Stem Cell Clinic

SCIENCE: Texas Gov. Rick Perry, stem cell advocates, find common ground at San Diego meeting

By Stem Cell Medicine

Texas Gov. and former GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry met with stem cell scientists and patients in San Diego on Monday. Their goal: to work out a strategy they can agree on to bring the benefits of stem cell research to those in need.

Human embryonic stem cell research is controversial ---- Perry is against it. But all those at the meeting support nonembryonic stem cell research. Perry himself received a transplant of his own stem cells last year after undergoing spinal fusion surgery.

"This meeting exemplified the good things that can happen when we start building bridges between a diversity of people," wrote stem cell researcher Paul Knoepfler ofUC Davis School of Medicine, who took part in the meeting and blogged about it.

The meeting was hosted by Jerry Henberger of the Parkinsons Association of San Diego, at The Scripps Research Institute, Knoepfler wrote.

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SCIENCE: Texas Gov. Rick Perry, stem cell advocates, find common ground at San Diego meeting

Cellerant Appoints Gisela Schwab, M.D., to Its Board of Directors and Names Lowell Sears as Chairman of the Board

By Stem Cell Medical Center

SAN CARLOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Cellerant Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company developing novel hematopoietic stem cell-based cellular and antibody therapies for blood disorders and cancer, announced today the appointment of Gisela Schwab, M.D. to its Board of Directors and the appointment of Lowell Sears as Chairman of the Board. Richard Rathmann, Cellerants former Chairman of the Board, will remain a director on the Board.

Dr. Schwab joins Cellerants Board with more than 20 years of experience in the development of oncology therapeutics. She currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Exelixis. Previously, she held the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Abgenix, Inc., a human antibody-based drug development company. Prior to Abgenix, Dr. Schwab held positions of increasing responsibility at Amgen Inc., most recently as Director of Clinical Research and Hematology/Oncology Therapeutic Area Team Leader. Dr. Schwab also serves as a member of the board of directors of Topotarget A/S, a publicly-held biopharmaceutical company. She received her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Heidelberg, trained at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and the National Cancer Institute and is board certified in internal medicine and hematology and oncology.

Dr. Schwab is an accomplished leader in the development of oncology therapeutics. I am pleased to welcome her to our board, said Ram Mandalam, President and CEO of Cellerant. Her extensive experience in hematology-oncology indications will significantly benefit Cellerant in the development of CLT-008 and our cancer stem cell programs.

I am very excited to join the Cellerant Board and about the opportunity to work with such an accomplished group of people on the board and in management on the development of a novel, cell-based approach to the treatment for chemotherapy- and radiation-induced neutropenia and on novel therapeutic antibodies aimed at cancer stem cells, said Dr. Schwab.

Mr. Sears joined Cellerants Board in February, 2012. He is currently Chairman and CEO of Sears Capital Management, a venture investment and portfolio management firm specializing in life sciences. He has been an active life science venture investor since 1994, helping to found and fund over forty companies. From 1986 until 1994, Mr. Sears was a part of the senior management team of Amgen, Inc., where he held positions of Chief Financial Officer as well as Senior Vice President responsible for the Asia Pacific Region.

Lowell's vast operational and governance experience has already proven a great benefit to Cellerant since his joining the board earlier this year, said Richard Rathmann, Cellerants former Chairman. I could not be more pleased this recognized leader in biotechnology has agreed to increase his stewardship role in the exciting opportunities ahead for this promising company.

I want to thank Richard for his outstanding leadership and vision in governance of the Company during his five year tenure as Chairman, said Mr. Sears. I look forward to working with the board and management of Cellerant as the Company drives forward its leading edge product portfolio for the benefit of cancer patients worldwide.

About Cellerant Therapeutics

Cellerant Therapeutics is a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the regulation of the hematopoietic (blood-forming) system. The Company is developing human stem cell and antibody therapies for oncology applications and blood-related disorders. Cellerants lead product, CLT-008, is currently in two Phase 1 clinical trials in patients with hematological malignancies. The Company also has a cancer stem cell (CSC) antibody discovery program focused on therapies for acute myelogenous leukemia, multiple myeloma and myelodysplastic syndrome.

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Cellerant Appoints Gisela Schwab, M.D., to Its Board of Directors and Names Lowell Sears as Chairman of the Board

Six New UM Stem Cell Lines Now Publicly Available

By Stem Cell Medical Center

ANN ARBOR Six new human embryonic stem cell lines derived at the University of Michigan have just been placed on the National Institutes of Healths registry, making the cells available for federally funded research.

