“Latest Stem Cells News”

Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:ASTMD), a leading developer of autologous cellular therapies for the treatment of severe cardiovascular diseases, today reported results from a planned interim analysis of the company’s multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled U.S. Phase 2b clinical trial designated RESTORE-CLI. According to the interim analysis the safety profile was similar between the treatment and placebo arms.

Based on a composite efficacy endpoint assessing time to treatment failure (including major amputations, wound size and gangrene), Aastrom’s autologous vascular repair cells (VRCs) were more effective than placebo (P<0.05). Other clinically meaningful endpoints (e.g., major amputation rate, complete wound closure) approached but did not reach statistical significance at interim analysis. Forty-six critical limb ischemia (CLI) patients who had at least 6-month follow up, including 33 patients with 12-month follow up, contributed to the interim analysis.

Dr. Robert Johnson, MD, of Neurosurgical Associates of San Antonio, is presenting at the 5th Annual Stem Cell Summit in New York on February 16, 2010. Dr. Johnson will be presenting his most recent data proving the efficacy of point of care adult stem cell therapies in spine surgery. Point of care technology utilizes the patient’s own cells derived from bone marrow to inhibit bone growth in spinal fusion procedures. Dr. Johnson believes promoting cell therapy utilizing the patient’s own cells will change the future landscape of medicine.

“The use of autologous stem cells is revolutionizing medical care in both the prevention and treatment of spinal disorders,” said Johnson.

BioMedReports: There has been some talk about the upcoming opening of your new state-of-the-art facility. Can you tell us about that?

CEO Matthew L. Schissler: We always try to focus on three core goals and in 2010 we are opening our new state of the art laboratory. One of those three core goals is the diversification of revenue streams. Not only will we have our own organic growth engine, by processing and storing for our own company, but we recently entered into a letter of agreement to process and store for another very successful stem cell company. That’s going to be the flavor for 2010 and onward- diversification of revenue streams by using our new facility to its full capacity. The other goal is continued growth- like we saw mention of when we announced in late 2009 when we signed an agreement with a national labor association, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. That’s how we’ll grow some more, through the insurance companies. And finally, we’re going to be very focused on acquisitions. In fact, I’ll tell you that in 2010 we have a voracious appetite for acquisitions. With the economy the way it is, a lot of stem cell companies are struggling and we’ve been very fortunate to have our company go in the right direction by reducing debt and raising capital. We feel it’s a very good time for us to make some acquisitions and so we’re going to be very focused on that this year.

BioMedReports: So I would imagine that these acquisitions are somehow related to the goal of increasing your revenue streams in some way?

CEO Matthew L. Schissler: The overall goal in our mission statement is to not only become the world’s number one most respected stem cell company but also to be the largest as well. As we say in our mission statement, the world’s globally dominant stem cell storage company and so, those acquisitions will be in related fields, but I can’t say too much but it’s all about cryogenic preservation of stem cells and other forms of biologics.

Gregg Semenza, M.D., Ph.D.

Blood vessel blockage, a common condition in old age or diabetes, leads to low blood flow and results in low oxygen, which can kill cells and tissues. Such blockages can require amputation resulting in loss of limbs. Now, using mice as their model, researchers at Johns Hopkins have developed therapies that increase blood flow, improve movement and decrease tissue death and the need for amputation. The findings, published online last week in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, hold promise for developing clinical therapies.

“In a young, healthy individual, hypoxia — low oxygen levels — triggers the body to make factors that help coordinate the growth of new blood vessels but this process doesn’t work as well as we age,” says Gregg Semenza, M.D., Ph.D., professor of pediatrics and genetic medicine and director of the vascular biology program at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering. “Now, with the help of gene therapy and stem cells we can help reactivate the body’s response to hypoxia and save limbs.”

Previously, Semenza’s team generated a virus that carries the gene encoding an active form of the HIF-1 protein, which turns on genes necessary for building new blood vessels. When injected into the hind legs of otherwise healthy mice and rabbits that had been treated to reduce blood flow, the HIF-1 virus treatment partially restored blood flow.

People with diabetes have a 40 times higher risk of losing a limb to amputation, says Semenza. To find out if HIF-1 gene therapy could improve blood flow in a diabetic animal, the team then tested the same virus in diabetic and non-diabetic mice that had blood flow cut off to one hind leg. Twenty-one days after treatment, the HIF-1 virus-treated mice had 85 percent recovery of blood flow compared with 24 percent in the mock-treated mice. And, treated, diabetic mice had much less tissue damage compared to the untreated diabetic mice. These results were reported in the Nov. 3 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

How will stem cells change the way we think about treating diseases? Here is the 5 year forward look at the world of Stem Cells, from some of the greatest experts in the field.

What are the diseases we’ll be treating, and the tools we’ll be using in 2015? Where will we be in terms of clinical trials? What are the dangers in the stem cell hype, and medical tourism? How will stem cells pave the way for personalized medicine, and more rational treatments? How important will stem cells become in the drug discovery process? Discussed in the episode are the eye (macular degeneration), the skin, diabetes (type 1 & 2), blood and autoimmune diseases, glioblastoma, HIV, and more.

Presented by Bill Kridel, and featuring George Daley, Ron McKay, Rudolf Jaenisch, John Sinden, Alan Trounson, Alan Colman, John Walker, Shinya Yamanaka, Irv Weissman, David Scadden, and Greg Bonfiglio.

from http://biobusinesstv.cmail2.com/t/y/l/uruja/kykdujyhl/k

Researchers and using stem cells as tools for disease study, drug screening, clinical trial strategy, and personalized medicine. The induced Pluripotent Stem cell (iPS) is giving us a chance to rethink the way we are developing new drugs. These iPS cells are usually created from somatic cells (such as skin), and not embryos or adult stem cells. In creating iPS from patients’ diseased cells, scientists can study the disease in vitro, looking for disease phenotypes, applying microenvironmental stress, and testing new drugs. Compared to animal model testing (e.g. mice), this represents a significant breakthrough, that can be used to validate clinical development strategy and test efficacy in specific groups of patients. iPS is bringing a revolution in drug discovery methodology which is being used to bridge genetics, cell biology, and physiology.

from http://biobusiness.tv/videos/208