Category Archives: Stem Cell Human Trials

University of Minnesota researchers are one step closer to potential treatments for muscular dystrophy. According to an online study published Wednesday in the journal Nature Communications, researchers from the Universitys Lillehei Heart Institute have found a potential treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy in mice. The researchers combined cell therapy and genetic correction methods to turn the mices own cells into stem cells that can regenerate muscle. Its game-changing research, in my opinion, in the field of muscular dystrophy, said Jakub Tolar, director of the Universitys Stem Cell Institute. Muscular dystrophy is a genetic disorder that weakens and deteriorates muscles over time. Theres currently no effective treatment for it in humans, said Rita Perlingeiro, the studys principal investigator and a University professor. Perlingeiro said the research provides proof-of-principle for the possibility of treating the disorder and could translate to testing in human cells from dystrophic patients. Duchenne muscular dystrophy occurs mostly in children, who are often confined to wheelchairs as a result. Many children die from the disorder by the time theyre teenagers because the deterioration of the diaphragm prevents them from breathing, Perlingeiro said. The impact [of muscular dystrophy] on the individuals and their families is profound, lifelong and most … Continue reading →

Stemedica Cell Technologies, Inc., a leader in adult allogeneic stem cell manufacturing, research and development, announced today that cardiologist Stephen E. Epstein, MD, Director of Translational Research of the MedStar Heart Institute, Washington Hospital Center, has accepted the position of Chairman of Stemedicas Scientific and Medical Advisory Board for the Companys Cardiology Division. Dr. Epstein served for over 30 years as Chief of the Cardiology Branch of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) in Bethesda, Maryland. San Diego, CA (PRWEB) March 04, 2013 With more than 500 publications in peer-reviewed medical journals, Dr. Epstein is a recognized international authority on angiogenesis and the role of infection in atherosclerosis. He and his colleagues recently developed stem cell strategies for enhancing collateral development (new blood vessel growth) and are currently focused on understanding and treating cardiovascular disease at the molecular level by identifying the molecular mechanisms responsible for development of vulnerable plaques. These efforts have included examining possible genetic polymorphisms and of circulating biomarkers as indicators that a given patient is at risk of plaque rupture. Dr. Epstein has also explored how aging leads to collateral dysfunction and the related molecular mechanisms. One of Dr. Epsteins current primary areas of … Continue reading →

Public release date: 5-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Caroline Marin crmarin@umn.edu 612-624-5680 University of Minnesota Academic Health Center MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (March 5, 2013) Researchers at the University of Minnesota's Lillehei Heart Institute have combined genetic repair with cellular reprogramming to generate stem cells capable of muscle regeneration in a mouse model for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). The research, which provides proof-of-principle for the feasibility of combining induced pluripotent stem cell technology and genetic correction to treat muscular dystrophy, could present a major step forward in autologous cell-based therapies for DMD and similar conditions and should pave the way for testing the approach in reprogrammed human pluripotent cells from muscular dystrophy patients. The research is published in Nature Communications. To achieve a meaningful, effective muscular dystrophy therapy in the mouse model, University of Minnesota researchers combined three groundbreaking technologies. First, researchers reprogrammed skin cells into "pluripotent" cells cells capable of differentiation into any of the mature cell types within an organism. The researchers generated pluripotent cells from the skin of mice that carry mutations in the dystrophin and utrophin genes, causing the mice to develop a severe case of muscular dystrophy, much like the type seen in human … Continue reading →

Neurosurgeon Daniel Lim's injection system can bend sideways, delivering therapeutic stem cells to the brain through fewer holes in the skull. J. Bardi/UCSF As the surgical team prepared its instruments, a severed human head lay on the plastic tray, its face covered by a blue cloth. It had thawed over the past 24 hours, and a pinky-sized burr hole had been cut near the top of its skull. Scalp covered with salt-and-pepper stubble wrinkled above and below a pink strip of smooth bone. Over the next two hours, the head would be scanned in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine as the researchers, led by Daniel Lim, a neurosurgeon and stem-cell scientist at the University of California, San Francisco, tested a flexible needle for delivering cells to the brain. Several laboratories are investigating ways to treat neurological diseases by injecting cells into patients brains, and clinical trials are being conducted for Parkinsons disease, stroke and other neurodegenerative diseases. These studies follow experiments showing dramatic improvements in rats and mice. But as work on potentially therapeutic cells has surged ahead, necessary surgical techniques have lagged behind, says Lim. In 2008 researchers led by Steven Goldman at the University of Rochester in … Continue reading →

The flexible needles could help doctors deliver stem cells to broader areas of the brain with fewer injections. Such therapies are being investigated for Parkinson's diseases, stroke and other neurodegenerative diseases By Monya Baker and Nature magazine Neurosurgeon Daniel Lim's injection system can bend sideways, delivering therapeutic stem cells to the brain through fewer holes in the skull. Image: Flickr/TschiAe As the surgical team prepared its instruments, a severed human head lay on the plastic tray, its face covered by a blue cloth. It had thawed over the past 24 hours, and a pinky-sized burr hole had been cut near the top of its skull. Scalp covered with salt-and-pepper stubble wrinkled above and below a pink strip of smooth bone. Over the next two hours, the head would be scanned in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine as the researchers, led by Daniel Lim, a neurosurgeon and stem-cell scientist at the University of California, San Francisco, tested a flexible needle for delivering cells to the brain. Several laboratories are investigating ways to treat neurological diseases by injecting cells into patients brains, and clinical trials are being conducted for Parkinsons disease, stroke and other neurodegenerative diseases. These studies follow experiments showing … Continue reading →

