Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome Surgical Management and Stem Cell Therapy Part 2 - Mayo Clinic
In this video, Mayo Clinic pediatric heart surgeon Harold Burkhart, M.D., provides an overview of the current clinical trial underway at Mayo Clinic. The vid...
By: asbestoslawyers1
NEWARK, Calif., Aug. 5, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- StemCells, Inc. (STEM), a leading stem cell company developing and commercializing novel cell-based therapeutics and tools for use in stem cell-based research and drug discovery, announced today that it will release financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2013 after the market close on Wednesday, August 7. In connection with this announcement, StemCells will host a conference call and webcast to discuss its results and an update on its business at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time (4:30 p.m. Eastern Time) the same day. Eliseo Salinas, MD, Executive Vice President and Head of Research & Development at StemCells, will be on the call to discuss the Company's recently announced two-year data in patients with Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD).
Interested parties are invited to listen to the call over the Internet by accessing the Investors section of the Company's website at http://www.stemcellsinc.com. Webcast participants should allot extra time before the webcast begins to register and, if necessary, download and install audio software.
An archived version of the webcast will also be available for replay on the Company's website beginning approximately two hours following the conclusion of the live call and continuing for a period of 30 days.
About StemCells, Inc.
StemCells, Inc. is engaged in the research, development, and commercialization of cell-based therapeutics and tools for use in stem cell-based research and drug discovery. The Company's lead therapeutic product candidate, HuCNS-SC(R) cells (purified human neural stem cells), is currently in development as a potential treatment for a broad range of central nervous system disorders. In a Phase I clinical trial in Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD), a fatal myelination disorder in children, the Company has shown preliminary evidence of progressive and durable donor-derived myelination in all four patients transplanted with HuCNS-SC cells. The Company is also conducting a Phase I/II clinical trial in chronic spinal cord injury in Switzerland and Canada and has reported positive interim data for the first three patients. The Company is also conducting a Phase I/II clinical trial in dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) at two trial sites in the US. In addition, the Company is pursuing preclinical studies in Alzheimer's disease, with funding support from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). StemCells also markets stem cell research products, including media and reagents, under the SC Proven(R) brand. Further information about StemCells is available at http://www.stemcellsinc.com.
Apart from statements of historical fact, the text of this press release constitutes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. securities laws, and is subject to the safe harbors created therein. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release. The Company does not undertake to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof. Such statements reflect management's current views and are based on certain assumptions that may or may not ultimately prove valid. The Company's actual results may vary materially from those contemplated in such forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties to which the Company is subject, including those described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 and in its subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K.
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StemCells, Inc. Announces Webcast to Discuss Second Quarter 2013 Financial Results and Business Update
JUPITER, Fla., Aug. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. ("BRT" or the "Company") (OTC BB: BRTX), a life sciences company focused on developing stem cell based cellular therapies for various personal medical applications, today announced that it has received approval from the Western Institutional Review Board ("the Board") to complete a retrospective safety study on selected subjects previously treated by the Company's brtxDISC bulging and herniated disc procedure. The study is titled "Re-consenting and Follow-Up of Adults from a Retrospective Study Using Autologous Transplantation of Marrow Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Degenerated Intervertebral Disc."
Study objectives are to determine the safety of subjects who received transplants of their own stem cells into their disc, using MRI and Quality of Life Questionnaires. TheBoard requires that all subjects must be able to consent for themselves to be enrolled in the study, which has been approved to take place at the Centeno-Schultz Clinic in Broomfield, Colorado.
The approval allows BRT to retrospectively collect and analyze clinical data on selected subjects who previously have been treated for bulging or herniated disc disease with the Company's novel brtxDISC procedure. These procedures were performed using BRT's proprietary therapeutic delivery device cannula system and its proprietary culture method isolating a selective population of mesenchymal stem cells. BRT expects to complete the study within a six-month period.
"This is a significant milestone in taking our brtxDISC procedure closer towards an FDA meeting to seek approval for the commencement of our clinical trial. We look forward to collecting this data with the ambition of meeting the safety requirements necessary for us to receive approval and start our trial," commented Mark Weinreb, Chief Executive Officer of BioRestorative Therapies. "Our goal is to compile and present the necessary data to the FDA with the goal of initiating a Phase I or Phase II clinical trial in the early part of next year."
