Stem Cell Clinic

Learn more about stem cell therapy at Vail Athletic Club Friday

By Stem Cell Treatment

VAIL The Vail Athletic Club, part of the Vail Vitality Center wellness experience at Vail Mountain Lodge, introduces a lecture which offers an in-depth look at new developments in cellular therapy for the treatment of joint pain. Stem Cell Therapy is a groundbreaking procedure that uses a patient's own stem cells to repair or replace damaged joint tissue. Dr. Scott Brandt of ThriveMD in Edwards is one of few physicians in the country trained in this procedure. Brandt will present details about this innovative new therapy at the Vail Athletic Club on Friday at 6 p.m.

Stem cell therapy is a minimally invasive procedure that begins with harvesting a patient's stem cells from his or her own fat reserves most often from the abdominal region. The tissue is isolated in a state-of-the-art cell-processing laboratory. The cells are then injected into the damaged joint using a minimally invasive technique with the assistance of fluoroscopic guidance. Once injected, the cells can sense proteins generated from cartilage damage and, in response, those cells have the ability to make chondrocytes cells found in healthy cartilage. This new procedure relieves the pain and limitations of arthritic joint disease without resorting to an invasive joint replacement surgery.

Brandt will discuss the process of isolating autologous adipose derived stem cells, the details of the procedure, and answer questions about this treatment for cartilage, ligament and tendon injuries.

For more information or to register call 970-476-7960. The lecture is offered as a fundraiser for the Eagle County Education Foundation and a $15 donation is suggested. Advance reservations are required and space is limited.

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Learn more about stem cell therapy at Vail Athletic Club Friday

Vic stem cell bid to beat blindness

By Stem Cell Treatment

Scientists are turning human skin cells into eye cells by using stem cell research, with their sights set on unravelling a common but incurable form of blindness.

Age-related macular degeneration, which results from dying retinal cells, affects one in seven older Australians and costs the country's economy $5.15 billion a year, figures show.

But little is understood about how or why it occurs.

Enter a team at Melbourne's Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA), which is taking skin cells from affected patients, turning them into stem cells and then into new retinal cells.

These are then compared with the patient's damaged cells, allowing the researchers to see in detail what's gone wrong.

A new charity, the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia, has devoted its first investment to the project, bringing Kathryn Davidson, a US stem cell expert, to the centre from Seattle.

'We know (with macular degeneration) that certain cells in the retina die, and so do the other cells that depend on them, but we need to know how and why,' Dr Davidson told those gathered at the charity's launch in Melbourne on Monday.

Dr Davidson said stem cell research lets her team 'mimic the disease in a dish', with a view to finding means for better diagnosis and treatment.

Melbourne therapist and mum Michelle Kornberg, who was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration aged 30, knows the fear and frustration at the lack of available relief.

Doorways and blinds appear as uneven waves, and written words would intermittently vanish from sight, she said.

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Vic stem cell bid to beat blindness

Stem cell-based bioartificial tissues and organs

By Stem Cell Treatment

Feb. 18, 2013 Surgeon Paolo Macchiarini has made his name by successfully transplanting bioengineered stem cell-based trachea, composed of both artificial and biological material. He now plans to use the technique to recreate more complex tissues, such as the esophagus and diaphragm or organs such as the heart and lungs. He has also made an experimental attempt to regenerate brain in mice and rats.

This is part of the news he will be presenting during his seminar at the scientific AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston.

In June 2011, media all over the world reported about a ground breaking transplant, where a patient received an artificial trachea covered in his own stem cells. The result was an artificial windpipe with biological functions. To date, five operations have been carried out using this technique.

"We learn something from each operation. This means we can develop and refine the technique. We are also evaluating how we can transfer our experiences to other fields, such as neurology. The aim is to make as much use of the body's own healing potential as we can," says Paolo Macchiarini, Professor of Regenerative Surgery at Karolinska Institutet, and responsible for the surgery.

At the AAAS Annual Meeting, he will talk about how he believes the technology can be used in the future. This will include:

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Karolinska Institutet.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Stem cell-based bioartificial tissues and organs

Osiris Therapeutics Successfully Defends Key Stem Cell Patent Challenge

By Stem Cell Treatment

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

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. (OSIR), the leading company focused on developing and marketing stem cell products to treat serious medical conditions, announced today the successful conclusion of a patent challenge in Australia by an opponent whose identity under Australian law was not disclosed. The patent at issue covers the administration of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), including Prochymal (remestemcel-L), for the treatment of inflammatory conditions involving the gastrointestinal tract, including Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis.

