Category Archives: Regenerative Medicine

Introduction to the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
Institute stem cell researchers Michael Longaker, Ravi Majeti, Renee Reijo Pera, Michael Clarke and Maximilian Diehn talk about research on regenerative medicine, cancer therapies and reproduction, and how clinical experiences motivate them to work even harder to find new therapies for disease.

By: institutesofmedicine

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Introduction to the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine - Video

-- Treatment being developed would use encapsulation to protect new insulin-producing cells derived from a stem cell precursor --

NEW YORK and SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --JDRF, the world's largest non-profit supporter of type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), California's stem cell agency, announced that they are providing additional funding for the development of a novel stem cell therapy by San Diego-based ViaCyte, Inc.; JDRF and CIRM will each contribute $3 million to further advance the project.

"One of the most important elements in bringing promising therapies to clinical trials is a strong partnership, and that's what we have with CIRM, JDRF, and ViaCyte," saidEllen Feigal, M.D., senior vice president for research and development at CIRM. "Working together, we can help ensure that the most promising therapies stay on course for timely entry into clinical trials. This additional commitment of funding and support by JDRF is a reflection of the hope we all have that this therapy will transform the lives of people with type 1 diabetes."

ViaCyte's innovative product is designed to deliver to patients immature pancreatic progenitor cells developed from a human embryonic stem cell (hESC) line; over time, these cells develop into mature pancreatic cells that are capable of producing pancreatic hormones, including insulin. These cells are encapsulated in a device that isolates the cells from the host but allows free flow of oxygen, nutrients, and other factors, so that the cells can respond to blood glucose and release hormones like insulin while being protected from the patient's immune system. The combination product is designated VC-01. The benefit of such a breakthrough would be the ability to provide a patient with a new source of insulin-producing cells to replace those destroyed by the autoimmune response that is a hallmark of T1D.

"The research being performed by ViaCyte is very promising," said Julia Greenstein, Ph.D., JDRF's vice president of cure therapies. "The ability to encapsulate and thereby protect implanted insulin-producing cells has been a focus for JDRF because of its potential to solve multiple problems at once. ViaCyte is currently at the forefront of developing this technology, making this a very attractive research opportunity for us."

The contributions by JDRF and CIRM are intended to move ViaCyte's combination of stem cell-derived pancreatic progenitors and encapsulation device (VC-01 combination product) to approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for proof of concept human clinical trials. To date, VC-01 has been shown to be effective in controlling blood glucose in multiple preclinical models, and clinical trials to initially investigate the safety and efficacy in patients with T1D are expected to be initiated next year.

Dr. Paul Laikind, ViaCyte's chief executive officer and president, said, "CIRM and JDRF are valuable partners as we pursue this potentially transformative new approach to controlling insulin-dependent diabetes. While we appreciate their financial awards, we have also benefited from the valuable technical support and advocacy they provide to our program. With their help we will soon determine if the promising results we have demonstrated in preclinical studies translate to patients. If so, VC-01 could essentially represent a cure for type 1 diabetes and an important therapy for patients with insulin-requiring type 2 diabetes."

Video Link ViaCyte's research and development of a cell encapsulation product holds the promise of a cure for people with T1D and their families. This CIRM produced video describes the work being supported at ViaCyte and explains it potential impact for those with T1D from the perspective of two families that support JDRF's mission.

About CIRM CIRM was established in November 2004 with the passage of Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Act. The statewide ballot measure, which provided $3 billion in funding for stem cell research at California universities and research institutions, was overwhelmingly approved by voters, and called for the establishment of an entity to make grants and provide loans for stem cell research, research facilities, and other vital research opportunities. A list of grants and loans awarded to date may be seen here: http://www.cirm.ca.gov/for-researchers/researchfunding.

About JDRFJDRF is the leading global organization focused on type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. Driven by passionate, grassroots volunteers connected to children, adolescents, and adults with this disease, JDRF is now the largest charitable supporter of T1D research. The goal of JDRF research is to improve the lives of all people affected by T1D by accelerating progress on the most promising opportunities for curing, better treating, and preventing T1D. JDRF collaborates with a wide spectrum of partners who share this goal.

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JDRF and California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Increase Funding of ViaCyte

Julia Greenstein Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology
This clip is part of the Career Girls ongoing series of career guidance/inspiration videos. See more at http://www.careergirls.org

By: careergirls

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Julia Greenstein Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology - Video

Dallas, TX (PRWEB) February 12, 2013

The Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells Partnering Terms and Agreements report provides comprehensive understanding and unprecedented access to the Regenerative medicine and Stem cells partnering deals and agreements entered into by the worlds leading healthcare companies.

