The main source of stem cell news over the weekend was related to British Prime Minister Tony Blair's upcoming visit to the USA where he will actively encourage stem cell research into incurable diseases.
The Prime Minister will meet 10 bioscience companies in the San Francisco area and unveil plans for a joint UK-Californian conference on stem cell technology in Britain in November.
Also on the agenda are plans to encourage top American researchers to relocate to the UK where stem cell research can be undertaken without the constraints found in the USA.
Read the full article on The Guardian newspaper's webite
Australian institutions and wealthy investors yesterday found $15 million to fund continuing research into stem cell treatments for broken bones and cardio vascular diseases.
The research is undertaken by a Melbourne-based biotech which is already conducting human trials in Australia and is seeking United States Food and Drug Administration clearance for the therapy.
Research is aimed at isolating adult MPC cells, which have been found to generate new bone, cartilage and blood vessels. At Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital, a cardiovascular study is being conducted on patients who have suffered coronary artery disease resulting in heart attack and angina. Doctors at Royal Melbourne Hospital are presently trialling the stem cell treatment on orthopaedic cases, focusing on repairing large bone fractures which have failed to heal under conventional treatment.
News from the University of Cambridge in the UK where The Wellcome Trust is providing £10m to establish an international centre of excellence in stem cell research.
The Wellcome Trust Centre for Stem Cell Research will be led by world-renowned stem cell researchers Austin Smith and Fiona Watt, and is due to open at the University in December 2006.
Prof Fiona Watt has been appointed Deputy Director. She has been Head of the Keratinocyte Laboratory at the Cancer Research UK London Research Centre since 1987. Prof Watt is also Deputy Director of the new Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute. Stem cell biology is an important part of fundamental cancer research, and Prof Watt's joint appointment between the two Institutes will strengthen the scientific links between them. Her team has been awarded a £3m grant to explore how adult stem cells can be used to develop better skin grafts.
Prof Watt's team will investigate how an adult's epidermis (the outer covering of the skin) can be made to produce new hair follicles and glands to lubricate the skin. Her research may also be applicable to stimulating regeneration and production of other specialist cell types, including muscle and brain cells. This would enable the development of therapies using adult stem cell alternatives for numerous diseases and conditions.
Scientists believe that as we learn more about the properties of stem cells it may become feasible in some tissues to activate resident stem cells for repair and rejuvenation.
Reuters news agency yesterdayhad a report concerning stem cells taken from human fat, which can be transformed into smooth muscle cells,. This, potentially, offers a way to treat many kinds of heart disease, gastrointestinal and bladder ills, U.S. researchers report.
While the experiment does not quite offer a way to turn a pot belly into a flat stomach, the researchers said the transformed cells contracted and relaxed just like smooth muscle cells.
These cells help the heart beat and blood flow, push food through the digestive system and make bladders fill and empty.
TheraVitae are proud to have been recognised in the July issue of leading medical journal 'Regenerative Medicine' as being a ‘serious player in the international arena of regenerative therapy’.
In addition, the periodical states that VesCell™, TheraVitae’s treatment for heart disease, provides the best commercially available stem cell-based treatment for ‘no-option’ cardiac patients.
VesCell™ Stem Cell Heart Therapy Acknowledged as Best Available Commercial Treatment for No Option Cardiac Patients by Leading Medical Journal
TheraVitae Ltd, is named as being ‘a serious player in the international arena of regenerative therapy’ in July 2006 issue of ‘Regenerative Medicine’ whilst TheraVitae’s proprietary adult stem cell therapy for heart disease, VesCell™ is described as being the best commercially available stem cell-based treatment for no-option cardiac patients.
Leading stem cell research journal ‘Regenerative Medicine’ recently confirmed the achievements of TheraVitae Ltd. by naming the Israeli-Thai company as being a ‘serious player in the international arena of regenerative therapy’. The bi-monthly journal, which provides a forum to address advances in stem cell research and regenerative medicine, makes the pronouncement in an article in the July 2006 issue.
