Page 6,807«..1020..6,8066,8076,8086,809..6,8206,830..»

Medical success or boondoggle?

Posted: Published on May 20th, 2012

Indian clinic's stem cell therapy real? STORY HIGHLIGHTS For more of CNN correspondent Drew Griffin's investigation of India's experimental embryonic stem cell therapy, watch "CNN Presents: Selling a Miracle," at 8 and 11 p.m. ET Sunday on CNN. New Delhi (CNN) -- Cash Burnaman, a 6-year-old South Carolina boy, has traveled with his parents to India seeking treatment for a rare genetic condition that has left him developmentally disabled. You might think this was a hopeful mission until you learn that an overwhelming number of medical experts insist the treatment will have zero effect. Cash is mute. He walks with the aid of braces. To battle his incurable condition, which is so rare it doesn't have a name, Cash has had to take an artificial growth hormone for most of his life. His divorced parents, Josh Burnaman and Stephanie Krolick, are so driven by their hope and desperation to help Cash they've journeyed to the other side of the globe and paid tens of thousands of dollars to have Cash undergo experimental injections of human embryonic stem cells. The family is among a growing number of Americans seeking the treatment in India -- some at a clinic in the heart … Continue reading

Posted in Stem Cell Human Trials | Comments Off on Medical success or boondoggle?

World's First Stem Cell Drug From Osiris : Approved!

Posted: Published on May 20th, 2012

Editor's Choice Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health Also Included In: Stem Cell Research Article Date: 20 May 2012 - 11:00 PDT Current ratings for: 'World's First Stem Cell Drug From Osiris : Approved!' 5 (1 votes) The decision is a historic one, as it's both the first stem cell drug going into formal use, as well as the first treatment for GvHD. The disease is a devastating breakdown occurring after a bone marrow transplant and kills around 80% of children affected, often within a matter of weeks. Andrew Daly, M.D., Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Medicine and Oncology at the University of Calgary, Canada and Principal Investigator in the phase 3 clinical program for Prochymal confirmed : The approval process for Prochymal was implemented under Health Canada's Notice of Compliance with conditions (NOC/c) pathway. The basis of the procedure allows a new drug to come onto the market where there are unmet medical needs. The approval is granted with the provision that the drug has demonstrated risk / reward benefits in previous clinical trials and that the manufacturer agrees to undertake additional confirmatory clinical testing. C. Randal Mills, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Osiris confirmed his' companies … Continue reading

Comments Off on World's First Stem Cell Drug From Osiris : Approved!

Industry Consultant Gregory Bonfiglio Joins California Stem Cell Board of Directors

Posted: Published on May 19th, 2012

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- California Stem Cell, Inc. (CSC) announced today that well-known stem cell & regenerative medicine industry veteran Gregory A. Bonfiglio, J.D. has joined its Board of Directors. Gregory Bonfiglio has over 25 years of experience working with technology companies, and was an early investor in the stem cell industry. He is Managing Partner of Proteus Venture Partners, an investment & advisory firm he founded in early 2006 to provide venture funding and strategic advisory services in the stem cell & regenerative medicine space. Mr. Bonfiglio is on the Boards of VistaGen Therapeutics and StemCyte, Inc.; he is the Chairman of the Board of the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (RM Translation Center in Toronto, Canada). In addition, Mr. Bonfiglio sits on the Advisory Board and Finance Committee of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR); he is on the Commercialization Committee of the International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT). Mr. Bonfiglio brings to CSC an extensive background in strategic consulting, having held partnership positions with various legal and venture firms, and having successfully led a team that took pioneering stem cell company Advanced Cell Technology public in early 2005. Were thrilled to welcome to our board … Continue reading

Posted in Mesenchymal Stem Cells | Comments Off on Industry Consultant Gregory Bonfiglio Joins California Stem Cell Board of Directors

Advanced Cell Technology to Present at World Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine Congress in London