The report provides a detailed understanding and analysis of how and why companies enter regenerative medicine and stem cells partnering deals. The majority of deals are development stage whereby the licensee obtains a right or an option right to license the licensors regenerative medicine and stem cells technology. These deals tend to be multi component, starting with collaborative R&D, and commercialization of outcomes.

This report provides details of the latest regenerative medicine and stem cells agreements including cell therapy agreements announced in the healthcare sector.

Understanding the flexibility of a prospective partners negotiated deals terms provides critical insight into the negotiation process in terms of what you can expect to achieve during the negotiation of terms. Whilst many smaller companies will be seeking details of the payments clauses, the devil is in the detail in terms of how payments are triggered contract documents provide this insight where press releases and databases do not.

This report contains a comprehensive listing of all regenerative medicine and stem cells partnering deals announced since 2008 including financial terms were available including over 550 links to online deal records as disclosed by the deal parties. In addition, where available, records include contract documents as submitted to the Securities Exchange Commission by companies and their partners.

Contract documents provide the answers to numerous questions about a prospective partners flexibility on a wide range of important issues, many of which will have a significant impact on each partys ability to derive value from the deal.

For example, analyzing actual company deals and agreements allows assessment of the following:

The initial chapters of this report provide an orientation of drug deal making and business activities. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the report, whilst chapter 2 provides an overview of the trends in regenerative medicine and stem cells deal making since 2009, including details of average headline, upfront, milestone and royalty terms.

Chapter 3 provides a review of the leading regenerative medicine and stem cells deals since 2009. Deals are listed by headline value, signed by big pharma, most active big pharma, and most active of all bio pharma companies.

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Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells Market Deals Analysis in New Research Report at ReportsnReports.com

Body tissue engineer Jess Frith will determine the role of specific molecules in cell development in world-first research, with plans to use the knowledge to repair bones and cartilage.

Dr Frith, from The University of Queensland (UQ), will combine cells with biomaterials to reconstruct body tissues in the lab with the aim to one day potentially treating osteoporosis, osteoarthritis or intervertebral disc degeneration.

Her project, being undertaken at UQ's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, has received a boost from a $375,000 Australian Research Council (ARC) award.

The ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award will fund Dr Frith's research costs at AIBN's Tissue Engineering and Microfluidics Laboratory for the next three years.

I think regenerative medicine has the potential to transform medicine in the future but a major hurdle in achieving this is our ability to make cells behave as we want, Dr Frith said.

We are working with specific stem cells derived from people's bone marrow. They can be used to generate bone, cartilage, muscle and fat cells.

The cells need to turn into the correct tissue type. Controlling this is difficult. We know that stem cells are very sensitive to the environment around them.

Dr Frith plans to investigate whether molecules called microRNAs play an important role in how the response of cells to their environment determines cell development.

I will be using biomaterials to see if I can influence microRNAs and see if I can push stem cells to form specific tissues, she said.

Dr Frith said regenerative medicine was an exciting field because of the fast pace of advances that have been made during the past few years".

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Researcher’s $375,000 regenerative medicine boost

Stan Wang talks about creating non-embryonic stem for use n regenerative medicine
Gates Cambridge Scholar Stan Wang is pursuing a PhD in medicine supervised by recent Nobel Prize winner Sir John Gurdon. Stan works on a technique which takes tissue from any part the human body and gives it embryonic stem cell-like properties. This could have a huge impact on the world of regenerative medicine.

By: GatesCambridge

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Stan Wang talks about creating non-embryonic stem for use n regenerative medicine - Video

As we discussed in our first article on elite regenerative medicine companies, there are several methodologies to delineating the cream of the crop. In this exercise, we will take a look at the impact that regenerative medicine technologies can have on ischemic conditions where tissue in the heart, brain, organs or limbs are damaged as a result of restricted blood flow and identify some of the most innovative companies that have a strong upside based on the products and technologies they are developing, stage of development, and current valuations.

Ischemic conditions are expansive, covering common conditions such as stroke, heart disease and peripheral vascular disease (which in severe cases can result in critical limb ischemia, requiring amputation of digits or limbs). The economic impact of these types of conditions is also substantial. Research by the American Heart Association indicates that cardiovascular disease (most of which is ischemic in nature) comprises more than $300 billion in healthcare related expenses annually, accounting for more than 17% of total healthcare related expenses in the U.S. Furthermore, these conditions impose a huge quality of life burden for patients and their families, and therefore are areas of great unmet medical need.

From a company and investor perspective, they represent multi-billion-dollar opportunities. Cumulatively, hundreds of millions of people are affected globally, but traditional medicines and clinical treatments provide little benefit. Regenerative medicine technologies represent new options that could yield a new age of therapies and viable solutions for patients that presently have very few, if any, options.