Backed by the opinions of an International Editorial Board of over 65 experts, the periodical’s July round-up of industry news goes on to conclude that VesCell™, TheraVitae’s treatment for heart disease, provides the best commercially available stem cell-based treatment for ‘no-option’ cardiac patients. These are patients afflicted by severe medical conditions that cannot be treated using conventional procedures such as bypass surgery or balloon angioplasty due to the risks associated with these options.
Patients are treated with self-derived stem cells isolated by TheraVitae’s proprietary technology. Angiogenic cell precursors harvested from the patients’ peripheral blood in Bangkok are expanded and differentiated in-vitro in a facility in Israel. The product, VesCell™, is sent back to Thailand where is injected, either directly into patient’s heart, or delivered via intracoronary catheter.
Stressing that TheraVitae’s aim is not to seek a miracle cure for heart disease but to provide sufferers a new lease on life and the chance to once again enjoy activities which they never thought possible, Dr Valentin Fulga, CEO of TheraVitae is quoted, in Regenerative Medicine’s July 2006 issue, as saying, “Depending on the disease, we follow improvement in perfusion of the ischemic region in the heart in patients with angina pectoris, or ejection fraction for patients with heart failure. However, our cardinal assessment parameters remain the general condition of the patient and improvement in his/her ability to perform regular daily tasks”.
Today's article appears in the July 31 issue of Time Magazine. It's the story of Philip Yeo, and his employer, Singapore's new Biopolis stem cell research centre.
The article begins . . . For a serial kidnapper, Philip Yeo looks harmless enough. But to hear some people tell it, he's a dangerous man. Over the past six years, Yeo has been roaming the world, trailing talented scientists in Washington; San Diego; Palo Alto, Calif.; Edinburgh and elsewhere, and spiriting them back to his home country of Singapore.
In order to kick start Singapore attempt to become a regional biomed research hub the government realised that they needed to attract the best and brightest researchers from around the world, and that is Philip Yeo's job.
As the world of stem cell news is still dominated by fall out from President Bush's veto of the embryonic research bill.
The plus side of the desicion seems to be that companies specialising in adult stem cell research, such as TheraVitae and the one featured in the article below may well see more interest in their research, and their products derived from adult stem cells.
As expected, President Bush cast the first veto of his 5 and a half-year presidency today, rejecting legislation to ease limits on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.
While scientists say the President's veto will slow embryonic stem cell research, it helps a Rochester company, which is developing a way to capture adult stem cells for research more quickly. With the President's veto, the only growing field in stem cell research is on adult stem cells. Those are already in your body. But to get to them, requires a needle about six inches long and local anesthetic. A local doctor believes he has developed that device.
Stem cells can take the form of any of the body's cells, replacing sick ones with healthy ones, which is why Dr. Michael King of the company Stemcapture, wants to find them. Research on stem cells from embryos is limited, so he's looking for adult stem cells. "What we're trying to do is develop products that capture adult stem cells out of the blood stream,” said Dr. King. "The device is what you will eventually put into someone's arm."
Today, the President's veto made their work even more important. Scientist, Srinivas Narasipura says he wants to stay in Rochester to be on the cutting edge. The President's policies are a setback for embryonic stem cell research," said Narasipura. "We haven't let it hold us back in what we're doing.
The original article can be found on the Channel 10 News website from Rochester, NY, USA
Articles covering the US Senate vote on funding for embryonic stem cell research tend to include polarising comments.
For example, from a Senator supporting the bill "I happened to have the opportunity to see people in a cancer ward, children, it breaks your heart. How can you not explore the possibility that they will be there to be an adult?"
