Category Archives: Mesenchymal Stem Cells

BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AlloCure, Inc. today announced that it has initiated a phase 2 clinical trial of AC607, the companys mesenchymal stem cell therapy, as a potential treatment for acute kidney injury (AKI). The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center trial, designated ACT-AKI (AC607 Trial in Acute Kidney Injury) (NCT01602328), will enroll 200 cardiac surgery subjects at leading tertiary care centers in the United States. ACT-AKI follows the positive results from a phase 1 AC607 trial in cardiac surgery subjects, which showed an excellent safety profile and encouraging data on the incidence of AKI and hospital length of stay, said Robert M. Brenner, M.D., AlloCure President and Chief Executive Officer. We have worked closely with leaders in the field on the design of ACT-AKI, and trial initiation represents an important milestone for AlloCure and the patients we collectively serve. AC607 is a promising therapeutic candidate for AKI, for which effective therapies are greatly needed, said Richard J. Glassock, M.D., Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. The initiation of ACT-AKI represents a critical step in the development of an innovative therapy for this all-too-common, serious and costly medical condition, for which no … Continue reading →

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- One of the most promising and exciting treatment avenues for multiple sclerosis is the use of a patient's own stem cells to try to stop -- or even repair -- some of the disease's brain tissue damage. But injecting a patient with a dose of his or her own bone-marrow stem cells was actually a pretty crude method of treating the disease, because no one was quite sure how or why it worked. Last year, doctors at the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and Case Western Reserve University began trying this for MS patients in a Phase 1 clinical trial after positive results were seen in mice. Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the myelin sheaths that surround and protect nerve cells. When myelin is damaged, the nerve cells are exposed and unable to do their job, which is sending signals to the brain and back. This results in the loss of motor skills, coordination and cognitive abilities. Like many other researchers using stem cells, the local group didn't know exactly how their treatment worked, but they knew that when they gave these human mesenchymal stem cells, or MSCs, … Continue reading →

SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Korean researchers, reporting the results of a major study in the Circulation Journal, found that the transplantation adipose (fat) derived stem cells resulted in the regeneration of blood vessels in patients who were otherwise expecting to receive limb amputations due to damaged arteries and lack of blood circulation. Researchers at Pusan National University, led by Dr. Han Cheol Lee, describe how patients with critical limb ischemia (hereafter, CLI, example of which include Buerger's Disease and diabetic foot ulcers) were injected with adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cell manufactured by RNL BIO. As a result of the remarkable adipose stem cell process of RNL BIO, researchers found that immediate new blood vessel generation was identified. (The title of article is "Safety and Effect of Adipose Tissue-Derived Stem Cell Implantation in Patients With Critical Limb Ischemia") CLI results from lack of circulation due to small artery damage and subsequent tissue necrosis. Patients with severe CLI often face limb amputation. Buerger's Disease, or diabetic foot ulcer, are of the same kind. Risk factors are diabetic mellitus, hypertension, high cholesterol and smoking. There is no known cure to date. Currently percutaneous transluminal angioplasty or PTA may treat 60-70% … Continue reading →

3 September 2012 Scientists in Glasgow are using stem cells to develop orthopaedic implants that could be considerably stronger and more durable than current products. The team from Glasgow University and Southern General Hospital has designed a plastic surface that encourages bone cells to grow around it and so could be used to strengthen the bond between an implant and a patients bone. Mesenchymal stem cells found in bone marrow can divide into other types of cells such as skin, muscle or bone when they receive the correct messages from the body. Glasgows surface would replace these messages to encourage bone growth. The surface, created at Glasgow Universitys James Watt Nanofabrication Centre, is covered in tiny pits 120 nanometres across, said researcher Dr Matthew Dalby in a statement. When stem cells are placed onto the surface, they grow and spread across the pits in a way that ensures they differentiate into therapeutically useful cells. This will help the implant site repair itself much more effectively than has ever been possible before and could well mean that implants will last for the rest of a patients life. Conventional implants made from polyethylene, stainless steel, titanium or ceramic dont have this kind … Continue reading →

YAHOO: Talent manager Annabelle Rama will fly to Germany in September to undergo therapy - stem cell therapy, that is. This has been a promise made by her son Richard Gutierrez who's footing the bill. "Early this year pa lang ay napagplanuhan na 'yung pagpapa-stem cell ng nanay ko at prinomise ko sa kanya na pag-iipunan ko, prinomise ko sa kanya na ako ang magti-treat sa kanya," Richard said on the first episode of "H.O.T. TV," Aug. 5. He noted, "'Yung mom ko hindi mahilig 'yan na pumunta sa mga doctor, hindi mahilig magpa-check-up." Looking forward This early, Annabelle is already excited about her trip and the upcoming treatment. "Kaya ako excited pumunta kasi unang-una mataas ang aking sugar, mataas ang aking cholesterol, tapos me problema pa ako sa high blood, blood pressure ko. Siguro nga kailangan kong pumunta ng Germany," she said, noting that the condition of her friends, talent manager Lolit Solis and actress Lorna Tolentino, have improved tremendously after going through stem cell therapy. "Nakita ko ang mukha ni Lolis pumuputi ang mukha niya, eh at saka mukha siyang fresh na fresh. Lalo na si LT, nakita ko rin siya. Mukhang gumanda naman siya. Basta lahat ng … Continue reading →