In our initial article, Cytomedix, Inc. (OTCQX:CMXI) was omitted from the top five because of the broad scope of credentials defining companies with obvious headroom for growth. Within the parameters of ischemia-related treatments, however, the Gaithersburg, Maryland-based developer of biologically active regenerative therapies deserves a strong mention.

Cytomedix is developing platelet technologies for orthopedics and wound care and a pipeline of autologous (patient-derived) stem cell therapies for tissue repair. The company is already generating revenue through its AutoloGel System, a platelet rich plasma (PRP) producing device for exuding wounds, and its Angel Whole Blood Separation System, a blood processing device for separating whole blood into red cells, platelet poor plasma (PPP) and PRP for use in surgical and orthopedic settings. For the third quarter of 2012, total revenues increased 15% to $1.76 million from $1.53 million in the year prior quarter.

Honing in on the ischemic conditions, through the acquisition of Aldagen in February at a bargain price of $16 million in stock (plus additional shares upon milestones being met), Cytomedix gained control of Aldagens proprietary ALDH bright cell (ALDHbr) technology and finally made the transition from just a wound care company to cement its position as a leading developer of a promising new therapy to treat patients that have recently suffered a stroke.

The ALDHbr technology is used to isolate biologically active stem cells which have previously shown the potential to promote cell and tissue regeneration in preclinical studies. The cells are isolated from the patients own bone marrow, shipped to the company for subsequent expansion, and are then reinfused into the patient roughly 3 weeks later. A 100-patient Phase 2 trial for the treatment of ischemic stroke using ALDHbr Bright Cells derived from a patients own bone marrow is underway that will involve patients from 12 to 15 sites in the United States. Safety data from the first 10 patients in the Phase II RECOVER-Stroke study of ALD-401 were recently presented at the World Stroke Congress in Brazil showing a solid safety profile.

The clinical trials aim to build upon promising laboratory research. Mice treated with ALD-401 two weeks after an induced stroke demonstrated nearly four-fold improvement in motor function compared to controls. Further, stark improvements were seen in ALD-401 slowing decreases in brain volume and the reversal of decline in stroke-induced cell viability. Additional studies with ALD-401 in animal models showed perfusion (blood flow) levels returning to normal after four weeks in stroke-induced subjects receiving the ALDHbr cell treatment while untreated controls remained impaired.

This study is only one of several clinical trials being conducted to test Cytomedixs ALDHbr technology. ALD-201 has completed a Phase I clinical trial testing its safety as a therapeutic candidate for ischemic heart failure. The 20-patient trial showed ALD-201 to be well-tolerated and produced a statistically significant reduction in ischemia as well as improvement in MaxVO2, a measure of the bodys ability to take up oxygen during exercise, in patients receiving the ALDHbr therapy as compared to a placebo group.

In a 21-patient Phase 1/2 clinical trial on ALD-301 testing critical limb ischemia with no revascularization options, the treatment was again well-tolerated with data indicating improved blood flow. Patients with this condition face a 35% risk of limb amputation, but 10 of the 11 patients (91%) treated with ALD-301 required no such procedure.

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Top Three Regenerative Medicine Companies Targeting Ischemic Conditions

10 Reasons to attend the World Stem Cell Regenerative Medicine Congress
Why should you attend? Watch the video to find out.

By: biopharmachannel

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10 Reasons to attend the World Stem Cell

Public release date: 9-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Antonio Campos Muoz acampos@ugr.es 34-958-243-514 University of Granada

Scientists at the University of Granada and Alcal de Henares University have found out that not all isolated stem cells are equally valid in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. In a paper recently published in the prestigious journal Tissue Engineering the researchers report that, contrary to what was thought, only a specific group of cord blood stem cells (CB-SC) maintained in culture are useful for therapeutic purposes.

At present, CB-SCs are key to regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. From all types of CB-SC those called "Wharton's jelly stem cells (HWJSC)" are stirring up the interest of specialists in regenerative medicine, due to their accessibility and great ability to develop into several types of tissue and modulate immune responses.

Through a combination of microscopy and microanalysis essays, and the study of the genes involved in cell viability, the researchers discovered that only a specific group of cord blood stem cells (CB-SC) maintained in culture is useful for therapeutic purposes

The Most Suitable Cells

The relevance of this paper, which was the cover article in the journal Tissue Engineering, lies in the possibility to select the most suitable HWJSC for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. According to these researchers, the different studies with HWJSC have obtained contradictory results because researchers failed to previously select the most suitable cell group.

The results of this study also open the possibility to select stem cell subgroups from different tissues, in order to improve the therapeutical efficacy of different regenerative medicine protocols.

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This research study was conducted by the Tissue Engineering research group at the University of Granada Histology Department coordinated by professor Antonio Campos Muoz, who recently created artificial skin and a cornea by using stem cells and new biomaterials developed in Granada.

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Not all stem cells are equally efficient for use in regenerative medicine

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