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Verastem, Inc., (VSTM) a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing drugs to treat cancer by the targeted killing of cancer stem cells, announced that Robert Weinberg, Ph.D., Verastem scientific cofounder and chair of the Scientific Advisory Board, and Christoph Westphal, M.D., Ph.D., Verastem cofounder, Chairman and CEO, will present at the MIT Technology Breakfast on February 28, 2013, at 8am ET. The Technology Breakfast series features breakthrough discoveries from research at MIT and brings together the researchers and entrepreneurs who accelerate and commercialize the technology. Drs. Weinberg and Westphal will speak on how they are changing the landscape of the current treatment paradigm in cancer. Verastem was founded on work in the laboratories of Dr. Weinberg and Dr. Eric Lander, of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, that describes the underlying mechanisms of cancer stem cell development and methods to identify drugs that preferentially target them. Cancer stem cells have been implicated as a cause of tumor resistance to chemotherapy and driver of disease progression. Verastem has advanced the discoveries made by Drs. Weinberg and Lander into clinical development and is currently testing lead compound, VS-6063, in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial for ovarian … Continue reading →

Induced pluripotent stem cells could soon be used in human trials in Japan. Kathrin Plath lab, Univ. Calif. Los Angeles/CIRM In the seven years since their discovery, induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have transformed basic research and won a Nobel prize. Now, a Japanese study is about to test the medical potential of these cells for the first time. Made by reprogramming adult cells into an embryo-like state that can form any cell type in the body, the cells will be transplanted into patients who have a debilitating eye disease. Masayo Takahashi, an ophthalmologist at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan, plans to submit her application for the study to the Japanese health ministry next month, and could be recruiting patients as early as September. Stem-cell researchers around the world hope that if the trial goes forward, it will allay some of the safety concerns over medical use of the cells. And the Japanese government hopes that its efforts to speed iPS cells to the clinic by generously funding such work will be vindicated (see Nature 493, 465; 2013). The entire field is very dependent on this group and the Japanese regulatory agencies to ensure that preclinical … Continue reading →

Stemedica Cell Technologies, Inc., a leader in adult allogeneic stem cell manufacturing, research, development, and clinical applications announced today that it has formed a Cardiology Division to advance the Companys national and international clinical trials in chronic heart failure, acute myocardial infarct (AMI) and other cardiac conditions. San Diego, CA (PRWEB) February 15, 2013 Stemedica has made considerable progress in the translational applications of its ischemia tolerant adult allogeneic stem cells for cardiovascular diseases. The Company recently gained FDA approval for a multi-center Phase II clinical trial for intravenous treatment of AMI with its Stemedyne-MSC product. Regulatory approval has also been granted to the National Medical Research Center in Astana, Kazakhstan for a Phase III trial with Stemedyne-MSC. A Phase II clinical trial for chronic heart failure has begun at Hospital Angeles in Mexico. Additional cardiology trials with Stemedyne-MSC are being planned in several countries around the world, including Switzerland and Indonesia. Dr. Sergey Sikora, the newly appointed Cardiology Division President, brings 12 years of experience in biomedical research, diagnostics and therapeutics in cardiology. Prior to Stemedica, he served as Senior Vice President and Scientific Advisory Board member of the FirstMark Cardiology Diagnostics Division of GenWay Inc. Dr. Sikora also … Continue reading →

NEWARK, Calif., Feb. 12, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- StemCells, Inc. (STEM) today announced that the twelve-month data from the first patient cohort in the Company's Phase I/II clinical trial of its proprietary HuCNS-SC(R) product candidate (purified human neural stem cells) for chronic spinal cord injury continued to demonstrate a favorable safety profile, and showed that the considerable gains in sensory function observed in two of the three patients at the six-month assessment have persisted. The third patient remains stable. A summary of the data was presented today by Martin McGlynn, President and CEO, at the 15th Annual BIO CEO & Investor Conference. By completing the twelve-month assessment, the first patient cohort has now completed the trial, and has entered into a separate follow-up study for long-term observation. "The multi-segment gains observed in sensory function in two patients at six months have endured at the 12-month assessment. In addition, between the six- and 12-month evaluations, one patient converted from a complete to an incomplete injury," said Armin Curt, M.D., Professor and Chairman of the Spinal Cord Injury Center at Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich and principal investigator of the clinical trial. "Importantly, the persistence of these sensory gains at the … Continue reading →

GAITHERSBURG, MD--(Marketwire - Feb 11, 2013) - Cytomedix, Inc. ( OTCQX : CMXI ) (the "Company"), a regenerative therapies company commercializing and developing innovative platelet and adult stem cell technologies, announced today that its Angel cPRP System has been listed by the TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) in Australia. Angel will be marketed and distributed by Medtel, a leading supplier of medical equipment and devices in Australia. Australia is the latest international territory where the Angel System is now included and available for sale. The Angel is also on the market in various countries throughout Europe and the Middle East. Cytomedix has established a broad network of experienced distributors to promote and sell the product in international markets. Further territory launches are expected in 2013. "We are pleased to launch Angel in Australia where there is significant growth potential for PRP," said Martin Rosendale, Chief Executive Officer of Cytomedix. "Sales in international markets are a meaningful contributor to overall Angel revenues, and are growing at an encouraging rate. We are fortunate to be working with Medtel as they have an excellent track record in launching and promoting innovative healthcare technology products." Jeannie Devereaux, Business Development Manager, Regenerative Medicine Sports, Orthopedic & … Continue reading →