Whereas President Bush had this to say: "This bill would support the taking of innocent human life in the hope of finding medical benefits for others. It crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect, so I vetoed it"
But an article entitled 'Does the Senate Vote on Stem Cell Research Matter?', in the San Francisco Chronicle, provides an interesting viewpoint, which leaves emotions aside and concentrates on facts. The article concludes that 'The debate was divisive, emotional, replete with misinformation from both sides -- and totally unnecessary.' Well worth reading.
That's the opinion of the site 'The Longevity Meme' which aims to point the way to a longer and healthier life. In July 15th's featured daily news article, the site's editor makes the claim that "The regulatory regime for medicine in America is oppressive" using the example of Theravitae having to set up a North Amercan subsidiary, prior to beginning clinical trials despite the company's track record of having successfully treated well over 100 no option heart patients.
This release notes that TheraVitae, who have been providing a successful stem cell therapy for heart damage in Thailand, have established a subsidiary in Canada: The Company will start clinical development of the lead product VesCell and will continue to develop additional products for cardiovascular and other severe disorders. Established in Toronto, Canada TheraVitae Inc. plans to submit regulatory requests to Health Canada and the FDA for a clinical trial of its therapy for congestive heart failure.
The regulatory regime for medicine in America is oppressive, delivering nothing but delay and additional cost - and ensuring that innovators provide their services in other parts of the world.
Ask yourself this: what are those who suffer and die of heart disease in the US really gaining through the years of delay and tens of millions of dollars imposed upon the deployment of demonstrably effective therapies?
Far away from the headline grabbing news coming out of the middle east at present a different kind of war is being fought in the US Senate.
Yesterday, ABC News carried this article covering the debate on stem cell research which began yesterday. It covers the main points of contention and add some political insights into the behind the scenes lobbying of different senators as the political power of the stem cell issue, some say, comes from personal connections.
Expect to see follow up stories during the week focusing on the emotional, religious or scientific arguments; depending on the angle individual journalists choose to take.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have isolated a new source of adult stem cells that appear to have the potential to differentiate into several cell types acording to a press release issued last week..
If their approach to growing these cells can be scaled up and proves to be safe and effective in animal and human studies, it could one day provide the tissue needed by an individual for treating a host of disorders, including peripheral nerve disease, Parkinson's disease, and spinal cord injury.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have isolated a new source of adult stem cells that appear to have the potential to differentiate into several cell types. If their approach to growing these cells can be scaled up and proves to be safe and effective in animal and human studies, it could one day provide the tissue needed by an individual for treating a host of disorders, including peripheral nerve disease, Parkinson's disease, and spinal cord injury.
The differentiated cells acquired lineage-specific markers and demonstrated appropriate functions in tissue culture, according to each cell type. Success rates varied, the most successful being the stem cells grown in the muscle media, 80% of which differentiated into smooth muscle cells.
Chicago's ABC Channel 7 TV news station features an article on ongoing studies in the US into reversing the damage caused by heart attacks.
The article 'Healing Your Own Heart?' covers the use of adult stem cells to help heal the damage. At present there are two different trials in Chicago trying to determine if adult stem cells could help heart patients who have run out of options. Some U.S. researchers say proof that stem cell treatments work on hearts, or are even safe, is still far away as the experimental treatments have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
But, the article goes on to add that "an Israeli-Thai company, Theravitae, is now doing stem cells therapy on heart patients and claiming good results. Hawaiian entertainer Don Ho had the treatment this past December, and so far says he is feeling much better."
TheraVitae's rsearch team were recently in Toronto, Canada to attend the 4th International Society for Stem Cell Research meeting. The following press release was issued by TheraVitae on 11 July.
A poster presentation outlining the latest advances in its ongoing research into blood-borne stem cell biology and its clinical applications was given by Dr. Yael Porat, Vice-President of Research & Development, TheraVitae Ltd., at the 4th International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) meeting in Toronto, Canada.
