Monthly Archives: May 2012

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire -05/14/12)- VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc. (OTC.BB: VSTA) (VSTA.OB), a biotechnology company applying stem cell technology for drug rescue, today issued the following letter to its stockholders and the investment community from its CEO, Shawn Singh. To our valued Stockholders: Since becoming a public company one year ago, we have progressed to perhaps the most exciting time in our company's 14-year history. To arrive at this point, more than $45 million, obtained through various strategic collaborations, investments and grant awards, has been carefully employed. We believe our pluripotent stem cell technology platform, Human Clinical Trials in a Test Tube, combined with the network of strategic relationships we have announced, will allow us to secure additional capital and the large market drug rescue opportunities that can deliver value to our stockholders. Since the beginning of the year, our team has carefully reviewed our Top 10 drug rescue opportunities and narrowed our focus to our Top 5 candidates. Now we intend to launch our initial drug rescue program and secure strategic capital necessary to support it, as well as launch our second drug rescue program by year-end. We also are working on validation of LiverSafe 3D, our bioassay system for … Continue reading →

DENVER, May 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Regenerative Sciences, Inc., a company dedicated to advancing orthopedic care through non-surgical adult stem cell procedures, today announced that it has secured a $2M investment from philanthropist, visionary and businessman John C. Malone, PhD, chairman of Liberty Media Corporation. In addition to advancing Regenerative Sciences' clinical and lab-based stem cell research, the investment will help support the national expansion of their Regenexx Physician Network. Regenerative Sciences' Regenexx procedures utilize a patient's own stem cells to help repair a broad range of common injuries and degenerative conditions, including cartilage lesions, torn ligaments and tendons, osteoarthritis and bulging spinal discs. For many, the procedures offer a viable alternative to arthroscopic surgery, open-joint surgery, or joint replacement surgery. Regenexx patients experience little or no downtime from the procedures and avoid the lengthy rehabilitation period associated with most surgical procedures. "We are proud of our accomplishments in the field of regenerative interventional orthopedics and it's exciting that our work has drawn the attention of such a noted entrepreneur and philanthropist," said Christopher J. Centeno, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Regenerative Sciences. "Dr. Malone shares our vision for forging the next generation of minimally invasive regenerative treatments. This investment … Continue reading →

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/lffnp7/stem_cell_research) has announced the addition of the "Stem Cell Research Products: Opportunities, Tools & Technologies 2012 (Updated)" report to their offering. Stem cells are primitive cells found in all multi-cellular organisms that are characterized by self-renewal and the capacity to differentiate into any mature cell type. Several broad categories of stem cells exist, including embryonic stem cells, derived from blastocysts; fetal stem cells, obtained from aborted fetuses; adult stem cells, found in adult tissues; cord blood stem cells, isolated from umbilical tissue; dental stem cells, derived from deciduous teeth; cancer stem cells, which give rise to clonal populations of cells that form tumors or disperse in the body; and animal stem cells, derived from non-human sources. In a developing embryo, stem cells can differentiate into all of the specialized embryonic tissues. In adult organisms, stem and progenitor cells act as a repair system for the body, replenishing specialized cells. Of interest to researchers is the potential for use of stem cells in regenerative medicine to treat conditions ranging from diabetes, to cardiovascular disease and neurological disorders. Additionally, the ability to use stem cells to improve drug target validation and toxicology screening is of intense interest … Continue reading →

Regulated information May 15, 2012 TiGenix Reports Business & Financial Results for the First Quarter 2012 ChondroCelect Sales up 123% - All Clinical Programs on Track - EUR 16.7 Million Cash Leuven (BELGIUM) - May 15, 2012 - TiGenix NV (TIG.BR), a leader in the field of cell therapy, today gave a business update and announced the financial results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2012. Business highlights Financial highlights "In the first quarter 2012 we continued to aggressively push our commercial efforts forward," said Eduardo Bravo, CEO of TiGenix. "As a result sales of ChondroCelect are developing in line with the improved traction we observed in the second part of last year. At the same time we are moving ahead of schedule with most of our clinical adipose stem cell programs. We closed the quarter with almost EUR 17 million cash on hand, which is sufficient to execute on our business plan and reach key inflection points." Business update ChondroCelect sales increase continues apace The Company reports net sales growth for the quarter of 123% compared with the same period of last year, and of 62% compared to Q4, 2011, a positive trend reflecting the uptake in Belgium, … Continue reading →

LEUVEN, BELGIUM--(Marketwire -05/15/12)- TiGenix NV (TIG) a leader in the field of cell therapy, today gave a business update and announced the financial results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2012. Business highlights Financial highlights "In the first quarter 2012 we continued to aggressively push our commercial efforts forward," said Eduardo Bravo, CEO of TiGenix. "As a result sales of ChondroCelect are developing in line with the improved traction we observed in the second part of last year. At the same time we are moving ahead of schedule with most of our clinical adipose stem cell programs. We closed the quarter with almost EUR 17 million cash on hand, which is sufficient to execute on our business plan and reach key inflection points." Business update ChondroCelect sales increase continues apaceThe Company reports net sales growth for the quarter of 123% compared with the same period of last year, and of 62% compared to Q4, 2011, a positive trend reflecting the uptake in Belgium, where we benefit from national reimbursement. In the Netherlands one of the leading private healthcare insurance companies has made treatment with ChondroCelect compulsory for its insured, and no longer reimburses non-ATMP treatments. Similarly, one of the … Continue reading →

ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- BioTime, Inc. (NYSE MKT: BTX) announced today the publication of a scientific paper demonstrating the effectiveness of HyStem-C in the transplantation of heart muscle-derived cells in an animal model of heart disease. The paper, Functional performance of human cardiosphere-derived cells delivered in an in situ polymerizable hyaluronan-gelatin hydrogel, is published online (ahead of print) in the peer-reviewed journal Biomaterials. The report demonstrates that the survival of human heart-derived cells is markedly improved when the cells are formulated in HyStem-C, a product being developed by BioTime under the trade name ReneviaTM as a cell delivery device. In todays publication, human heart-derived cells were transplanted into the hearts of mice around the time of injury in an animal heart attack model. When transplanted without matrix, the heart cells fared poorly, as is commonly observed in the absence of such support. However, when the cells were transplanted with HyStem-C there was a significant increase in the number of surviving transplanted cells. Another significant finding reported in the study is that transplantation of the cells with HyStem-C into the injured heart muscle resulted in an increase in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), a measure of the ability of the cells to … Continue reading →