UM now has a total of eight cell lines on the registry, including five that carry genetic mutations for serious diseases such as the severe bleeding disorder hemophilia B, the fatal brain disorder Huntingtons disease and the heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which causes sudden death in athletes and others.

Researchers at UM and around the country can now begin using the stem cell lines to study the origins of these diseases and potential treatments. Two of the cell lines are believed to be the first in the world bearing that particular disease gene.

The three UM stem cell lines now in the registry that do not carry disease genes are also useful for general studies and as comparisons for stem cells with disease genes. In all, there are 163 stem cell lines in the federal registry, most of them without major disease genes.

Each of the lines was derived from a cluster of about 30 cells removed from a donated five-day-old embryo roughly the size of the period at the end of this sentence. The embryos carrying disease genes were created for reproductive purposes, tested and found to be affected with a genetic disorder, deemed not suitable for implantation and would have otherwise been discarded if not donated by the couples who donated them.

Some came from couples having fertility treatment at UMs Center for Reproductive Medicine, others from as far away as Portland, Ore. Some were never frozen, which may mean that the stem cells will have unique characteristics and utilities.

The full list of UM-derived stem cell lines accepted to the NIH registry includes:

UM9-1PGD Hemophilia B

UM17-1PGD Huntingtons disease

UM38-2PGD- HypertrophicCardiomyopathy (MYBPC3)

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Six New UM Stem Cell Lines Now Publicly Available

Six new U-M stem cell lines now publicly available to help researchers find treatments for disease

By Stem Cell Treatment

Lines in US registry will help studies on Huntington's disease, hemophilia & more

ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 14, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --Six new human embryonic stem cell lines derived at the University of Michigan have just been placed on the U.S. National Institutes of Health's registry, making the cells available for federally-funded research.

U-M now has a total of eight cell lines on the registry, including five that carry genetic mutations for serious diseases such as the severe bleeding disorder hemophilia B, the fatal brain disorder Huntington's disease and the heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which causes sudden death in athletes and others.

Researchers at U-M and around the country can now begin using the stem cell lines to study the origins of these diseases and potential treatments. Two of the cell lines are believed to be the first in the world bearing that particular disease gene.

The three U-M stem cell lines now in the registry that do not carry disease genes are also useful for general studies and as comparisons for stem cells with disease genes. In all, there are 163 stem cell lines in the federal registry, most of them without major disease genes.

Each of the lines was derived from a cluster of about 30 cells removed from a donated five-day-old embryo roughly the size of the period at the end of this sentence. The embryos carrying disease genes were created for reproductive purposes, tested and found to be affected with a genetic disorder, deemed not suitable for implantation and would have otherwise been discarded if not donated by the couples who donated them.

Some came from couples having fertility treatment at U-M's Center for Reproductive Medicine, others from as far away as Portland, OR. Some were never frozen, which may mean that the stem cells will have unique characteristics and utilities.

The full list of U-M-derived stem cell lines accepted to the NIH registry includes:

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Six new U-M stem cell lines now publicly available to help researchers find treatments for disease

Gazette.Net: Osiris scores approval down under for stem cell drug

By Stem Cell Treatment

Osiris Therapeutics has won a second nations imprimatur for its stem cell treatment for a deadly complication of bone marrow transplants in children.

Following Canada's lead last month, New Zealand this week gave the Columbia company marketing approval for Prochymal to treat pediatric graft-vs.-host disease, Osiris reported. Canada was the first internationally recognized regulatory body to approve a stem cell drug.

The disease kills up to 80 percent of children who contract it, many within weeks of diagnosis.

"With each of our approvals it becomes clearer that the time for life-saving stem cell therapies in the practice of medicine has arrived, and we are humbled to have a leading role, CEO C. Randal Mills said in a company statement.

More cases of the disease are expected "as the demographic profile of our transplant population evolves," Hans Klingemann, professor of medicine and director of the Bone Marrow & Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Program at Tufts University School of Medicine, said in the statement. "Effective strategies to manage the often lethal consequences of [graft-vs.-host disease] reduce the overall risk to transplantation ..."

Osiris applied for marketing approval in New Zealand in May 2011 and was given priority review the following month.

Besides Canada and New Zealand, Prochymal is available in the U.S. and several other nations under special patient circumstances.

The company also is testing the drug as a treatment for Crohns disease, heart attacks and type 1 diabetes.