The presentation focused on the company’s advances in its ongoing research into blood-borne stem cell biology and its clinical applications. The highlight was the discovery of unique stem cell populations, which TheraVitae’s researchers have successfully isolated from human blood, and their potential to turn into different tissues in-vitro. The ability to obtain this population directly from blood using a simple, painless and rapid isolation process constitutes a major breakthrough in adult stem cell research and builds on the clinical success that VesCell™ -- adult stem cell therapy for heart disease, has already demonstrated.
Outlining the reason for developing this line of research, Dr. Porat said “Blood cells are a very accessible source of progenitor cells and their potential to generate a variety of cell types appears endless. Our goal is to push the boundaries of stem cell science by constantly developing new therapeutic cellular products.”
The presentation ‘Synergetic Cell Population: A Multipotent Human Blood-Derived Cell Population as a Potential Source of Therapeutic Progenitor Cells’ described the use of TheraVitae’s core technology. The simple, robust and rapid method of isolation of this distinctive cell population residing in the peripheral blood can lead to the development of treatments for a variety of diseases using the patient’s own cells.
TheraVitae aims to one day provide effective treatments for patients suffering from hitherto incurable diseases, and according to Dr. Porat, the advances that were presented at the ISSCR meeting, constitute a big step towards achieving the development of additional autologous adult stem cell therapeutic products.
Dr. Valentin Fulga, CEO of TheraVitae lauded the research team and thanked the ISSCR, “It is due to Yael and her team’s efforts that our company’s research results are being recognized by the International scientific community. We are grateful to the ISSCR for accepting the abstract for presentation and I am convinced that Dr. Porat’s dedication and hard work will continue to provide breakthroughs that we can present at future ISSCR meetings.”
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The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR)
The International Society for Stem Cell Research is an independent, nonprofit organization established to promote and foster the exchange and dissemination of information and ideas relating to stem cells, to encourage the general field of research involving stem cells and to promote professional and public education in all areas of stem cell research and application.
Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center of Boston, USA, recently announced that they were undertaking a trial of adult stem cell therapy for heart disease. The purpose of this study is to determine if cell therapy with a patient's own cells (autologous cells) delivered with a catheter to regions of the heart with poor blood flow will be safe and if it will improve ejection fraction and heart failure symptoms.
The goal of this study is to determine the safety of various doses of autologous (one’s own) stem cells, delivered with a catheter into the regions of the heart with poor blood flow. Stem cells are primitive cells produced by bone marrow that can develop into blood cells or other types of cells. In addition to determining whether this new approach is safe, the diagnostic tests may offer preliminary insights into the usefulness of this approach for treating myocardial ischemia (the condition where areas in the heart are lacking enough oxygen and blood flow to keep the heart muscle working well).
For more details see Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center website.
Good news for millions of diabetics, as the Times newspaper and numerous websites are reporting on the breakthrough made by researchers in producing insulin-secreting cells from cord blood.
The team in Ireland has made a major breakthrough in the field of adult stem cell research by producing insulin needed by diabetic patients from the stem cells from the umbilical cords of living babies. The result provides real hope for diabetics because the insulin from embryonic stem cells doesn't work as effectively and involves the destruction of human life.
Colin McGuckin, professor of regenerative medicine at the University of Newcastle, will soon present the findings, showing the production of insulin-secreting cells from cord blood at a presentation at the Augustinian Institute in Rome.
McGuckin said that insulin produced from adult stem cells will be more effective for those with diabetes. Although people have been able to do it from embryonic stem cells, they are not transplantable because they don't have a tissue match for the patient. Plus, embryonic stem cell transplants also have problems with cancers and tumors afterwards, which isn't the case with adult stem cells from the umbilical cord.
These are exciting times for TheraVitae, after successfully treating over 130 patients using VesCell™ adult stem cell therapy in Bangkok, Thailand. TheraViatae has completed a North American license agreement with TheraVitae Inc.