Posted: Published on May 19th, 2012

MARLBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (ACT; OTCBB: ACTC), a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, announced today that chairman and CEO Gary Rabin will be presenting at the World Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 21-23, in London. Mr. Rabins presentation, titled Successes and ongoing advancements of human clinical trials for the treatment of AMD & Stargardts Disease, will be given on Monday, May 21 at 5:05 p.m. BST (London time). Mr. Rabin will provide an update on ACTs three ongoing human clinical trials in the U.S. and E.U. for Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration (Dry AMD) and Stargardts Macular Dystrophy (SMD). ACT recently announced Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) approval to move forward with enrollment and treatment of additional patients with SMD in its U.S. SMD trial, and to treat the final two patients to round out the initial dosing arm in its European trial. All three of the companys ongoing clinical trials use human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. About SMD, Dry AMD and Degenerative Diseases of the Retina Stargardts Macular Dystrophy (SMD) is one of the most common forms of macular degeneration in the world. SMD causes progressive vision … Continue reading

Posted in Mesenchymal Stem Cells | Comments Off on Advanced Cell Technology to Present at World Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine Congress in London

Canada approves stem cell therapy

Posted: Published on May 19th, 2012

Osiris Therapeutics Inc says Canadian health regulators have approved its treatment for acute graft-versus host disease in children, making it the first stem cell drug to be approved for a systemic disease anywhere in the world. Osiris shares rose 14 percent to $6.00 in extended trading after the news was announced. Graft versus host disease (GvHD) is a potentially deadly complication from a bone marrow transplant, when newly implanted cells attack the patient's body. Symptoms range from abdominal pain and skin rash to hair loss, hepatitis, lung and digestive tract disorders, jaundice and vomiting. The disease kills up to 80 percent of children affected, Osiris said. To date there have been no approved treatments for the disease. Canadian authorities approved the therapy, Prochymal, for use in children who have failed to respond to steroids. Prochymal was approved with the condition that Osiris carry out further testing after it reaches the market. C. Randal Mills, the company's chief executive, said in an interview that could take three to four years. Some investment analysts have been skeptical about Prochymal's future. In 2009, two late-stage clinical trials failed to show the drug was more effective overall than a placebo in treating the disease, … Continue reading

Posted in Mesenchymal Stem Cells | Comments Off on Canada approves stem cell therapy

Osiris Wins Canadian Approval for First Stem-Cell Therapy

Posted: Published on May 19th, 2012

By Meg Tirrell - 2012-05-18T20:13:19Z Osiris Therapeutics Inc. (OSIR) rose after the company said it won the worlds first approval for a stem- cell drug, gaining clearance in Canada to sell Prochymal for a disease that can attack patients who received bone-marrow transplants. Osiris climbed 5.5 percent to $5.55 at 4 p.m. New York time. The shares have lost 24 percent in the last 12 months. Prochymal was approved for the treatment of acute graft versus host disease in children for whom steroids havent worked, the Columbia, Maryland-based company said yesterday in a statement. Steroids have a 30 percent to 50 percent success rate, and severe GvHD can be fatal in 80 percent of cases, according to the company. The therapy uses mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone marrow that can take on different forms to combat the immune reaction that causes patients to literally peel out of their skin and shed their intestinal lining, Osiris Chief Executive Officer Randal Mills said in a telephone interview. The disease has no equal. The company hasnt sought approval for this indication in the U.S., where regulators asked for more data before considering whether to allow sales of the drug, Mills said. Prochymal … Continue reading

Posted in Mesenchymal Stem Cells | Comments Off on Osiris Wins Canadian Approval for First Stem-Cell Therapy

Stem Cells for Spinal Cord Injury: Some Patients Have Long-Term Improvement

Posted: Published on May 19th, 2012

Thirty Percent of Patients Show Improved Functioning after Stem Cell Therapy Philadelphia, Pa. (May 17, 2012) One of the first long-term studies of stem cell treatment for spinal cord injury shows significant functional and other improvements in three out of ten patients, reports a study in the May issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. The results support the safety of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from the patient's own bone marrow, showing "continuous and gradual motor improvement" in at least some patients with disability caused by spinal cord injury. The lead author of the new study was Dr. Sang Ryong Jeon of University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea. Evidence of Improved Function after MSC Treatment for Spinal Cord Injury The researchers performed MSC transplantation in ten patients with permanent motor (movement) deficits or paralysis (paraplegia or quadriplegia) after spinal cord injury. Mesenchymal stem cells are a type of "multipotent" cell that can be cultured from adult bone marrow and induced to develop into many different types of cells. The cultured MSCs were injected directly into the injured … Continue reading