About BioRestorative Therapies, Inc.
BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. ("BRT"),www.biorestorative.com, develops medical procedures using cell and tissue protocols, primarily involving adult stem cells, designed for patients to undergo minimally invasive cellular-based treatments. BRT is developing the following scientific initiatives:
The Company also offers plant stem cell-based facial creams and beauty products under theStem Pearlsbrand atwww.stempearls.com.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors and other risks, including those set forth in the Company's Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update such statements.
Investor Contact:Jared Mitchell ProActive Capital 646.863.6274 jmitchell@proactivecapital.com
Media Contact:Sandra Lee ProActive Capital 646.862.4608 slee@proactivecapital.com
By: Jet Villa, InterAksyon.com August 6, 2013 4:34 PM
InterAksyon.com The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines - Amid a flurry of reports about unregulated procedures that have led to serious injury or even deaths, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) is now requiring foreign doctors wishing to practice stem cell therapy in the Philippines to obtain a special temporary permit (STP).
In a position statement, the Professional Regulatory Board of Medicine (PRBOM) said foreign doctors must submit proof of education, training and clinical experience and actual practice in the field of stem cell therapy, plus a current license to practice authenticated by the Philippine Embassy/Consulate in the country of origin when they apply for the special permits.
The board warned: Any foreign physician who practices the professionwithout a STP will be criminally liable for illegal practice of medicine.And, it added, those who have aided and abetted the foreign physicianspractice of the profession are also criminally liable.
The position paper was signed by PRBOM chairman Dr. Edgardo Fernando and members doctors Miguel Noche Jr., Florentino Doble, Restituto de Ocampo, Jose Cueto Jr., and Mildred Pareja.
Controversy hounds new group
The position statement on stem cell therapy was issued amid a growing rift among doctors over recent controversial cases, including several lawmakers who had procedures done, but whose conditions worsened.
One newly-founded group of doctors doing stem-cell transplant, the Philippine Society of Stem Cell Medicine (PSSCM), has been pitted by the controversy against the Philippine College of Physicians, Philippine Society of General Internal Medicine (PSGIM), Philippine Society of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (PSHBT) andPhilippine College of Chest Physicians (PCCP). The latter groups all believe thatPSSCM's practices are unethical as it charges huge fees from patients for stem cell procedures that are still under clinical trial.
The PRBOM has backed the Department of Health in issuing Administrative Order 2013-0012 providing the guidelines for stem cell, cell-based therapy in the country. "The practice of stem cell therapy does not constitute standard care at the present time. The claim that it offers cure to numerous diseases and conditions has not been proven through scientific research and documentation, the PRBOM said. Right now, it said, "there is difficulty verifying claims of practitioners and institutions regarding the effectivity ofavailable treatment modalities.
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PRC: Foreign docs doing stem cell therapy in PH must get special temporary permits
Here at Maclean's, we appreciate the written word. And we appreciate you, the reader. We are always looking for ways to create a better user experience for you and wanted to try out a new functionality that provides you with a reading experience in which the words and fonts take centre stage. We believe you'll appreciate the clean, white layout as you read our feature articles. But we don't want to force it on you and it's completely optional. Click "View in Clean Reading Mode" on any article if you want to try it out. Once there, you can click "Go back to regular view" at the top or bottom of the article to return to the regular layout.
Scientist Dr. Mark Post poses with samples of in-vitro meat in a laboratory, at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands on November 9, 2011. (Francois Lenoir/Reuters)
Its high time for summer barbecue season. On Aug. 5, as long weekend revelers across Canada throw steaks and sausages on the grill, Dr. Mark Post will be cooking up something very different: a hamburger made of animal stem cells, grown in his lab at Maastricht University in the Netherlands.
This one little five-ounce patty has taken him years to perfect, at a cost of 300,000 euros, or over $409,500 (donated by an anonymous investor), making it what must be the most expensive and labour-intensive sandwich patty in history. Some doubted it could be done. As the burger is unveiled in Londonthen bitten, chewed, swallowed and consumed, for all the world to seePosts burger will redefine meat as we know it. This is the food of the future.
