talked about his plans with Chris, and she agreed that they should purchase the 2015 Indian Scout to convert. Chrisdidn't quite grasp what her husband had in mind; she thought it would be a light modification of the new Indian model.

As Mark started to the project, "I thought, 'We spent all this money to tear it apart,'" Chris said.

Markvisualized his motorcycle from the start. "I knew exactly what I wanted. I knew exactly what I was going to do," he said.

He wanted something that would be magnetic to other motorcycle enthusiasts.And even though Chris didn't know the details, she's been married to Mark for 29 years. So she wasn't surprised when he spend nearly all his free time working on the bike. Nor was she surprised at the result.

They take the motorcycle to races and shows. First riders come see the bike, then Chris and Mark go into their Be The Match spiel, and often Chris will get people to register for donations on the spot. (It requires filling out a form and doing some cheek swabs to get DNA samples.)

Jess Klingberg, the Be The Match community engagement specialist based in Appleton, said the motorcycle is magnet for potential donors, helping sign up potential donors by the dozen. She attended a motorcycle rally with the Ecklunds. "That motorcycle turns a lot of heads," she said.

Todd accompanied Mark and Chris to one show near Pittsburgh, and even though he's gotten to know Mark and his all-in attitude, he was still surprised at how much gusto both Mark and Chris display when promoting Be The Match.

"They have jumped all in," Toddsaid with a laugh.

A live, over-the-air Radiothon for Be the Match will be held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. March 19 on the Wausau rock radio stationWIFC-FM 95.5Jess Klingberg, the Be The Match community engagement specialist who works in the organization's Appleton office, will be on air to explain details about the program and tell stories about what Be The Match can mean for individuals dealing with cancer.

Contact Keith Uhlig at 715-845-0651 or kuhlig@gannett.com. Follow him at @UhligK on Twitter and Instagram or on Facebook.

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Weston man builds epic motorcycle to promote saving lives through Be The Match donations - Wausau Daily Herald

Future Growth Of Animal Stem Cell Therapy Market By New Business Developments – News by aeresearch

By Stem Cell Clinics

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Future Growth Of Animal Stem Cell Therapy Market By New Business Developments - News by aeresearch

Can hybrid embryos save the white rhinos from extinction? – Science 101

By Embryonic Stem Cells

The northern white rhino population is in jeopardy

The northern white rhino is one of the animal kingdoms many majestic giants, but years of poaching has taken a toll on their population. From 1970 to 1980, their numbers plummeted from 500 to 15 as illegal hunters pursued white rhinos for the ivory of their horns.

Things started to turn around during the 1990s and 2000s, groups and individuals began to crack down on poachers within the white rhinos range. As a result, the population of white rhinos in the wild recovered slightly, peaking at around 32 individuals.

Since 2003, the rate of white rhino poaching has been on the rise and has affected the animals numbers. As of 2008, northern white rhinos have been declared extinct in the wild, and in 2018, the last male northern white rhino died. Now, there are only two of these magnificent beasts left on Earth. Both of them are females.

Najin and Fatu are the last two northern white rhinos in existence. They live at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, and they could be the species last hope for the future. In 2014, keepers in the Czech Republic collected sperm samples from a male northern white rhino living in their care.

Those samples were frozen and stored, and later, they were used in an attempt to breed Najin and Fatu. Both attempts at inducing pregnancies in the two female rhinos were unsuccessful, forcing scientists to consider new methods of approach for saving the white rhinos from extinction.

Typically, when a species is placed on the endangered list, a recovery plan is established by whatever local conservancy group oversees the population. From there, breeding programs of captive individuals are used to begin bolstering the number of individuals on the planet.

When healthy breeding populations have been established, in most cases, reintroduction begins. Small populations of the species are released into the wild to begin repopulation. However, in the case of the northern white rhinos, scientists and conservationists alike have been stuck at step two for decades.

Unwillingness and inability to breed arent uncommon among captive species and individuals, and in most cases, zoos can jockey animals around until a pair matches and produces offspring. In the case of Najin and Fatu, the options for procreation are far more limited. Even the fallback of artificial insemination isnt working for them, so what are scientists to do?