As acknowledged in the Australian Official Journal of Patents Supplement, all claims to the patent will be maintained in full. The claims specifically include the use of allogeneic MSCs, an attribute central to making an off-the-shelf MSC product possible.

In 2012, Prochymal, an intravenous formulation of MSCs, became the world's first stem cell drug to gain approval by an internationally recognized regulatory authority. Prochymal is also the first drug approved for acute graft versus host disease (GvHD) - a devastating complication of bone marrow transplantation that kills up to 80 percent of children affected, many within just weeks of diagnosis. Prochymal is now approved in Canada and New Zealand, and is currently available in seven other countries including the United States under an Expanded Access Program.

About Prochymal (remestemcel-L)

Prochymal is the worlds first approved drug with a stem cell as its active ingredient. Developed by Osiris Therapeutics, Prochymal is an intravenous formulation of MSCs, which are derived from the bone marrow of healthy adult donors between the ages of 18 and 30 years. The MSCs are selected from the bone marrow and grown in culture so that up to 10,000 doses of Prochymal can be produced from a single donor. Prochymal is truly an off-the-shelf stem cell product that is stored frozen at the point-of-care and infused through a simple intravenous line without the need to type or immunosuppress the recipient. Prochymal is approved in Canada and New Zealand for the management of acute GvHD in children and is available for adults and children in eight countries including the United States, under an Expanded Access Program. Prochymal is currently in a Phase 3 trial for refractory Crohns disease and in a Phase 2 trial for acute myocardial infarction.

About Osiris Therapeutics

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

Osiris, Prochymal, Chondrogen, Grafix and Ovation are registered trademarks of Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. More information can be found on the company's website, http://www.Osiris.com. (OSIR-G)

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Osiris Therapeutics Successfully Defends Key Stem Cell Patent Challenge

Signaling factors may be key to stem cells’ healing abilities …

By Stell Cell Research

CLEVELAND, Ohio Weve all heard of some of the amazing potential uses of stem cells: growing new tissues and organs for transplant, treating degenerative conditions such as multiple sclerosis and heart failure or safely testing new cancer drugs.

But much of the promise of future therapies depends on overcoming some significant technical hurdles and knowledge gaps.

One of those hurdles, understanding how stem cells heal injury, is now a lot smaller thanks to some cool basic-science research recently reported from a lab at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in Chicago.

Using adult human stem cells typically found in the bone marrow, called mesenchymal stem cells, or MSCs, the Chicago team discovered that the stem cells promote healing in diabetic ulcers by signaling existing cells in the area to turn on the natural repair process that can be inhibited in people with the disease.

The team, led by Daniel Peterson, director of the Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine at the Chicago Medical School, performed the experiment in mice. Their study was published in Stem Cells Translational Medicine.

Although MSCs have come to be regarded as a cure-all for tissue injury, researchers have only recently started to gain even the smallest clue as to how they work.

This is a problem in the whole MSC field, Peterson said. In most studies, he said, the cells are injected into the bloodstream, and then disappear, making it difficult to understand how they work.

What happens is that they kind of get filtered out into the lungs, and where theyre getting into any tissue is a bit of a mystery, he said.

To avoid that problem, Petersons team applied the MSCs topically to a diabetic wound on the backs of lab mice. Even then, though, they couldnt be sure that the MSCs werent traveling through the mouses body and having a systemic effect. So a second wound on the mouses back, untreated with the MSCs, acted as a control. If there were any systemic healing effect, the untreated wound would get better. If the effect were local only, it wouldnt.

Even when applied topically, the MSCs disappeared quickly, Peterson said. But the mice healed only in the area where the MSCs were applied, not in the other wound. And levels of several types of molecules that are key to signaling and triggering the healing response called Wnt3a, VEGF and PDGFR-alpha rose in the treated area, suggesting that the MSCs recruited the mouses own stem cells in the vicinity to do the repair work.

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Signaling factors may be key to stem cells' healing abilities ...

Karen Davila resorts to stem-cell therapy for son’s autism

By Uncategorized

Broadcast journalist says the results are dramatic By Cheche V. Moral Philippine Daily Inquirer

DAVILA and her firstborn David at age 10

You can point a mother to the ends of the earth and it wont weaken her resolve to find that cure for her ailing child.

Broadcast journalist Karen Davilas firstborn, David, was 3 years old when he was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified (PDD/NOS) in the Autism Spectrum, a severe form of autism. The development pediatrician said there was no cure for Davids condition.