Post, a medical doctor, has been attempting to create tissues in the lab for almost a decade. The applications are huge: engineered human tissues could be used to test drugs, for example, or to treat many diseases where the body wastes away. To Post, the food application started out as an interesting side project, one that soon stole the spotlight from his other work. Meat for consumption is in theory, much easier to grow, he told Macleans in an interview in 2012. The tissue does not need to physically integrate into the body. I considered it a closer goal to reach, he says, and a very important one.
Indeed, the global appetite for meat is growing. Livestock production already takes up 30 per cent of the land surface on our planet, says a 2006 United Nations report, producing more greenhouse gas emissions than all our cars and trucks, combined. According to Patrick O. Brown of Stanford University, eating one four-ounce hamburger is the equivalent of leaving a bathroom faucet running round-the-clock for a week. Developing nations are increasingly emulating the meat-heavy Western diet, and it isnt sustainable. We are heading towards a meat shortage worldwide, Post says. Instead of producing beef, pork and poultry on massive industrial farms, in the near future, he predicts, well be growing it in factories. And while this first hamburger was incredibly expensive to make, as techniques are perfected and lab-grown stem-cell burgers can be mass-produced, the cost will go down; one day it could be lower than the price of traditionally raised meat, which is expected to rise.
Of course, growing a minced hamburger pattylet alone a dense, fat-marbled steakisnt a simple task. Post and his team harvested stem cells from a cows muscle tissue, and bathed them in a special formula of nutrients. As these cells start to differentiate into muscle cells, theyre hooked to attachment points (Post has used Velcro) to create tiny strips of tissue, like a tendon. Eventually, they start to contract on their own. The downside for animal lovers is that you still need animals, a donor herd to provide stem cells, Post says. But compared to factory farming today, the number would be very small. If we grew all our meat in a lab, Post believes, the number of livestock worldwide could be reduced by a factor of one millionthe equivalent of reducing 10 billion livestock animals on the planet to 10,000. This would free up land, water, and other resources, while making sure remaining livestock didnt suffer a death fraught with the issues of large-scale slaughter.
Other than Post, only a handful of scientists are working on lab-grown meat; others believe the future lies in plant-based substitutes, ones so good they could fool even the most discerning palate, although Post maintains that we humans will always have an appetite for the real thing. Worldwide, the meat-eater population is going to grow. Theres no doubt about that, he says. Posts hamburger is a powerful proof of concept, an important first step. As we begin to unravel the implications of this one burgerfor science, for health care, and for the food supply that feeds everyone on the planetwell be watching on Aug. 5, with bated breath, wondering what, exactly, it tastes like.
Anyone who wants to follow along can watch a livestream of the burger consumption on Aug. 5 atculturedbeef.net.
See original here:
One lab-grown hamburger, coming up - Blog Central, Kate Lunau ...
Here at Macleans, we appreciate the written word. And we appreciate you, the reader. We are always looking for ways to create a better user experience for you and wanted to try out a new functionality that provides you with a reading experience in which the words and fonts take centre stage. We believe youll appreciate the clean, white layout as you read our feature articles. But we dont want to force it on you and its completely optional. Click View in Clean Reading Mode on any article if you want to try it out. Once there, you can click Go back to regular view at the top or bottom of the article to return to the regular layout.
Scientist Dr. Mark Post poses with samples of in-vitro meat in a laboratory, at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands on November 9, 2011. (Francois Lenoir/Reuters)
Its high time for summer barbecue season. On Aug. 5, as long weekend revelers across Canada throw steaks and sausages on the grill, Dr. Mark Post will be cooking up something very different: a hamburger made of animal stem cells, grown in his lab at Maastricht University in the Netherlands.
This one little five-ounce patty has taken him years to perfect, at a cost of 300,000 euros, or over $409,500 (donated by an anonymous investor), making it what must be the most expensive and labour-intensive sandwich patty in history. Some doubted it could be done. As the burger is unveiled in Londonthen bitten, chewed, swallowed and consumed, for all the world to seePosts burger will redefine meat as we know it. This is the food of the future.
Post, a medical doctor, has been attempting to create tissues in the lab for almost a decade. The applications are huge: engineered human tissues could be used to test drugs, for example, or to treat many diseases where the body wastes away. To Post, the food application started out as an interesting side project, one that soon stole the spotlight from his other work. Meat for consumption is in theory, much easier to grow, he told Macleans in an interview in 2012. The tissue does not need to physically integrate into the body. I considered it a closer goal to reach, he says, and a very important one.