Weve revived entire species from the dead before, but it has never been an easy task. Fortunately, the world of reproductive sciences has been evolving quickly, and conservationists and animal experts now have myriad options to choose from when it comes to creating new life.

Neither surviving female is healthy enough to birth live young. Aside from that, there is the added challenge of finding an option that preserves the northern white rhino genome while maintaining high enough levels of viability.

One possible route to repopulation involves approaching conventional methods from a new and enlightened angle. Although neither Najin nor Fatu can bear young, they both still produce viable egg cells, which can be harvested, frozen, and kept in a lab.

Much like humans undergoing fertility therapy or other conception aids, the grandmother-granddaughter pair or northern white rhinos can hope for success through in-vitro fertilization. This method of conception combines sperm and multiple egg cells in an external environment before implanting them in a host mother.

By using multiple eggs during the in-vitro process, the chances for success, even in females with fertility issues, is significantly increased. In some fortunate cases, the method is so effective, and it results in multiple pregnancies. Once the sperm has fertilized the eggs, the cells are transferred to a living host.

While Najin and Fatu may not be the physical mothers of any of their calves, modern reproductive science has made it possible for their genes to be passed on to another generation.

How? with modern science, a surrogate mother from the thriving population of southern white rhinos could become the mother to their children.The two types of animals have similar enough reproductive organs and their eggs could be used in place of Najin or Fatus.

While the animals are compatible, gathering eggs from them is a far more complicated procedure.

Researchers working on bringing back the northern white rhinos have managed to gather a few eggs so far, but not nearly enough to repopulate an entire species.

Its no secret that rhinoceroses are large animals. Just as cattle and horses have significantly larger hearts than we humans do, rhinos have much larger reproductive organs. Locating and withdrawing eggs from a rhinos ovaries is a far greater ordeal than it is for humans.

To complicate matters further, the ovaries of a southern white rhino are located three to four feet from her rump, and the veterinarian seeking to collect the eggs must guide a probe that distance up her rectum and into an ovary before using a catheter to remove the eggs.

The procedure is anything but easy. In addition to the difficulty involved in the process of extracting eggs, the success rate of current methods is hardly ideal. Researchers working on bringing back the northern white rhinos have managed to gather a few eggs so far, but not nearly enough to repopulate an entire species.

The odds of reestablishing a sustainable population of northern white rhinos through in-vitro fertilization and surrogacy currently seem pretty slim. Fortunately for the rhinos, science has a few other methods up its sleeve.

In the last decade, stem cell research has gone from a thing of whimsy to an advanced field of study that continues to improve by leaps and bounds with every passing year. Its applications are seemingly endless, and they just might be the answer that the northern white rhino conservationists have been looking for.

Stem cells are sort of like biological canvases. They come in different varieties: Totipotent, pluripotent, multipotent, oligopotent, and unipotent. Each of these types has unique limitations and can be found in various sources from embryonic tissue to adult bone marrow.

To make baby rhinos, scientists have been focused on induced pluripotent stem cells, which are gathered and grown from the skin of adult white rhinos

A cell from your bicep and a cell from your gametes (sperm or egg) both hold the same blueprints; they just come in different packaging.

Pluripotent cells behave similarly to embryonic stem cells, which can be coaxed into becoming just about any other type of cell. In this case, even though the original cells were taken from the skin of adult rhinos, they can be trained to become something different, such as egg cells.

Using what knowledge we currently have of stem cells and their manipulation, scientists can tell a northern white rhinos skin cell to become a viable egg or sperm cell. From there, they can attempt in-vitro fertilization and implantation into a surrogate, even without fertile parents.

The method is still in its infancy, but it has been successfully carried out more than once.

With stem cells as a backup and surrogates abound, Najin and Fatu have plenty of options. In late 2019, conservationists and rhinos alike received promising news. Eggs gathered from the two northern white rhinos had been fertilized and resulted in successful embryos. Those embryos were frozen in liquid nitrogen and prepared for a long journey.

Waiting down in southern Africa are the lucky mamas who will become the surrogates for the next generation of northern white rhinos. The embryos have quite a ways to travel before they can be implanted. After that, they can grow within their new mother for the 16 to 18-month gestation period typical of white rhinos.

