Category Archives: Cell Therapy

Chiesi made history two years ago when it claimed the first approval in Europe for a stem cell therapy, and can now celebrate decision by NICE to recommend its product for routine use in England and Wales. The therapy - called Holoclar - was approved in 2015 for adults with moderate to severe limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) caused by physical or chemical burns to the eyes. LSCD is a rare condition that can lead to blindness, and affects just 3.3 out of 100,000 people in the EU. Corneal cell renewal and repair are dependent upon the cells present in the limbus, which is found in a small area of the eye between the cornea and the conjunctiva. Burns to the eye can destroy the limbus, causing a deficiency of limbal cells. If this happens, the cornea is covered by a different epithelium following an invasion of cells from the conjunctiva. This process renders the cornea opaque and results in subsequent loss of vision, and conventional corneal transplant is ineffective in these cases. Holoclar takes the form of a sheet of corneal epithelial cells, containing the patient's own stem cells, that can be used to regenerate and repair damaged eye … Continue reading →

W hen doctors talk about a new leukemia drug from Novartis, they ooze enthusiasm, using words like breakthrough, revolutionary, anda watershed moment. But when they think about how much the therapy is likely to cost, their tone turns alarmist. Its going to cost a fortune, said Dr. Ivan Borrello at Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center in Baltimore. advertisement From what were hearing, this will be a quantum leap more expensive than other cancer drugs, said Leonard Saltz, chief of gastrointestinal oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Switzerland-based Novartis hasnt announced a price for the medicine, but British health authorities have said a price of$649,000for a one-time treatment would be justified given the significant benefits. The cancer therapy was unanimously approved by a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee in July, and its approval seemsall but certain. The treatment, CTL019, belongs to a new class of medications called CAR-T cell therapies, which involve harvesting patients immune cells and genetically altering them to kill cancer. Its been tested in patients whose leukemia has relapsed in spite of the best chemotherapy or a bone-marrow transplant. The prognosis for these patients is normally bleak.But in a clinical trial,83 … Continue reading →

The U.S. Department of Defenses (DOD) Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) is to undertake a pilot study in nonhuman primates (NHP) evaluating Pluristem Therapeutics PLX-R18 as a treatment for acute radiation syndrome (ARS) prior to and within the first 24 hours of radiation exposure. The AFRRI is part of the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (USUHS). Pluristems PLX-R18 is an off-the-shelf placental expanded (PLX) cell therapy product generated from placenta-derived mesenchymal-like adherent stromal cells. The cells are designed to release a combination of therapeutic proteins to help treat bone marrow that has been damaged due to ARS, or as a result of cancer, cancer therapy, or immune-mediated bone marrow failure. Last month, Pluristem reported positive data from an ongoing Phase II-equivalent NHP trial carried out by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which also investigated PLX-R18 cells as a treatment for ARS. The results confirmed that therapy increased survival rates in irradiated NHP animals. The NIAID study is evaluating PLX-R18 administration 24 hours after radiation exposure. The prospective AFRRI study will evaluate therapy given prior to or within the first 24 hours of radiation exposure, which Pluristem points out is a timeframe that will be … Continue reading →

BHUBANESWAR: Apollo Hospital has introduced a new cell therapy treatment for Orthopaedic patients suffering from bone and cartilage injuries and diseases. A first in the State, the new procedure will help treat defects in the cartilage in joints, deferring the need for a replacement. Talking to media persons, Regional CEO of Apollo Hospitals (Odisha and Chhattisgarh) Sudhir M Diggikar said, the innovative regenerative cell treatment is a revolutionary therapy to combat knee and hip pain. We will conduct workshops and continuous medical education (CME) for doctors on this new technology, he said. Apollo has tied-up with regenerative medicine company, RMS Regrow, to offer cell therapy treatment for bone and cartilage problems. This exclusive partnership will allow the hospital to offer advanced cell therapy treatment to patients. The techniques - Ossron for bone and Chondron for cartilage are among the first set of cell therapy-based treatment developed to cater to sports injuries, accidents and alternate to hip replacements and knee replacements in early stages of osteoarthritis. Senior Orthopaedic Surgeon of Apollo Hospitals Dr Smarajit Patnaik said, knee-joint pain is not only a part of wear and tear associated with aging but can also occur in relatively younger age due to various … Continue reading →

Capricor Therapeuticsrecently shared anupdateofthe companys quarterly financial results and operational highlights,including positive results for the ongoing HOPE study with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients. The Phase I/II HOPE study (NCT02485938) is assessing the safety and tolerabilityofinvestigational cardiac cell therapyCAP-1002 in boys and young men with DMD. Results from the trials first six months showed that patients treated with CAP-1002 experienced significant improvements in cardiac and upper limb functions compared with patients under standard care. Researchers are assessing patient outcomes with lab tests, physical exams, and electrocardiograms, and by measuring coronary blood flow and major cardiac events. The study also will measure patient responses on the Performance of Upper Limb (PUL) scale, a tool developed by experts to assess upper limb function in DMD patients; with spirometry; and in a test that measures how far patients can walk in six minutes. In April, we reported positive interim results from our ongoing HOPE-Duchenne clinical trial which have ignited the interest of patients, advocates and thought leaders who constitute the greater Duchenne muscular dystrophy community. These results are particularly notable given the patients advanced disease as approximately 70% of trial participants were wheelchair-dependent at entry, Linda Marbn, PhD, president and CEO of Capricor, … Continue reading →

