Stem Cell Clinic

Tampa-Based Pulmonary Stem Cell Treatment Clinic Shows Promising Results

Tampa, Florida (PRWEB) August 01, 2013

State-of-the-art pulmonary stem cell treatment provider, Lung Institute (LI), opened in May with the goal of providing those with debilitating lung conditions a better quality of life. That goal is quickly becoming realized.

Since the May opening, LI has treated over 40 patients with a variety of conditions ranging from COPD to ulcerative colitis. In a six week follow up survey, nearly 70% of patients reported positive results.

Considering most of our patients have been told by doctors that they have no further course of treatment, these numbers are amazing, said Jimmy St. Louis, CEO of Lung Institute. And this is just the beginning. With more and more patients reaching the six week post treatment mark, we are excited to see these numbers grow.

People from all across the nation are taking notice of Lung Institutes innovative procedures utilizing regenerative medicine. Their highly trained physicians have already touched the lives of patients from across the nation, and the world. Collectively, Lung Institutes patients have traveled over 33,750 miles for treatment, and have come from places as far away as Brazil, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the Philippines.

About Lung Institute: At Lung Institute (LI), we are changing the lives of hundreds of people across the nation through the innovative technology of regenerative medicine. We are committed to providing patients a more effective way to address pulmonary conditions and improve quality of life. At our state-of-the-art facilities our personalized treatment protocols were established with the highest concern for patient safety and quality of care. Our physicians, through their designated practices, have gained worldwide recognition for the successful application of revolutionary minimally invasive stem cell therapies. With over a century of combined medical experience, our doctors have established a patient experience designed with the highest concern for patient safety and quality of care.

See the original post:
Tampa-Based Pulmonary Stem Cell Treatment Clinic Shows Promising Results

World-class Stem Cell Research, Therapy for Queenstown

Media release from Queenstown Regenerative Medicine August 2 2013

World-class Stem Cell Research and Therapy Centre for Queenstown

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.

Go here to read the rest:
World-class Stem Cell Research, Therapy for Queenstown

World-class stem cell centre for Queenstown

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.

Link:
World-class stem cell centre for Queenstown

Press Release

California Stem Cell Inc.Posted on:31 Jul 13

California Stem Cell Inc. (CSC) has announced the completion of an internal study demonstrating that the companys proprietary immunotherapy manufacturing process can be applied to multiple cancer types. Originally developed for late stage metastatic melanoma the platform tissue culture technology has also been shown to work with tumor tissues from hepatocellular carcinoma ovarian cancer glioblastoma multiforme and other solid tumor cancers.

The unique principle supporting CSCs cancer immunotherapeutic approach is purification of tumor stem cells isolated from a patients own tumor tissue to use as an antigenic source. While prior companies processes typically took months and often yielded unreliable or unusable materials CSC has standardized its platform technology for reproducibility resulting in optimized high cell yields and efficient and scalable manufacturing.

The companys proprietary stem cell culturing technologies performed under cGMP conditions have resulted in a consistent production time of less than 8 weeks with a 100% success rate in generating lines with potential applicability to a broad range of cancer types.

Such significant improvements in the manufacturing time and success rate are critical when working with late stage cancers that typically have a short window for treatment said Gabriel Nistor M.D. CSC Vice President of Research and Development. The improvements allowed us to test our proprietary manufacturing methods on a broader range of devastating cancer types with encouraging results.

CSC recently submitted a Phase III protocol to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to explore efficacy of its cancer stem cell-based treatment for recurrent stage III and stage IV melanoma. The company is also completing a Phase I clinical study in liver cancer and preparing to submit a Phase II clinical study in ovarian cancer.

About California Stem Cell

California Stem Cell Inc. (CSC) is an Irvine CA-based company focused on the development of stem cell-based therapies for metastatic cancers spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrigs Disease).