Although the methods of creating viable embryos are currently long, challenging, and not terribly efficient, these babies-to-be are incredibly promising first steps. In addition to the two successful in-vitro attempts in September, December of 2019 saw the creation of a third viable embryo.

2020 will undoubtedly see further attempts at creating more embryos. With luck, we can soon hope to hear news of successful implantations in surrogate moms. In 2021, we can throw a worldwide baby shower for some bouncing baby northern white rhinos, whose births will serve as a beacon of hope for a dying species.

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Can hybrid embryos save the white rhinos from extinction? - Science 101

Autologous Stem Cell Based Therapies Market 2020: Potential Growth, Challenges, Attractive Valuation | Key Players: Anterogen, Holostem Advanced…

By Embryonic Stem Cells

Global Autologous Stem Cell Based Therapies Market Report is a professional and in-depth research report on the worlds major regional market conditions of the Autologous Stem Cell Based Therapies industry, focusing on the main regions and the main countries (United States, Europe, Japan and China).

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Based on type, report split into Embryonic Stem Cell, Resident Cardiac Stem Cells, Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells.

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The report introduces Autologous Stem Cell Based Therapies basic information including definition, classification, application, industry chain structure, industry overview, policy analysis, and news analysis. Insightful predictions for the Autologous Stem Cell Based Therapies Market for the coming few years have also been included in the report.

Autologous Stem Cell Based Therapies Market landscape and market scenario includes:

The Autologous Stem Cell Based Therapies industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions offered.

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Stem cell therapy revives cardiac muscle damaged during heart attacks – Cardiovascular Business

By Stem Cell Treatment

For their study, Terzic and colleagues analyzed the hearts of mice that received cardiopoietic stem cell therapy as well as those that did not. They used an algorithmic approach to map the proteins in the heart muscle, identifying 4,000 proteins. Ten percent of these were damaged during a heart attack.

The investigators found that the therapy either fully or partially reversed two-thirds of the changes caused by the event. And about 85% of cellular functional categories impacted by infarction responded positively to treatment, the authors wrote. They also noted that new blood vessels and heart tissue began to grow as a result of the intervention.

In the United States, someone has a heart attack every 40 seconds, according to the study, which kills this precious cardiac tissue and leads to a significantly weaker heart. Although cardiopoietic stem cells are still being investigated in advanced clinical trials in human patients, this most recent study is a big step in the right direction.

The current findings will enrich the base of knowledge pertinent to stem cell therapies and may have the potential to guide therapeutic regimens in the future," Terzic concluded.

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Stem cell therapy revives cardiac muscle damaged during heart attacks - Cardiovascular Business

To Turbocharge Anti-Aging Treatment, Just Add… a Protein Found in Fruit Flies? – Singularity Hub

By Stem Cell Treatment

The hunt for the elixir of life is such a universal mythological trope that to talk about it in the context of science seems almost ridiculous. But breakthroughs in the last decade have made the impossible seem possible, and researchers are quickly converging on the consensus that aging may well be a disease that we can treat just as easily as any other.

Impressive results in animals that have had their lifespans boosted by up to 40 percenthave started making their way into humans. Some trials are more questionable than others, but most promisingly there seem to be multiple potential avenues, from cocktails of common drugs to gene therapies and stem cell treatments.

Stem cells are particularly promising, because they can be coaxed into becoming any kind of cell before being transplanted to treat damaged tissue. These therapies often fail to work well in older tissue, though, limiting their future use in older patients who could need them most. This appears to be because these tissues have significantly higher levels of inflammation that prevent stem cells from properly integrating.

Now Portuguese researcher Joana Neves has won the 2019 Sartorius & Science Prize for Regenerating Medicine & Cell Therapy for her discovery of a way to sidestep this roadblock and significantly increase the success of stem cell treatments.

Because of the central importance of tissue repair to all organisms, Neves assumed that many of the mechanisms behind it would be shared among all animals. So she started looking at proteins produced by immune cells in the well-known animal model of the fruit fly.