David didnt have the classic signs of autism, but clearly he wasnt developing like other children his age, says Davila. At the age of 3, he wasnt speaking spontaneously, although he could read. He had tantrums, couldnt express his needs, whether he was hungry or sad, and didnt reach out to other children his age.

Like most kids in the autism spectrum, the boy had attention difficulties. He was spaced out most of the time, and was rigid. It was so heartbreaking to see my eldest this way, she adds.

Davila refused to accept that there was no answer to her sons condition. I researched endlessly and devoted myself to making sure my son got the best possible treatment, she says. She quickly put her son on a casein- and gluten-free diet and biomedical treatment, under the care of Defeat Autism Now (DAN)-licensed doctors.

Davila explains that kids like David lack an enzyme in the body to digest casein, a protein found in cows milk, and gluten, a protein found in wheat, oats, barley and rye. When they take [casein and gluten], it feels like opium in the body, so kids feel high, theyre so hyper, get wild and are spaced out.

David, now 11, has also undergone anti-fungal treatments, and has been taking supplements and B12 injections to help his attention issues. He has also benefited from the help of occupational and speech therapists. Now in Grade 5, David is in his grade level in Multiple Intelligence School, in a smaller class ratio, according to his mother.

Early last year, Davila was offered an opportunity to try the fresh cell therapy being offered by a clinic in Germany called Villa Medica. The stem cells are harvested from lamb fetus and injected into the patient. By then, the journalist-mom had read up on the supposed benefits of stem cell on children with special needs.

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Karen Davila resorts to stem-cell therapy for son’s autism

Your guide to stem-cell treatments

By Stem Cell Treatment

FIRST OF TWO PARTS From lamb embryo to fat cells By Alex Y. Vergara, Raoul J. Chee Kee Philippine Daily Inquirer

DR. AIVEE Aguilar-Teo of The Skin Laser and Aesthetic Center

Fresh-cell therapy

Based in Edenkoben, Germany, this clinic for holistic medicine offers patients fresh-cell therapy that supposedly aids in the bodys regeneration. The clinic has been in business since 1961, and its founder, Dr. A. Gali, was a distinguished student of Dr. Paul Niehans, the acknowledged father of fresh-cell therapy.

Months after the treatment, not a few patients swear to the therapys youth-inducing effects such as glowing skin, increased energy and even longevity.

In lieu of a one-size-fits-all approach, fresh-cell therapy is said to be a tailor-made and organ-specific treatment. Stem cells are derived from the organs of an unborn lamb, and are injected intramuscularly into the patients buttocks.

Depending on the patients needs, these tailor-made stem cells are designed to home in on particular organs targeted for rejuvenation. For skin and joint rejuvenation, however, stem cells are injected directly on targeted areas.

Villa Medica also does fresh-cell therapy on children afflicted with autism and Downs syndrome. Stem cells supposedly enhance the brains metabolism, which, in turn, leads to better cognitive functions.

Autistics can benefit from it, as fresh-cell therapy also supposedly boosts brain development and the bodys immune system, helping them manage all sorts of allergies and problems related to digestion.

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Your guide to stem-cell treatments

Stem cell therapy can kill – health expert

By Stem Cell Treatment

Published on 10 January 2013 Hits: 988 Written by Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

A HEALTH expert on Wednesday warned that stem cell therapy can also kill.

Dr. Leo Olarte, spokesman of the Philippine Society for Stem Cell Medicine, said that if the stem cell that a patient received is from a donor, it could lead to fatal complications.

He said that a stem cell transplant can pose risks of complications, some potentially fatal, depending on many factors including the type of blood disorder, the type of transplant and the age and health of the person.

Although some people experience few problems with a transplant, others may develop complications that may require treatment or hospitalization. Some complications could even be life-threatening, warned Olarte, also the vice chairman of the Philippine Medical Association.

He said that such complications could be in the form of graft-versus-host disease (allogeneic transplant only), stem cell (graft) failure, organ injury, infections, cataracts, infertility, new cancers and even death.

Olarte said that anyone undergoing a transplant using stem cells from a donor (allogeneic stem cell transplant) may be at risk of graft-versus-host disease.

This condition occurs when a donors transplanted stem cells attack your body. Graft-versus-host disease can be mild or severe. It can occur soon after your transplant or months to years later, he added.

The doctor said that incompatibility can also lead to diseases of the skin (rash, often like sunburn), gut (mouth sores, abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea or vomiting), liver (jaundice or yellowing of the skin), lungs (blocked airways) or eyes (irritation and light sensitivity).