In other Maryland bioscience industry news:

Sanaria, working with University of Maryland researchers, has won a three-year federal grant worth almost $3 million to genetically engineer mosquitoes for the Rockville biotech's malaria vaccine manufacturing program.

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Gazette.Net: Osiris scores approval down under for stem cell drug

Stroke patients 'healed' by controversial stem cell injections that have improved movement and allowed one to speak

By Stem Cell Treatment

By Fiona Macrae

PUBLISHED: 19:48 EST, 14 June 2012 | UPDATED: 19:48 EST, 14 June 2012

The pioneering treatment could revolutionise stroke rehabilitation (picture posed by model)

The first stroke patients to have a pioneering and controversial stem cell treatment have shown tantalising signs of improvement.

The five men have seen improvements in their ability to move, and in one case, speak, after millions of stem cells from an aborted 12-week-old baby were injected into their brains up to 18 months ago.

However, the treatment has provoked criticism from campaigners who say that the use of aborted tissue cannot be justified, whatever the benefits to the patient.

The trial, spearheaded by Surrey-based biotech firm ReNeuron and carried out at Glasgows Southern General Hospital, was the first in the world to give brain cells to stroke patients.

The treatment capitalises on the power of stem cells, dubbed master cells, which have the ability to multiply repeatedly and transform into other cell types, acting as a repair kit for the body.

Experts cautioned that the work is at a very early stage, but added that even the smallest of improvements can make a huge difference to someone who has been robbed of the ability to dress or feed themselves.

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Stroke patients 'healed' by controversial stem cell injections that have improved movement and allowed one to speak

Six new stem cell lines now publicly available

By Stem Cell Treatment

ScienceDaily (June 14, 2012) Six new human embryonic stem cell lines derived at the University of Michigan have just been placed on the U.S. National Institutes of Health's registry, making the cells available for federally-funded research.

U-M now has a total of eight cell lines on the registry, including five that carry genetic mutations for serious diseases such as the severe bleeding disorder hemophilia B, the fatal brain disorder Huntington's disease and the heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which causes sudden death in athletes and others.

Researchers at U-M and around the country can now begin using the stem cell lines to study the origins of these diseases and potential treatments. Two of the cell lines are believed to be the first in the world bearing that particular disease gene.

The three U-M stem cell lines now in the registry that do not carry disease genes are also useful for general studies and as comparisons for stem cells with disease genes. In all, there are 163 stem cell lines in the federal registry, most of them without major disease genes.

Each of the lines was derived from a cluster of about 30 cells removed from a donated five-day-old embryo roughly the size of the period at the end of this sentence. The embryos carrying disease genes were created for reproductive purposes, tested and found to be affected with a genetic disorder, deemed not suitable for implantation and would have otherwise been discarded if not donated by the couples who donated them.

Some came from couples having fertility treatment at U-M's Center for Reproductive Medicine, others from as far away as Portland, OR. Some were never frozen, which may mean that the stem cells will have unique characteristics and utilities.

The full list of U-M-derived stem cell lines accepted to the NIH registry includes:

"Our last three years of work have really begun to pay off, paving the way for scientists worldwide to make novel discoveries that will benefit human health in the near future," says Gary Smith, Ph.D., who derived the lines and also is co-director of the U-M Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies, part of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute.

"Each cell line accepted to the registry demonstrates our attention to details of proper oversight, consenting, and following of NIH guidelines," says Sue O'Shea, Ph.D., professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at the U-M Medical School, and co-director of the Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies.

U-M is one of only three academic institutions to have disease-specific stem cell lines listed in the national registry, says Smith, who is a professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Michigan Medical School. The first line, a genetically normal one, was accepted to the registry in February.

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Six new stem cell lines now publicly available

Stem cell treatment helps heal stroke victims

By Stem Cell Treatment

"So it's interesting to see that in all the patients so far they have improved slightly over the course of their involvement in the study."

The six patients suffered strokes between six months and five years before they were treated, and all had been left with limb weakness.

The patients were assessed using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale which ranked the first five patients with a median score of eight before the treatment and four points three months afterwards.

The sixth patient was treated less than three months ago. Six further patients will be treated as part of this Phase 1 trial.

Professor Muir said he was "intrigued" by the early results.

He added: "We know that if you're involved in a trial you are going to see patients change in behaviour, particularly if you're doing something invasive, so we need to be very cautious indeed in interpreting these results.

"However, that said, it is not something we'd anticipated seeing in this group of patients."

Further trials are needed to establish whether stem cells actually help the brain repair damaged tissue.