She discovered that a poorly-understood protein known as MANF (mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor) plays a crucial role in reducing inflammation in fruit flies. More importantly, she found that mice and humans also produce it, and its prevalence reduces in all the species as they age, suggesting it plays a key role in limiting age-related inflammation.

That prompted her to see if introducing MANF would boost the effectiveness of stem cell treatments in older animals. She used the protein in combination with a procedure that uses stem cells to replace degenerating photoreceptors in the retina of older mice and found it greatly improved the restoration of vision.

Going further, her research team then investigated whether MANFs anti-inflammatory effects could have more general age-defying benefits. Previous research had already demonstrated that infusing old mice with blood from younger ones could reduce various signs of aging, and by carrying out similar experiments the team showed that MANF is one of the factors responsible for that outcome. They even showed that directly injecting mice with MANF could have similar effects.

Translating these ideas to treat other diseases and for use in humans will take some time, but the research chimes with work on an emerging class of drugs known as senolytics. These are drugs that kill senescent cells, which are zombie cells that become more prevalent as we age and spew out harmful chemicals that result in chronic inflammation.

Senolytics are generally seen as a broad-spectrum treatment that could help stave off multiple conditions at once, but they could also be used to create a more hospitable environment for stem cell treatments just like MANF.

There are still plenty of barriers to bringing any of these treatments to the clinic, from the difficulty of producing stem cells to the challenges of regulating treatments for aging (a condition we still dont formally class as a disease), or fighting back against the huge number of bogus treatments that threaten to undermine trust in the field. But given the huge potential for near-term impact, theres growing momentum.

Weve moved from being able to extend health and lifespan of simple organisms like yeast and worms and flies to being able to do this quite easily in animals, in mice and monkeys, David Sinclair, director of the Center for the Biology of Aging at Harvard Medical School, told the Harvard Gazette.

He added that instead of trying to treat one disease at a time, he believes we can develop medicines that will treat aging at its source, therefore having a much greater impact on health and lifespan than drugs that target single diseases.

The wheels are in motion for us to find out.

Image Credit: Monika Robak from Pixabay

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To Turbocharge Anti-Aging Treatment, Just Add... a Protein Found in Fruit Flies? - Singularity Hub

Lattice Biologics Ltd. Announces Initial Recruitment of Patients for a Phase 1 Clinical Trial to Access Safety and Efficacy of AmnioBoost for…

By Stem Cell Treatment

BELGRADE, Mont. Lattice Biologics Ltd. (TSX-V: LBL) (OTCBB: LBLTF) (Lattice Biologics or the Company) announces it has begun enrolling patients in its Phase 1 clinical trial to address safety and efficacy of its novel stem cell technology, AmnioBoost, for the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) related to COVID-19 infection.

AmnioBoost is derived from amniotic fluid taken from non-related, healthy, living donors during a Caesarian delivery. The baby is not harmed in any way.

To be eligible for the U.S. trial, individuals must have laboratory confirmed infection with COVID-19 and evidence of lung involvement requiring supplemental oxygen or mechanical ventilation. The study will not enroll individuals with mild symptoms or individuals who are asymptomatic.

All potential patients will undergo a physical exam, participants will then be randomized into the investigational group or the placebo group. Individuals enrolled into the investigational group will receive ~ 5 million stem cells of AmnioBoost on the first day of enrollment and will receive another ~ 5 million stem cells on the second day of enrollment.

Clinicians will monitor the patients temperature, blood pressure, need for supplemental oxygen, and other factors daily to determine daily scores based on a scale of clinical outcomes.

In the initial stage of investigation, the clinicians will compare participant outcomes on day seven in both groups to assess if AmnioBoost treatment has produced any clinical benefit.

The study will be halted if there is no evidence of a treatment difference between AmnioBoost and placebo.

Initial patient enrollment in the trial will be limited to 10 patients and conducted in the Seattle area, as it is one of the most concentrated areas of COVID -19 infection in the United States.

We thank the patients in advance for their participation in this cost free to the patient trial. We look forward to using a novel technology in the treatment of this highly infectious disease and to make sure the trial is carried out in the most effective manner possible, said Guy Cook, CEO of Lattice Biologics Ltd.