CSC has proprietary methods to generate human stem cell lines expand them to clinically and commercially useful numbers and differentiate them at extremely high purity using fully-defined proprietary media and cGMP processes.

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/castemcell

Read more here:
Press Release

Research and Markets: The Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) Product Market 2013 – The fastest growing area of stem cell …

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/mqlqdz/mesenchymal_stem) has announced the addition of the "The Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) Product Market 2013" report to their offering.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent stem cells that can differentiate into a variety of cell types, including osteoblasts, chondrocytes, myocytes, adipocytes, beta-pancreatic islets cells, and potentially, neuronal cells. MSCs are of intense therapeutic interest because they represent a population of cells with the potential to treat a wide range of acute and degenerative diseases.

MSCs are advantageous over other stem cells types for a variety of reasons: they avoid the ethical issues that surround embryonic stem cell research, and repeated studies have found MSCs to be immuno-privileged, which make them an advantageous cell type for allogenic transplantation. MSCs reduce both the risks of rejection and complications of transplantation. Recently, there have been advances in the use of autologous mesenchymal stem cells to regenerate human tissues, including cartilage, meniscus, tendons, bone fractures, and more.

Trend analysis of grant activity, scientific publication rates, and patent applications trends reveal that global research activity involving mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) increased 112% from 2009 to 2010, and 116% from 2010 to 2011. Of most interest is that this rate of growth accelerated throughout 2011, making mesenchymal stem cells the fastest growing area of stem cell research.

Because mesenchymal stem cell researchers represent a rapidly growing, well-funded research community, this report presents strategies for research supply companies to use to develop high-demand products for this community. A key element of this report is a survey of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) researchers.

This survey reveals critical findings that include:

- Preferred Tissue Source for MSCs

- Preferred Species Source for MSCs

- MSC Product Preferences

Link:
Research and Markets: The Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) Product Market 2013 - The fastest growing area of stem cell ...

Boning up: McMaster researchers find home of best stem cells for bone marrow transplants

Public release date: 1-Aug-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Thana Dharmarajah dharmar@mcmaster.ca 905-525-9140 x22196 McMaster University

Hamilton, ON (August 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.

More:
Boning up: McMaster researchers find home of best stem cells for bone marrow transplants

Man pleads guilty in stem cell scheme

Mike Martin needed a medical miracle.

Diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease, the Houston man tried to find help in what authorities said was a scheme to illegally harvest and sell stem cells.

On Wednesday, 42-year-old Vincent Dammai of South Carolina pleaded guilty in federal court in Houston for his role in the scheme. Prosecutors said he processed stem cells at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston without approval from the Food and Drug Administration or the university.

Martin, the owner of a Houston-based landscaping business, was among the victims of the scam, prosecutors said. Martin was diagnosed in 2009 and died two years later.

He paid $47,000 after hearing of a treatment based on stem cell injections and a cocktail of herbs and vitamins that promised to reverse the terminal illness.

"I told him it was a glorified spa treatment," said Martin's sister, Katie Martin. "But he said, 'No. It's my only hope.' So I shut my mouth."

The charges against Dammai were the result of an FBI and FDA investigation into the manufacture and distribution of stem cells in the treatment of human autoimmune diseases such as Parkinson's.

"Mike needed a medical miracle," Martin said. "They said he'd be able to live and would never even need a wheelchair."

Dammai admitted using university facilities to harvest and process stem cells, for which he was paid more than $161,000.

He was hired in 2006 only to conduct research into kidney cancer and had no formal training in processing stem cells, officials said.

Follow this link:
Man pleads guilty in stem cell scheme

Efficient model for generating human induced pluripotent stem cells

Aug. 1, 2013 Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report a simple, easily reproducible RNA-based method of generating human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in the August 1 edition of Cell Stem Cell. Their approach has broad applicability for the successful production of iPSCs for use in human stem cell studies and eventual cell therapies.