Posted in Mesenchymal Stem Cells | Comments Off on Stem Cells for Spinal Cord Injury: Some Patients Have Long-Term Improvement

Merritt eyes domination after ban

Posted: Published on May 18th, 2012

By Matt Slater BBC sports news reporter Olympic 400m champion LaShawn Merritt is determined to put the controversy of his doping ban behind him and show the world his "dominance" at London 2012. The American failed a drugs test in 2009, making him the first big name to fall foul of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) "next Games" ban. But Merritt overturned the ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas). "I didn't do anything wrong, I didn't intentionally do anything to cheat," said Merritt. "I had something in my system, out of competition, that had nothing to do with track and field. I knew I was a great athlete and that when I was able to run again that wouldn't change." Merritt, who dominated 400m running between 2008 and 2009, tested positive for a banned substance contained in an over-the-counter penis enlargement product. As embarrassing as this was, it was nothing compared to the threat posed to his career. Determined to protect the Olympic brand from growing cynicism about the prevalence of doping, the IOC imposed a tougher penalty for drugs cheats in 2008. Rule 45 meant any athlete given a ban of six months or longer would … Continue reading

Posted in Penis Enlargement | Comments Off on Merritt eyes domination after ban

To remove prostate find experienced surgeon

Posted: Published on May 18th, 2012

LOS ANGELES, May 17 (UPI) -- A surgical technique can lessen the likelihood of erectile dysfunction and incontinence in men with prostate cancer who had surgery, U.S. researchers say. Lead author Dr. Jim Hu, director of minimally invasive surgery in the department of urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues recommend that men undergoing robotic-assisted surgery for prostate removal should look for a doctor who has performed at least 1,000 surgeries. "It would be helpful for men who seek a surgical cure for their prostate cancer to appreciate the nuances required by a surgeon to successfully protect erectile function," Hu said in a statement. "Like improving a golf swing, a technique for nerve-sparing surgery has many subtleties that are influenced by training, talent, a desire to improve, and meticulous review of technique and outcomes." The research team looked at nerve-sparing techniques and maneuvers used in the operating room in 400 surgeries performed by Hu over a two-year period at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Hu tracked his patients' erectile-potency recovery outcomes up to one year after surgery. The study, scheduled to be published in the journal European Urology, found … Continue reading

Posted in Erectile Dysfunction | Comments Off on To remove prostate find experienced surgeon

Millions in Stimulus Funds Used for Erectile Dysfunction Study

Posted: Published on May 18th, 2012

May 16, 2012 Updated May 16, 2012 at 9:17 AM PDT This may not have been the type of "stimulus" feds intended. Two grants totaling nearly $1.5 million were distributed to the University of California San Francisco, NBCBayArea.com has discovered. The money was part of the federal stimulus program and went to studies into the erectile dysfunction of overweight middle aged men and the accurate reporting of someone's sexual history. And investigation by the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit into who got federal stimulus dollars, and why some projects did not break ground more than two years after receiving the grant uncovered the grant. The Investigative Unit looked closely at the federal government's decision to spend nearly $1.5 million of taxpayer money, money that came here to California. Grant number 1R01HD056950-01A2 was among the thousands of grants funded, receiving $1.2 million. This grant studied how to improve the accuracy of how people responded to questions about their sexual history. "I don't think most tax payers would think that would be a justified spending of stimulus money to conduct a sex study over fixing bridges and roads that are crumbling every day," said Scott Amey, the general council for POGO, the … Continue reading

Posted in Erectile Dysfunction | Comments Off on Millions in Stimulus Funds Used for Erectile Dysfunction Study

Page 6,807«..1020..6,8066,8076,8086,809..6,8206,830..»