In addition, the Company announces that it was named in a statement of claim filed January 2019 by Cheryl Farmer, the former Chief Financial Officer of the Company, for wrongful dismissal in the amount of $2.5 million USD. The Company and the plaintiff have come to a satisfactory resolution and Lattice Biologics trusts that Ms. Farmer will have success in her future endeavors.

The Company reserved $600,000 Canadian in its most recent audited financial statements. The settlement includes a severance payment of $100,000 to be paid over 9 months, and 18 million shares at $.05 Canadian. The shares are subject to TSX approval, and all regulatory restrictions.

Further, the Company has arranged a non-brokered private placement of up to 10 million units (Units) at a price of $0.10 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $1,000,000 (the Offering). Each Unit will be comprised of one common share (Share) and onehalf transferable Share purchase warrant of the Company (Warrant). Each full Warrant will entitle the Subscriber to purchase one Warrant Share for a 24 month period after the Closing Date at an exercise price of $0.10 per share. Proceeds raised from the Offering will be used for the expansion of its stem cell technology to address CONVID-19. Finders fees may be payable on the private placement, subject to the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.

This offering is subject to TSX Venture Exchange acceptance and expected to close March 30, 2020.

The Company also announces that its Board of Directors has today approved the grant of 3 million stock options to directors, and 6 million shares to employees and consultants, which are exercisable into common shares of LBL.V at a price of $0.075 per common share in accordance with TSX Policy 4.4, subject to the rules of the TSX Venture Exchange and the Corporations Stock Option Plan. The options have a term of five years and will expire on March 16, 2025.

About Lattice Biologics Ltd.:

Lattice Biologics is traded on the TSX-V under the symbol: LBL. The Company is an emerging personalized/precision medicine leader in the field of cellular therapies and tissue engineering, with a focus on bone, skin, and cartilage regeneration.

Lattice Biologics develops and manufactures biologic products to domestic and international markets. The Companys products are used in a variety of surgical applications.

Lattice Biologics maintains its headquarters, laboratory and manufacturing facilities in Belgrade, Montana as well as offices in Phoenix, Arizona. The facility includes ISO Class 1000 and ISO Class 100 clean rooms, and specialized equipment capable of crafting traditional allografts and precision specialty allografts for various clinical applications. The Lattice Biologics team includes highly trained tissue bank specialists, surgical technicians, certified sterile processing and distribution technicians, and CNC operators who maintain the highest standards of aseptic technique throughout each step of the manufacturing process. From donor acceptance to the final packaging and distribution of finished allografts, Lattice is committed to maintaining the highest standards of allograft quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction.

Lattice Biologics maintains all necessary licensures to process and sell its tissue engineered products within the U.S. and internationally. This includes Certificates to Foreign Governments from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and registrations for 29 countries, which allow the export of bone, tendon, meniscus, ligament, soft tissue, and cartilage products outside of the U.S.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information:

Certain information contained in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbour provisions of Canadian securities laws. All statements herein, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as planned, potential, future, expected, could, possible, goal, intends, will or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, without limitation: information pertaining to the Companys strategy, plans, or future financial performance, such as statements with respect to the Transaction, and other statements that express managements expectations or estimates of future performance. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Lattice to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of factors and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management as of the date such statements are made, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. The factors and assumptions that could prove to be incorrect, include, but are not limited to: that market prices will be consistent with expectations, the continued availability of capital and financing, and that general economic, market and business conditions will be consistent with expectations. The forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. We disclaim any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

United States Advisory: The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act), and may not be offered, sold, or resold in the United States or to, or for the account of or benefit of, a U.S. Person (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) unless an exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act is available. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in the state in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200317005218/en/

Contacts

Guy Cook, CEO Lattice Biologics Ltd. 480-563-0800 Office News@LatticeBiologics.com http://www.LatticeBiologics.com

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Lattice Biologics Ltd. Announces Initial Recruitment of Patients for a Phase 1 Clinical Trial to Access Safety and Efficacy of AmnioBoost for...