Indeed, the global appetite for meat is growing. Livestock production already takes up 30 per cent of the land surface on our planet, says a 2006 United Nations report, producing more greenhouse gas emissions than all our cars and trucks, combined. According to Patrick O. Brown of Stanford University, eating one four-ounce hamburger is the equivalent of leaving a bathroom faucet running round-the-clock for a week. Developing nations are increasingly emulating the meat-heavy Western diet, and it isnt sustainable. We are heading towards a meat shortage worldwide, Post says. Instead of producing beef, pork and poultry on massive industrial farms, in the near future, he predicts, well be growing it in factories. And while this first hamburger was incredibly expensive to make, as techniques are perfected and lab-grown stem-cell burgers can be mass-produced, the cost will go down; one day it could be lower than the price of traditionally raised meat, which is expected to rise.
Of course, growing a minced hamburger pattylet alone a dense, fat-marbled steakisnt a simple task. Post and his team harvested stem cells from a cows muscle tissue, and bathed them in a special formula of nutrients. As these cells start to differentiate into muscle cells, theyre hooked to attachment points (Post has used Velcro) to create tiny strips of tissue, like a tendon. Eventually, they start to contract on their own. The downside for animal lovers is that you still need animals, a donor herd to provide stem cells, Post says. But compared to factory farming today, the number would be very small. If we grew all our meat in a lab, Post believes, the number of livestock worldwide could be reduced by a factor of one millionthe equivalent of reducing 10 billion livestock animals on the planet to 10,000. This would free up land, water, and other resources, while making sure remaining livestock didnt suffer a death fraught with the issues of large-scale slaughter.
Other than Post, only a handful of scientists are working on lab-grown meat; others believe the future lies in plant-based substitutes, ones so good they could fool even the most discerning palate, although Post maintains that we humans will always have an appetite for the real thing. Worldwide, the meat-eater population is going to grow. Theres no doubt about that, he says. Posts hamburger is a powerful proof of concept, an important first step. As we begin to unravel the implications of this one burgerfor science, for health care, and for the food supply that feeds everyone on the planetwell be watching on Aug. 5, with bated breath, wondering what, exactly, it tastes like.
Anyone who wants to follow along can watch a livestream of the burger consumption on Aug. 5 atculturedbeef.net.
Continued here: One lab-grown hamburger, coming up Blog Central, Kate Lunau
Continued here:
One lab-grown hamburger, coming up – Blog Central, Kate Lunau ...
NewsLife: PCP pushes for more studies on stem cell therapy
NewsLife - PCP pushes for more studies on stem cell therapy (Reported By: Dina Paguibitan) - [July 30, 2013] For more news, visit: #9659;http://www.ptvnews.ph Dow...
By: PTV PH
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NewsLife: PCP pushes for more studies on stem cell therapy - Video
A world-class research and treatment centre that will specialise in using the bodys own blood cells to heal sports injuries and arthritis is planned for Queenstown within the year according to one of the worlds leading experts on Stem Cell Therapy.
Speaking at the New Zealand College of Appearance Medicine Conference in Queenstown yesterday (Thursday August 1), Professor Boyd said Queenstown was at the forefront of Platelet Rich Plasma therapy in the country and was an "obvious choice" to expand into Stem Cell Therapy.
Used in the USA for ten years and Australia for five years, Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is already available in New Zealand thanks to Queenstown Regenerative Medicine (QRM) an internationally-linked Queenstown clinic.
Endorsed worldwide by global sports superstars such as Tiger Woods and Kobe Bryant, PRP is a process by which a small amount of blood is taken from the patient and then spun in a centrifuge which automatically produces PRP (blood plasma with a concentrated amount of platelets).
Platelets are the bloods "ambulance, containing over 20 factors important for tissue repair and keeping the body healthy.
The process takes about 15 to 20 minutes and increases the concentration of platelets by up to 500%. The PRP is then injected back into the patients affected area, which reduces inflammation and hence pain, while also stimulating the healing of the tendon or ligament and maybe even cartilage. It can be used in shoulders, knees, ankles, hips, elbows, wrists and much more.
Stem Cell Therapy differs from PRP as it introduces new adult stem cells into damaged tissue in order to treat disease or injury. The stem cells are grown outside the body and then transplanted into the body. It is a lengthier, more involved process, whereas PRP is done purely by injection.
