From our Founder

July 16, 2005

From our Founder

What an exciting week for Theravitae!

On Wednesday, a patient from Texas had his blood drawn and couriered to our lab in Israel. The stem cells will be back next Wednesday, and, three hours after the El Al flight touches down, they will be starting their mission to bring the patient’s heart new vitality and, most importantly, bring him back to a more normal lifestyle by reducing his symptoms.

On Thursday, another patient, this one a woman from California, arrived in Bangkok. She was inspired by Jeannine's story and I am sure that others will be inspired by this patients story when we tell it!

On Friday, a third patient, from Indiana, and his wife touched down at 11pm and less than two hours later were safely ensconced in their 5-star luxury quarters at the Marriott Spa as were the other two patients before them. This last patient had a minor scare over July 4th weekend when a blood test seemed to rule him out, but his Cardiologist refused to believe it without confirmation, and it turned out he was right.

After these two patients’ blood is drawn on Monday, it will be immediately cold-packed and flown overnight to Israel. There, a small number of stem cells in their blood will be isolated, multiplied and differentiated into millions of therapeutic cells called Angiogenic Cell Precursors. Doctors at Chaophya Hospital will then use a specially designed catheter device developed by Dr. Amit Patel of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, to implant these cells directly into the heart implant these cells into the arteries and veins of their hearts using a special catheter.

Join me in wishing them the best!
Don Margolis
Founder, Theravitae