Fortress Biotech Reports Record Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2019 Financial Results and Recent Corporate Highlights – BioSpace

By Stem Cell Treatment

Revenue from marketed dermatology products increased 85% for fourth quarter 2019 and 49% for full-year 2019 compared to 2018

NDA for IV tramadol accepted for review by FDA; PDUFA date is set for October 10, 2020

Rolling NDA submission for CUTX-101 for the treatment of Menkes disease is on track to begin in the fourth quarter of 2020

NEW YORK, March 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fortress Biotech, Inc. (NASDAQ: FBIO) (Fortress), an innovative biopharmaceutical company, today announced financial results and recent corporate highlights for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2019.

Fortress achieved multiple key milestones in 2019 and early 2020, including:

Lindsay A. Rosenwald, M.D., Fortress Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, We have generated significant momentum throughout 2019 and into early 2020. In order to drive our next phase of growth, our world-class business development team continues to identify and acquire high-potential marketed and development-stage assets to further expand our portfolio of product opportunities. Additionally, Fortress and our development partners continue to advance our clinical-stage programs across multiple therapeutic categories. With five commercial products and over 25 programs in development, we aim to continue to meaningfully increase value and decrease overall risk for Fortress shareholders. Looking ahead, we expect 2020 to be a record revenue-generating year and a transformational one for many of the development-stage programs across Fortress and our partner companies. Finally, we look forward to continued acquisitions of marketable dermatology drugs and in-licenses of development-stage drug candidates.

2019 and Recent Corporate Highlights1:Marketed Dermatology Products

IV Tramadol

CUTX-101

CAEL-101

MB-107 (Lentiviral Gene Therapy for XSCID)

Cosibelimab (formerly CK-301, an anti-PD-L1 antibody)

CK-101 (third-generation EGFR inhibitor)

MB-102 (CD123-targeted CAR T cell therapy)

MB-101 (IL13R2-targeted CAR T cell therapy)

MB-108 (Oncolytic Virus C134)

MB-104 (CS1-targeted CAR T cell therapy)

MB-103 (HER2-targeted CAR T cell therapy)

MB-105 (Prostate Stem Cell Antigen (PSCA)-targeted CAR T cell therapy)

MB-106 (CD20-targeted CAR T cell therapy)

BAER-101 (novel 2/3subtype-selective GABA A positive allosteric modulator [PAM])

General Corporate

Financial Results:

About Fortress Biotech Fortress Biotech, Inc. (Fortress) is an innovative biopharmaceutical company that was recently ranked number 10 in Deloittes 2019 Technology Fast 500, an annual ranking of the fastest-growing North American companies in the technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech sectors, based on percentage of fiscal year revenue growth over a three-year period. Fortress is focused on acquiring, developing and commercializing high-potential marketed and development-stage drugs and drug candidates. The company has five marketed prescription pharmaceutical products and over 25 programs in development at Fortress, at its majority-owned and majority-controlled partners and at partners it founded and in which it holds significant minority ownership positions. Such product candidates span six large-market therapeutic areas, including oncology, rare diseases and gene therapy, which allow it to create value while mitigating risk for shareholders. Fortress advances its diversified pipeline through a streamlined operating structure that fosters efficient drug development. The Fortress model is driven by a world-class business development team that is focused on leveraging its significant biopharmaceutical industry expertise to further expand the companys portfolio of product opportunities. Fortress has established partnerships with some of the worlds leading academic research institutions and biopharmaceutical companies to maximize each opportunity to its full potential, including Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., City of Hope, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, InvaGen Pharmaceuticals Inc. (a subsidiary of Cipla Limited), St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital and Nationwide Childrens Hospital. For more information, visit http://www.fortressbiotech.com.

Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. As used below and throughout this press release, the words we, us and our may refer to Fortress individually or together with one or more partner companies, as dictated by context. Such statements include, but are not limited to, any statements relating to our growth strategy and product development programs and any other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are based on managements current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could negatively affect our business, operating results, financial condition and stock price. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated include: risks relating to our growth strategy; our ability to obtain, perform under and maintain financing and strategic agreements and relationships; risks relating to the results of research and development activities; uncertainties relating to preclinical and clinical testing; risks relating to the timing of starting and completing clinical trials; our dependence on third-party suppliers; risks relating to the COVID-19 outbreak and its potential impact on our employees and consultants ability to complete work in a timely manner and on our ability to obtain additional financing on favorable terms or at all; our ability to attract, integrate and retain key personnel; the early stage of products under development; our need for substantial additional funds; government regulation; patent and intellectual property matters; competition; as well as other risks described in our SEC filings. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in our expectations or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as may be required by law. The information contained herein is intended to be reviewed in its totality, and any stipulations, conditions or provisos that apply to a given piece of information in one part of this press release should be read as applying mutatis mutandis to every other instance of such information appearing herein.