In the days after a heart attack, surviving patients and their loved ones can breathe a sigh of relief that the immediate danger is over but the scar tissue that forms during the long healing process can inflict lasting damage. Too often it restricts the hearts ability to fill properly between beats, disrupting rhythm and ultimately leading to heart failure. Yet a new possible treatment may help to revitalize an injured ticker. A cadre of scientists and companies is now trying to prevent or reverse cardiac damage by infusing a cocktail of stem cells into weakened hearts. One company, Melbourne, Australiabased Mesoblast, is already in late-stage clinical trials, treating hundreds of chronic heart failure patients with stem cell precursors drawn from healthy donors hip bones. A randomized trial that includes a placebo group is scheduled to complete enrollment next year. Mesoblasts earlier-stage trials, published in 2015 inCirculation Research, found that patients who received injections of its cell mixture had no further problems related to heart failure. Promising results from the new trial would be a major step forward for a field that has long been criticized for studies that are poorly designed, incomplete or lack control-group comparisons, as well as … Continue reading →

By Robert Ashley, M.D. A: "Worn out" is a good way to term what happens to the knee joint with prolonged use. Let's look at how this happens, starting with cartilage. The lower portion of the knee joint (at the tibia) contains shock absorbers called menisci made of cartilage. You have one on the inner portion and another on the outer portion of each knee. The upper portion of the knee joint (at the femur) is lined with cartilage as well. All of this cartilage helps protect the bones at the joint but it doesn't heal or regenerate well due to limited blood supply. When severe, worn cartilage leads to arthritis of the knee. In knee X-rays of people over the age of 60, 37 percent have shown evidence of arthritis of the knees. The intriguing thing about stem cells is that they have the ability to become any type of cell that the body needs. The cells used for stem cell injections in the knees are called mesenchymal stem cells, and they can differentiate into bone, fat or cartilage cells. These stem cells can come from the fat cells of your body, from your bone marrow or from the … Continue reading →

An Odessa physician who specializes in pain management has begun offering stem cell therapy for inflammation from a variety of arthritis. Dr. Mandeep Othee of ProCare Interventional Pain Medicine, said stem cell therapy has been around since as early as 1938. It has recently been used to stem inflammation, wound care and post-surgical use to help in healing. The purpose for me is going to be for inflammation for knee arthritis, shoulder arthritis any sort of arthritic process in the neck, the back; any part of the body, Othee said. Othee said hes always interested in cutting-edge treatments. As associate medical director of In-Patient Rehabilitation at Medical Center Hospital, Othee oversees care for patients with a variety of orthopedic needs, ranging from stroke patients to those recovering from joint replacement surgery, the hospital website said. He also specializes in diagnosing and treating neck and low-back pain. The source of the amniotic stem cells is healthy women who have had C-sections who donate their amniotic fluid to a tissue bank. Othee said it is fully regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the cells are purified and frozen to preserve them. The cells provide cushioning, support and lubrication to … Continue reading →

medwireNews: Treatment with autologous chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells directed against the epidermal growth factor receptor variant III (EGFRvIII) mutation is feasible and well tolerated in patients with recurrent glioblastoma, indicates a first-in-human study. But barriers to the clinical efficacy of the therapy exist, says the research team, including the inhibitory tumor microenvironment, which becomes even more immunosuppressive after CAR T cells. Lead author Marcela Maus (Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA) and colleagues chose the EGFRvIII mutation as it is a tumor-specific, oncogenic, and immunogenic epitope expressed in around 30% of newly diagnosed cases of glioblastoma. In this phase I study, reported in Science Translational Medicine, 10 patients with EGFRvIII-expressing glioblastoma that had progressed after at least one prior line of therapy were given a single infusion of an autologous EGFRvIII-directed CAR T product within a week of progression. There were no dose-limiting toxicities, and no evidence of off-target EGFR-directed effects such as rash, diarrhea, or pulmonary symptoms or systemic cytokine release syndrome. Neurologic events were observed in three patients and included a seizure at day 9 in one patient and neurologic decline in two patients, at day 15 in one case and postoperatively in the other. Although such … Continue reading →

Researchers have created a method to kill cancerous tissue without causing the harmful side effects of chemotherapy. Medical researchers at the University of California, Irvine have created a stem cell-based method to zero in on cancerous tissue. This method kills the cancerous tissue without causing the nasty side effects of chemotherapy. Such side effects are avoided by treating the disease in a more localized manner. The advancement was spearheaded by associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences Weian Zhao. The details of the stem cell therapy were recently published in Science Translational Medicine. About the new Stem Cell Therapy Zhao's team programmed stem cells derived from human bone marrow to pinpoint the specific properties of cancerous tissue. They implemented a portion of code to these engineered cells to identify stiff cancerous tissue, lock onto it and implement therapeutics. The researchers safely used this new stem cell therapy in mice to kill metastatic breast cancer that had moved to the lungs. They transplanted these engineered stem cells in order for the teamto pinpoint and settle in the site of the tumor. Once the stem cells reached the tumor, they released enzymes referred to as cytosine deaminase. The mice were then provided with an … Continue reading →