July 10, 2006 -- TheraVitae, an international biotechnology company, the producer of VesCell™ a cellular therapy for heart disease and developer of additional adult stem cell technologies for incurable disorders completed a North American license agreement with TheraVitae Inc., which establishes TheraVitae Inc. as an exclusive licensee of North America.
The license agreement provides TheraVitae Inc. with an exclusive license to all stem cell therapies and intellectual property (current and future) produced by the Licensor during the term of the agreement. The Company will start clinical development of the lead product VesCell™ and will continue to develop additional products for cardiovascular and other severe disorders. Established in Toronto, Canada TheraVitae Inc. plans to submit regulatory requests to Health Canada and the FDA for a clinical trial of its therapy for congestive heart failure.
TheraVitae is one of the world’s leading stem cell therapy companies focused on using the patient's own (autologous) adult stem cells to treat a variety of disorders, especially cardiovascular diseases. Nominated by the World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer for 2006, the company has conducted a clinical trial in Bangkok, Thailand that led to the approval of its first therapy, VesCell™ as a treatment for “no option” heart patients. Over 130 patients suffering from very severe angina pectoris or heart failure have been successfully treated with VesCell™ by either administration of the cells through the heart arteries, or by direct injection into the heart muscle.
TheraVitae Inc. will develop and commercialize TheraVitae’s adult stem cell technologies in North America under exclusive license; closes $3,000,000 Private Placement.
On April 12, 2006, the company announced the enrolment of its first patient in a clinical trial to study the safety and efficacy of the administration of autologous adult stem cells to patients suffering from severe Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), a deficiency of blood supply to the lower limbs.
Dr. Valentin Fulga, CEO of TheraVitae Group and Chairman and President of TheraVitae Inc. said: “We are now in a position to launch operations in North America and initiate rigorous efforts that will hopefully lead to regulatory approvals of our products in North America. We plan to work together with the most experienced physicians and surgeons in North America and to prove the safety and efficacy of our technologies. We are ready to engage in intensive activities to bring our therapies to the millions of suffering patients that can potentially be helped with our treatments.”
To end the week more news which falls in the 'prevention is better than cure' category for heart disease.
Science Daily is reporting on a study by Virginia Commonwealth University researchers studying of rapamycin, an antibiotic which is used to boost organ survival in transplant patients. They have found that the drug may protect the heart against tissue damage following acute heart attack.
In the July issue of the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, the official publication of the International Society for Heart Research, researchers demonstrated for the first time that pretreatment with a clinically relevant dose of rapamycin induces a protective effect against heart attack injury and reduces programmed cell death.
Researchers believe through the opening of the mitochondrial KATP channel of heart cells, rapamycin enables cells to maintain ATP levels. Mitochondria are cellular organelles critical for converting oxygen into ATP, the key fuel for cellular function.
“Rapamycin may one day be beneficial as a potential therapeutic strategy to limit cell death caused by ischemia or reperfusion injury, and possibly long-term prevention of ventricular remodeling – the changes in size, shape and function that may occur to the left ventricle of the heart,” said Rakesh C. Kukreja, Ph.D., professor of medicine and Eric Lipman Chair of Cardiology at VCU. Kukreja is lead author of the study.
“A significant clinical question will be whether or not rapamycin coated stents can be utilized in patients to favorably affect damaged heart muscle beyond the blockage causing a heart attack,” said George W. Vetrovec, M.D., chair of cardiology at VCU’s School of Medicine, and co-author of the study.
Researchers at the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine at Toronto General Hospital have discovered the 'SOS' distress signal that mobilizes specific heart repair cells from the bone marrow to the injured heart after a heart attack.
While it has long been known that bone marrow cells have the ability to clear the dead tissue after a heart attack, what has not been known until now is the critically important role of bone marrow adult stem cells in repairing a damaged heart, restoring its function and enhancing the growth of new blood vessels.
Read more about the work of this research team in Toronto are doing to identify the molecule that mobilizes the stem cells on the Medical-News.Net site.