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/9fkkzb/cell_therapy_tec) has announced the addition of Jain PharmaBiotech's new report "Cell Therapy - Technologies, Markets and Companies" to their offering. This report describes and evaluates cell therapy technologies and methods, which have already started to play an important role in the practice of medicine. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is replacing the old fashioned bone marrow transplants. Role of cells in drug discovery is also described. Cell therapy is bound to become a part of medical practice. Stem cells are discussed in detail in one chapter. Some light is thrown on the current controversy of embryonic sources of stem cells and comparison with adult sources. Other sources of stem cells such as the placenta, cord blood and fat removed by liposuction are also discussed. Stem cells can also be genetically modified prior to transplantation. Cell therapy technologies overlap with those of gene therapy, cancer vaccines, drug delivery, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Pharmaceutical applications of stem cells including those in drug discovery are also described. Various types of cells used, methods of preparation and culture, encapsulation and genetic engineering of cells are discussed. Sources of cells, both human and animal (xenotransplantation) are discussed. Methods of delivery … Continue reading →

SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In a landmark clinical study, scientists of the RNL Stem Cell Technology Institute have demonstrated that the transplant of patients' own ("autologous") stem cells can dramatically improve the ability of plastic surgeons to repair diseases. In the September 2012 issue of the prestigious international plastic surgery journal Annals of Plastic Surgery (69:3), researchers published their controlled study of the power of stem cells, describing a breakthrough with patients who have Parry-Romberg Syndrome. More than 200,000 have this tragic and debilitating disease in the U.S. alone. Their prognosis without treatment is the slow loss of control, then paralysis of the face and in some cases the mouth and even eyes. Most patients with Parry-Romberg begin to experience these symptoms between the age of five (5) and fifteen (15) years of age. There is, says the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, "no cure." To date, treatments have involved waiting until the disease slows and then transplanting fat into patients' faces, strengthening bones in their faces, and using microvascular surgery to "install" a free flap of skin. However the only solution for patients with this disorder, … Continue reading →

Stem cell-powered implant set to revolutionise orthopaedic surgery Scientists at the University of Glasgow are working to harness the regenerative power of stem cells to improve orthopaedic implant surgery. They are collaborating with surgeons at Glasgows Southern General Hospital to develop a new type of orthopaedic implant which could be considerably stronger and more long-lived than the current generation of products. Currently, implants are commonly made from materials such as polyethylene, stainless steel, titanium or ceramic and have a limited lifespan due to loosening, requiring replacement after 15 or 20 years of use. In hip replacement surgery, the head of the thigh bone is removed and replaced with an implant which is held in place by a rod fixed inside the marrow along the length of the bone. Marrow is a rich source of mesenchymal stem cells, which have the potential to divide, or differentiate, into other types of cells such as skin, muscle or bone which can improve the process of healing. However, stem cells can also differentiate into cells which have no use in therapy. Artificially controlling the final outcome to ensure the desired type of cells are created is very difficult, even under laboratory conditions. When traditional … Continue reading →

GOLDEN, Colo., Aug. 28, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vitro Diagnostics, Inc. (VODG), dba Vitro Biopharma, announced advances in the commercialization of its infertility treatment drug, Vitropin(TM), a highly purified form of FSH produced through Vitro Biopharma's patented production process. During 2011, Vitro licensed two of its patents and certain rights to other related intellectual property to Dr. James Posillico, a renowned expert in Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART). Dr. Posillico and his team of professionals have recently begun the process of registration of Vitropin(TM) and related products in certain foreign markets. This registration is being pursued together with the establishment of a separate manufacturing contract and various distribution partnerships. Product marketing, distribution and sales will be managed by an international group of professionals that have considerable expertise in the distribution of similar products in the ART feild. The development plan also contemplates registrations for marketing approval of Vitropin(TM) in several additional countries including the US and EU that collectively represent a multi-billion dollar market. Dr. Jim Musick, Vitro Biopharma's President & CEO, said, "We are very pleased to announce commercialization advances related to Vitropin(TM), a product that we previously developed and out-licensed to Dr. Posillico in 2011. Through Vitro Biopharma's license … Continue reading →

ScienceDaily (Aug. 17, 2012) Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) can occur due to sneezing, coughing, exercising or even laughing and happens because the pelvic floor muscles are too weak causing leakage when the bladder is put under pressure. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine shows that a new technique, using stem cells isolated from amniotic fluid, can regenerate damaged urethral sphincter muscles and prevent pressure incontinence in mice. Although SUI is more common during and after pregnancy, and after the age of 40, one in three women will experience it at some point in their lives. Men can also be affected, especially after prostate surgery. SUI is treatable and in many cases losing weight, reducing caffeine intake, pelvic floor exercises, and bladder training can have very beneficial effects. If this does not work more invasive treatments are necessary, however there can be serious side effects associated with surgery. Using stem cells to regenerate the damaged or weak muscles has been proposed as an alternative to surgery. But most protocols for harvesting stem cells also require invasive procedures, and often produce very low numbers of viable cells. In contrast amniotic stem cells can be collected easily, and … Continue reading →