"PRP is thus like the bloods "ambulance" - packed with over 20 factors which not only cause clotting when needed, but can dampen inflammation and reduce pain while also triggering repair processes. Instead of delivering just one signal as common drugs do, they provide a factory of helpers.
"Stem Cell Therapy to heal sports and other injuries has proven to be a great success in clinical trials in the USA and UK, and its our aim to ensure this leading edge therapy is available in New Zealand," said Professor Boyd.
"Our task as researchers is to understand how the body develops in the embryo, is maintained in adults and how it tries to trigger its own repair in disease states.
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World-class Stem Cell Research Centre for Queenstown
Aug. 1, 2013 McMaster University researchers have revealed the location of human blood stem cells that may improve bone marrow transplants. The best stem cells are at the ends of the bone.
It is hoped this discovery will lead to lowering the amount of bone marrow needed for a donation while increasing regeneration and lessening rejection in the recipient patients, says principal investigator Mick Bhatia, professor and scientific director of the McMaster Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute.
In a paper published online today by the journal Cell Stem Cell, his team reports that human stem cells (HSC) residing in the end (trabecular region) of the bones display the highest regenerative ability of the blood and immune system.
"Like the best professional hockey players, our findings indicate blood stem cells are not all equal," said Bhatia. "We now reveal the reason why -- it's not the players themselves, but the effect the arena has on them that makes them the highest scorers."
Bone marrow transplants have been done for more than 50 years and are routine in most hospitals, providing a life saving treatment for cancer and other diseases including leukemia, anemia, and immune disorders.
Bhatia, who also holds a Canada Research Chair in Human Stem Cell Biology, said that cells surrounding the best blood stem cells are critically important, as these "stem cell neighbors" at the end of the bone provide the unique instructions that give these human blood stem cells their superior regenerative abilities.
The research was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Ontario Cancer Research Institute.
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Researchers find home of best stem cells for bone marrow transplants
Albany, New York (PRWEB) August 02, 2013
According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research "Stem Cells Market (Adult, Human Embryonic , Induced Pluripotent, Rat-Neural, Umbilical Cord, Cell Production, Cell Acquisition, Expansion, Sub-Culture)- Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2012 - 2018," the market for stem cells was valued at USD 26.23 billion in 2011 and is expected to reach an estimated value of USD 119.51 billion in 2018, growing at a CAGR of 24.2% from 2012 to 2018.
Related Report : Dental Equipment Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/dental-devices-market.html
The market growth is majorly attributed to therapeutic research activities led by government support worldwide owing to the growing number of patients with chronic diseases across the globe. In addition, rising awareness of regenerative treatment options and growing importance of stem cell banking services are also fostering the growth of the market. Apart from these, development of medical tourism hubs in developing nations such as India and China and in turn migration of patients from developed nations such as the U.S., and Europe for quality treatment at significantly lower prices will also serve the market as a driver especially for the Asian stem cells market.
Related Report : Biosensors Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/biosensors-market.html
Stem cells market will be driven by rising proportion of patients with neurological and other chronic conditions and rising disposable incomes of patients induced by economic growth of Asian regions in the next five years In addition, increasing dependence on stem cells for drug discovery and screening will boost the growth of the market in future. Increased outsourcing of contract research and clinical trials to developing Asian regions will further encourage growth of the stem cells market.
Adult stem cells held majority share of the overall stem cells market in 2011 at over 80%. This is due to less laborious procedure of harvesting, and less probability of contamination during expansion and sub-culture of adult stem cells. However, fewer post-transplant complications and lesser risk of graft vs. host reaction from the recently introduced induced pluripotent stem cells will lead to its rapid inclusion in research activities and help the global induced pluripotent stem cells market to grow at a relatively faster CAGR during the forecast period.
Browse the full report with TOC at http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/stem-cells-market.html.
Regenerative medicine dominated the stem cells market by applications in 2011, and is expected to maintain its leading position till 2018. Considerable research activities and the resultant developed therapies in neurology will drive the stem cells market in the forecast period.
North America was the market leader of the total stem cells market in 2011 and is expected to maintain its leading position till 2018. North American market is a center for stem cells research owing to greater support offered by federal government, and higher affordability of treatment in the region.
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Stem Cells Market Research Report Published by Transparency Market Research