Michael Hunt, chief executive officer of the company developing the treatment, ReNeuron, said: "The clinical trial is primarily a safety study and we must therefore treat any of the observed early indications of functional benefit with considerable caution at this stage.

"That said, we remain encouraged by the results seen in the study to date and we look forward to providing further updates."

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Stem cell treatment helps heal stroke victims

10-year-old girl gets new vein made from her own stem cells in medical first

By Stem Cell Doctors

(CBS News) A 10-year-old girl made medical history when a vein created from her own stem cells was transplanted into her body to treat a life-threatening blockage.

PICTURES: First lab-grown windpipe saves cancer patient

The girl had a condition called hepatic portal vein obstruction in which there is a blockage in the vein that drains blood from the intestines and spleen to the liver. A blockage here can lead to major complications like bleeding, developmental delays, an enlarged spleen and even death. Typical treatments include removing veins from other parts of the body - such as the leg - and transplanting them elsewhere to restore blood flow, but the procedures can be risky and have had mixed success.

For the new procedure, the girl was admitted to the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden, where a team had already taken a 9 centimeter segment of vein from the groin of a deceased donor. The doctors stripped all cells from the vein, leaving just a tube of scaffolding, which was then injected with stem cells obtained from the girl's own bone marrow. After two weeks in a bioreactor, the graft was re-implanted in the 10-year-old girl, and her condition has been improving ever since.

The medical milestone is described in the June 14 issue of the The Lancet.

"The young girl in this report was spared the trauma of having veins harvested from the deep neck or leg with the associated risk of lower limb disorders," and avoided the need for a liver transplant, explained Dr. Martin Birchall, chair of laryngology, and Dr. George Hamilton, professor of vascular surgery, both at the University College London, U.K., in a commentary published in the same issue.

The girl had no complications from the operation and her blood flow was restored immediately.

In the year since the procedure, the girl has grown from about 4 feet 4.5 inches to almost 4 feet 7 inches and her weight increased from 66 pounds to 77 pounds. However over that year her blood flow decreased and the graft narrowed, requiring a second stem cell-based procedure. She has remained well since the second procedure, taking long walks of up to two miles and participating in light gymnastics. Especially noteworthy is her immune system has not attempted to fight off the donor tissue, despite her not taking any immunosuppressive drugs which often carry side effects.

"The new stem-cells derived graft resulted not only in good blood flow rates and normal laboratory test values but also, in strikingly improved quality of life for the patient," wrote the surgeons, led by Dr. Michael Olausson, a profsesory of surgery at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. They added that their work opens up the possibility of trying to reproduce arteries for surgical use, such as for coronary bypass surgery.

This isn't the first procedure to use a patient's stem cells to create new tissue to save a person's life. HealthPop reported in 2011 of an Eritrean man with late-stage throat cancer who received the world's first synthetic windpipe. The organ was grown from the man's stem cells and then applied to a plastic scaffold, eliminating the need for a donor organ.

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10-year-old girl gets new vein made from her own stem cells in medical first

Lab-grown vein transplant marks another milestone in stem cell research

By Stem Cell Doctors

In a first, doctors in Sweden have transplanted into the body of 10-year-old girl a vein grown in the laboratory from her own stem cells.

The core team that performed the procedure was led by Dr Suchitra Holgersson, a transplant medicine scholar originally from Mumbai, and included four other doctors from India. The landmark transplant was published in the British medical journal The Lancet on Thursday.

The child had a blockage in her extrahepatic portal vein, which was obstructing blood supply to her liver. Options available to doctors included a liver transplant or taking a vein graft from the umbilical cord of a donor, which would have led to lifelong dependence on immunosuppressants.

A third alternative was to graft another vein usually from the leg or neck onto the liver vein. This is associated with risks of lower limb disorders, and was not considered a viable option due to the girls young age.

Speaking to The Indian Express by telephone, Dr Holgersson, a professor in the department of transplant and regenerative medicine at Sahlgrenska Science Park in Gothenburg University, said: We took a 9-centimetre graft from a deceased donor and removed all its original cells, leaving a hollow piece of vein. We then extracted stem cells of two kinds from the bone marrow of the little girl endothelial and smooth muscle cells gave it necessary growth factors, and let it incubate for two weeks.

This manufactured vessel was then transplanted into the girl. Blood flow to the liver started immediately after the procedure, and since the stem cells were the patients own, there was no fear of an adverse immune reaction either, and she needs no drugs, Dr Holgersson said.

... contd.

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Lab-grown vein transplant marks another milestone in stem cell research

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