The 4th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research took place from June 29 - July 1 in Toronto, Canada.
The International Society for Stem Cell Research is an independent, nonprofit organization established to promote and foster the exchange and dissemination of information and ideas relating to stem cells, to encourage the general field of research involving stem cells and to promote professional and public education in all areas of stem cell research and application.
Amongst the presenters was a Japanese researcher who detailed the results of new studies he conducted showing the ability to turn mouse skin cells into cells that closely resemble embryonic stem cells. A discovery could provide another method for stem cell research that can be effective but doesn't require the destruction of human life for stem cells.
Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University in Japan reported he was able to boost the activity of just four genes to turn the skin cells into embryonic ones. Yamanaka said his research team thought they could reprogram adult stem cells to have embryonic properties.
When examined further, the embryonic-like adult stem cells formed several kinds of tissue in a petrii dish and produced tumors when injected into the mice -- both things that embryonic stem cells do.
Yamanaka's team has not tried the experiments with human cells yet because of differences in mouse and human development. He said there may be a different set of genes in human cells that would prompt adult cells to act like embryonic ones.
A report in this month's edition of Circulation: Journal of The American Heart Association confirms what doctors and lifestyle experts have long thought . . . there's no substitute for a healthy lifestyle.
The Reuters report below is taken from Yahoo News.
Even men who take medication for high blood pressure or cholesterol can dramatically cut their risk of heart disease by adopting a healthy lifestyle, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.
Middle-aged men on these medications can reduce their chances of heart problems by 57 percent by eating right, not smoking, drinking in moderation and maintaining a healthy weight while exercising regularly, the researchers said.
Those who do not take the drugs can cut their risk of heart ailments by 87 percent if they adopt these lifestyle choices.
"This shows there's no substitute for a healthy lifestyle," said Stephanie Chiuve, lead author of the study to be published in Circulation: Journal of The American Heart Association.
The study tracked 43,000 men between 40 and 75 who were free of diabetes, heart disease and other chronic conditions when the study began in 1986. They completed biannual questionnaires and researchers used the data to tease out correlations between heart disease and lifestyle habits.
The benefits of the healthy habits were apparent even if they were adopted over time. "In other words, it's never to late to change," said Chiuve. "You can still achieve benefits if you make changes in middle age or later in life."
Men with the lowest risk of heart disease were those who practiced all five healthy habits, but not smoking alone reduced the risk of heart problems by 50 percent, she said.
On 25 June the Sunday Times (Ireland issue) published an article in it's 'Comment' section in which the writer indicated that in his opinion the debate on sem cell research was essentially a religious one.
Yesterday, 2 July, the newspaper printed the following responses from readers:
Stem Cell research is a scientific and human rights issue, not a religious one, as Liam Fay asserts (Comment, last week).
There is a vast difference between embryonic and adult stem cell procedures. The first entails the destruction of human life, the second values it in early development and later in alleviating suffering.
Even some of the scientists advocating embryonic research admit negative results for the foreseeable future, whereas adult stem cell procedures have already proved successful.
The majority, religious and otherwise, abhor the destruction of vulnerable early human life, and for our representatives to give approval to such practices is contrary to the will of those people.
Does anyone think it strange that a minister for enterprise, trade and employment is supporting, morally and financially, such repugnant practices, regardless of where they take place? Maybe it’s a good money spinner.
Peggy Kelleher Mardyke, Cork
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Embryonic Facts: Fay is wrong to state that “while the self-styled “pro-life movement” sanctions experiments on adult stem cells, it opposes the use of embryos in this manner, holding that each one constitutes a human life. The basis for this belief is religious rather than scientific”.
In the mammalian world, life begins when the male and female chromosomes fuse. To say otherwise is to reject science in favour of prejudice.
Adult stem cell research is 20 to 30 years ahead of embryonic stem cell research.
Adult stem cells are freely available and have cured thousands. To date no human being has been cured using embryonic equivalents.
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