StemCells Inc. is a top biotech company developing stem cell-based therapies. They have a deep pipeline that includes already ongoing trials for a variety of diseases. I invited company leadership to do an interview and they graciously accepted. Below is the interview with CFO Greg Schiffman (picture at left from LinkedIn) including what I thought …
Interview with StemCells Inc. leadership on hot topics Read More »
A mysterious organization called BioGatekeeper, Inc. has filed a legal challenge to the Yamanaka Patent seeking to cancel it (for more on this see here and here). The technology to change just about any human cell into a super powerful kind of stem cell called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells or iPSC) has great …
The BioTime subsidiary, Asterias, has received FDA approval for a combined Phase I/IIa clinical trial of OPC1 for treating spinal cord injury. BioTime (BTX) and Asterias (ASTY) have picked up the portfolio of the former Geron clinical trial using oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPC). Asterias also acquired a second element from Geron in the form of a lung …
Interview with Jane Lebkowski on Asterias FDA-approved Stem Cell Trial Read More »
Who should you follow on Twitter amongst all the biologists out there? Actually, it very much depends on your interests and what you want to get out of it. Below is my list of top biologists/biology writers that I, with all my many biases (see below) recommend to you to follow on Twitter, in no particular order (actually …
Nikkei is reporting that the RIKEN internal attempt to replicate so-called STAP (acid bath) cells has failed. Update: apparently, although RIKEN calls the efforts preliminary, the team tried to make STAP an amazing 22 times and 22 times it failed. The rumors for weeks in the stem cell gapevine that RIKEN itself could not get …
RIKEN fails to reproduce STAP, big CDB shake up expected Read More »
Before I did the #icebucketchallenge, I challenged the leader of Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), Dr. Bob Lanza, to do the Ice Bucket Challenge. He did it and leading up to it he provided a quite articulate message for context (see video below). Bob is one very cool guy even without ice water. The purpose of the …
I was challenged to do the Ice Bucket Challenge by Roman Reed. I did it yesterday and can see it was mighty cold! Total shock, but fun. It sure wakes you up. Yeah, we have a drought but I did the big splash with tons of ice. I did the challenge in honor of patients …
Where I Do The Ice Bucket Challenge & Who Did I Challenge? Read More »
This is Part 2 of my interview with ALS and stem cell advocate, Ted Harada. You can read Part 1 of my talk with Ted on where things stand today with ALS, the FDA, and the Ice Bucket Challenge. What’s your opinion of the “Right To Try” law in Colorado and the concept more generally? …
Interview with Ted Harada Part 2: Right To Try, Neuralstem, and How He’s Doing Read More »
What are the most interesting questions for the stem cell field in 2014 right now? What’s on your mind? I’m not going to give this deep thought, but rather just list those questions bouncing around at the moment in no particular order. You can see a lot of translational/clinical things are on my mind. I’ve …
Key questions for stem cell field bouncing around on a Friday morning Read More »
Ted Harada is a wonderful patient advocate for the stem cell field and for the development of safe and effective stem cell products to treat ALS. Ted has ALS and received stem cell-based treatments for it with surprising, very encouraging results. The Harada family is pictured at left with Ted, his wife Michelle as well as …
Ted Harada Interview Part 1: Stem Cells for ALS, More Read More »