It can lead to chronic disability due to organ injury or infections and can be life-threatening. Your doctor must monitor closely for signs and symptoms of graft-versus-host disease, Olarte said.

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Stem cell therapy can kill – health expert

Fish stem cells could light the way to optical breakthroughs – Stem …

By Stell Cell Research

A small, stripy fish about the length of a Brazil nut may hold the key to treating human vision loss, following a discovery by the universitys Allison Lab that could see fish stem cells helping humanity.

Zebrafish can selectively repair light-sensitive cells in their retinas. These cells, called cones, are what humans rely on for daytime vision and colour perception. Unlike humans, zebrafish have specialized stem cells in their eyes that allow them to repair these cones when necessary.

Alternatively, when humans suffer retinal damage their eyes cannot recuperate something that could change in light of this new research.

Understanding how to make cones out of stem cells will facilitate therapies to prevent and/or reverse vision loss, explained Michle DuVal, a graduate student and team member at the Allison Lab, in an email interview.

The regenerative response that naturally occurs in zebrafish eyes is incredibly refined.

But the move from tiny fish to humans can get complicated. Limited industry involvement, scant funding and the difficulty of running clinical trials all pose threats to the future of stem cell research especially on the national level.

There are a lot of things going on very actively in other corners of the world, and not so much in Canada, said Tania Bubela, an associate professor at the School of Public Health who has studied stem cells.

One of the impediments is the availability of good manufacturing practice (GMP) materials to actually put into patients.

The increased focus on moving from animal models to clinical trials signals a positive change in the field of stem cell research, according to Timothy Caulfield, Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy and research director in the Law Faculty.

When stem cells first emerged in the late 90s, the focus was around the controversial nature of embryonic stem cell research, Caulfield said.

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Fish stem cells could light the way to optical breakthroughs – Stem ...

YaFarm Technologies Announces ISCI IRB Submission

By Stem Cell Treatment

PITTSTON, ME--(Marketwire - Feb 15, 2013) - YaFarm Technologies, Inc. ( PINKSHEETS : YFRM ) (YaFarm, or the Company) is pleased to announce that The Integrative Stem Cell Institute (ISCI), a premier provider of point-of-care, stem cell-based therapies, has submitted its complete protocols for the treatment of chronic and degenerative diseases to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the International Cell Surgical Society (ICSS).

ISCI submitted the protocols for independent evaluation and review of its safety study in the use of adipose derived progenitor (stem) cells in the treatment of chronic and degenerative diseases. The IRB will study ISCI's procedures for harvesting, processing, and re-implanting the patient's own stem cells to confirm patients are not put at risk. The IRB will also review the scientific and medical qualifications of the investigators, the informed consent and patient candidacy forms, and the rationale for the study.

The ICSS IRB is registered with the Office for Human Research Protections, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The IRB is comprised of both medical and scientific experts, as well as informed community members, and is managed by the International Cell Surgical Society, a California based physician organization dedicated to education, advancing research, and advocating for cell-based regenerative medicine.

The studies ISCI submitted for approval will be conducted within its state-of-the art laboratory and the fully integrative medical facility of the ISCI, housed in the Hospital Galenia in Cancun, Mexico. As part of the submission, the ISCI will also provide the IRB with the methodology for providing long-term follow up and the conditions specific metrics and safety data that will be collected for review. This model includes the use of the international physician network, the ISCP, to provide independent collection of patient outcomes.

"IRB submission and review is a critical element of our clinical studies programs," says David Audley, CEO of the ISCI. "Many clinics do not take this extra step, but we genuinely believe that patient safety only comes through transparency and oversight. The most effective way we will be able to advance this field, and to deliver on the promise of regenerative medicine, is collect patient data, report it, and publish it," Mr. Audley continued, "We are excited about this important step and look forward to working with the IRB."

About The Integrative Stem Cell Institute (ISCI)The Integrative Stem Cell Institute (ISCI) is a premier provider of point-of-care, stem cell-based therapies for patients from around the world. With a state of the art laboratory housed within the Hospital Galenia in Cancun, Mexico, the ISCI combines the most advanced scientific application of stem cells with second to none medical care within the structure of adaptive clinical trials to effectively track long term outcomes and assure patient safety. More information on the Integrative Stem Cell Institute is available at http://www.iscelli.com

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the Safe Harbor created by those sections. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties to which forward-looking statements are subject include, but are not limited to, the effect of government regulation, competition, adequate financing, and other material risks. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the statements made herein.

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YaFarm Technologies Announces ISCI IRB Submission

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