Partially funded by grants from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the methods developed by the UC San Diego researchers dramatically improve upon existing DNA-based approaches -- avoiding potential integration problems and providing what appears to be a safer and simpler method for future clinical applications.

The generation of human iPSCs has opened the potential for regenerative medicine therapies based on patient-specific, personalized stem cells. Pluripotent means that these cells have the ability to give rise to any of the body's cell types. The human iPSCs are typically artificially derived from a non-pluripotent adult cell, such as a skin cell. They retain the characteristics of the body's natural pluripotent stem cells, commonly known as embryonic stem cells. Because iPSCs are developed from a patient's own cells, it was first thought that treatment using them would avoid any immunogenic responses. However, depending on methods used to generate such iPSCs, they may pose significant risks that limit their use. For example, using viruses to alter the cell's genome could promote cancer in the host cell.

Methods previously developed to generate integration-free iPSCs were not easily and efficiently reproducible. Therefore, the UC San Diego researchers focused their approach on developing a self-replicating, RNA-based method (one that doesn't integrate into the DNA) with the ability to be retained and degraded in a controlled fashion, and that would only need to be introduced once into the cell.

Using a Venezuelan equine virus (VEE) with structural proteins deleted, but non-structural proteins still present, the scientists added four reprogramming factors (OCT4, KLF4, SOX2 with either c-MYC or GLIS1). They made a single transfection of the VEE replicative form (RF) RNA into newborn or adult human fibroblasts, connective tissue cells that provide a structural framework for many other tissues.

"This resulted in efficient generation of iPSCs with all the hallmarks of stem cells," said principal investigator Steven Dowdy, PhD, professor in the UC San Diego Department of Cellular & Molecular Medicine. "The method is highly reproducible, efficient, non-integrative -- and it works."

Dowdy added that it worked on both young and old human cells. He explained that this is important since -- in order to be used therapeutically in fighting disease or to create disease models for research -- iPSCs will need to be derived from the cells of middle-aged to old adults who are more prone to the diseases scientists are attempting to treat. In addition, reprogramming factors can be easily changed.

Additional contributors to the study include lead scientist Naohisa Yoshioka, Edwige Gros, Hai-Ri Li, Shantanu Kumar, Dekker C. Deacon, Cornelia Maron, Alysson R. Muotri, Neil C. Chi, Xiang-Dong Fu, and Benjamin D. Yu, all from the University of California, San Diego.

The study was supported by CIRM, NIH #U01HL107442, the Department of Defense, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Go here to read the rest:
Efficient model for generating human induced pluripotent stem cells

BrainStorm Submits Favorable Interim Safety Report for Second Group of Patients in Its Phase IIa Dose-Escalating Trial …

NEW YORK, NY and PETACH TIKVAH, ISRAEL--(Marketwired - Aug 1, 2013) - BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics (OTCQB: BCLI), a leading developer of adult stem cell technologies for neurodegenerative diseases, today announced that it has submitted a favorable safety report to the hospital Helsinki Committee (IRB) for the second group of patients in its ongoing Phase IIa ALS clinical trial at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel. The treatment was well tolerated and no serious adverse events were observed. The company will release the preliminary efficacy data at the conclusion of the trial.

In this Phase IIa dose-escalating trial, currently underway at Hadassah under the direction of Principal Investigator Professor Dimitrios Karussis, 12 ALS patients are receiving combined intramuscular (IM) and intrathecal (IT) administration of NurOwn cells, in three cohorts, with increasing doses. The study participants will be monitored for six months following transplantation to evaluate the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of NurOwn.

"This second group of patients received 50% more NurOwn cells than the first group in this trial," explained Professor Karussis. "Given the fact that they were treated both IM and IT, they received significantly more cells than in the previous Phase I study completed in our clinic," he added.

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

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

Here is the original post:
BrainStorm Submits Favorable Interim Safety Report for Second Group of Patients in Its Phase IIa Dose-Escalating Trial ...