Company Contacts:Jaclyn Jaffe and William BegienFortress Biotech, Inc.(781) 652-4500ir@fortressbiotech.com

Investor Relations Contact:Daniel FerryLifeSci Advisors, LLC(617) 430-7576daniel@lifesciadvisors.com

Media Relations Contact:Tony Plohoros6 Degrees(908) 591-2839tplohoros@6degreespr.com

____________________________________________1 Includes product candidates in development at Fortress, majority-owned and controlled partners and partners in which Fortress holds significant minority ownership positions. As used herein, the words we, us and our may refer to Fortress individually or together with our affiliates and partners, as dictated by context.

FORTRESS BIOTECH, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIESConsolidated Balance Sheets($ in thousands except for share and per share amounts)

FORTRESS BIOTECH, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIESConsolidated Statements of Operations($ in thousands except for share and per share amounts)

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Fortress Biotech Reports Record Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2019 Financial Results and Recent Corporate Highlights - BioSpace

‘London patient’ declared cured of HIV after three years – BioNews

By Stem Cell Treatment

16 March 2020

Three years after receiving a stem cell transplant, a man from London is the second patient in history to be cured of HIV, doctors report.

The study, published in the Lancet HIV, reports that the so-called 'London patient' has no detectable active HIV infection in blood, semen, or tissues 30 months after stopping anti-retroviral therapy. This follow-up comes a year after the first publication in Natureannouncing he was clear of the virus (seeBioNews 990).

'We've tested a sizeable set of sites that HIV likes to hide in and they are all pretty much negative for an active virus,' the study's lead author Dr Ravindra Gupta, from the University of Cambridge, told AFP. 'We propose that these results represent the second ever case of a patient to be cured of HIV.'

Adam Castillejo who recently decided to go public with his identity in the New York Times had been diagnosed with HIV in 2003 and then additionally with advanced Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2012. After failed rounds of chemotherapy and attempts to transplant his own stem cells, he received a donor stem cell transplant in 2016 to treat his blood cancer. Similar to the 'Berlin patient' (the first person known to be cured of HIV) in 2011, the transplant came from a donor carrying a rare genetic mutation present in less than one percent of Europeans, which prevents HIV from entering the affected cells via the CCR5 receptor.

'This is a unique position to be in, a unique and very humbling position,' Castillejo told the New York Times. 'I want to be an ambassador of hope.'

Now, 30 months after cutting off retroviral therapy, the doctors reported no active infection in Castillejo's blood, cerebrospinal fluid, semen, intestinal tissue, or lymphoid tissue. Whatever traces of virus material could be found in the system are likely so-called fossil traces, which cannot replicate and harbour no risk of reoccurrence of the infection.

Dr Gupta said that this is to be expected. 'It's quite hard to imagine that all trace of a virus that infects billions of cells was eliminated from the body,' he explained.

Scientists agree that stem cell transplants will notbe a feasible treatment for the millions of people around the world infected with the virus. With a tenpercent mortality rate,bone marrow transplants are mainly used to treat cancer patients when no other options are available, and current antiviral drugs can enable HIV patients to live long and healthy lives. However, observing these 'cured' patients could provide helpful insights for the design of future genome editing tools to treat and cure HIV.

Professor Sharon Lewin from the University of Melbourne, Australia, said the case was exciting but warned: 'We need to also place it in context - curing people of HIV via a bone marrow transplant is just not a viable option on any kind of scale. We need to constantly reiterate the importance of, prevention, early testing and treatment adherence as the pillars of the current global response to HIV/AIDS.'

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'London patient' declared cured of HIV after three years - BioNews

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