Public release date: 22-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Erin Digitale digitale@stanford.edu 650-724-9175 Stanford University Medical Center STANFORD, Calif. Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital have identified several gene mutations responsible for the most common childhood brain tumor, called medulloblastoma, adding evidence to the theory that the diagnosis is a group of genetically distinct cancers with different prognoses. These and accompanying findings are likely to lead to less-toxic, better-targeted treatment approaches over the next two years, the researchers said. "We tend to treat all medulloblastomas as one disease without taking into account how heterogeneous the tumors are at the molecular level," said Yoon-Jae Cho, MD, an assistant professor of neurology and neurological sciences at Stanford, a pediatric neurologist at Packard Children's and the senior author of the new research. "This paper represents a finer-grained view of the genetic landscape of these tumors and provides us with some leads on how to develop new therapies." The research, which will appear online in Nature July 22, is part of a large, ongoing effort to characterize genetic errors in medulloblastoma. Two companion studies on which Cho is a co-author will be published simultaneously with … Continue reading →

Connie K. Ho for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online 20,000,000. This is the number of peripheral artery disease patients Pluristem Therapeutics, a placenta-based cell therapy company, is working to assist. The company recently released information regarding the effectiveness of cell therapy with intramuscular delivery. To begin, Pluristem uses stem cells from the human placenta and has created a manufacturing process that produces enough cells to treat 10,000 patients from one placenta. You usually have to match cells to donors so they do not react. Placental cells are unique because they come from a unique section that combines the mother and the baby. They can be injected without no question age or sex, remarked Zami Aberman, Chairman and CEO of Pluristem. PLacental eXpanded, otherwise known as PLX, cells release a mix of therapeutic proteins to target local and systemic inflammatory diseases. The cells are developed with 3D micro-environmental technology that doesnt require tissue matching before administration. Unlike other cell therapies that are conducted with intravenous injections, the Pluristem treatment includes intramuscular injections that are injected with a needle into the muscle. The cells are grown in 3D and not in human. With [this] technology we give them more natural place, grown in … Continue reading →

A review of life science current events reported by MedCity News this week. Stem cell treatment for ischemia, heart failure raises enough for clinical trials. The regenerative medicine company Juventas Therapeutics, which had already said it added Takeda Pharmaceuticals to its roster of investors, said this weekend it has raised enough money to take its treatments for heart failure and a severe form of peripheral artery disease through its latest round of clinical trials. CEO: $270M acquisition of US Endoscopy is STERIS most significant dealin many years. While STERIS has not historically had a presence in the procedural area of gastrointestinal endoscopy focusing instead on reprocessing products like soaks and scrubs Rosebrough said the integration of US Endoscopys portfolio of bleed management, retrieval and other GI-related devices is directly aligned with the companys strategy to target growing markets around its core products. Ohio business leader Baiju Shah to depart BioEnterprise for biotech investment fund. Shah, the founder and longtime CEO of BioEnterprise, will join BioMotiv, the for-profit side of the $250 million Harrington Project for Discovery & Development housed at University Hospitals Case Medical Center, as CEO. Pain device maker Neuros Medicals $3.5M round led by Boston Scientific, Glengary. The … Continue reading →