A days ago the news came about Mesoblast not getting FDA approval for its MSC product for GvHD. The MSC area has had a rough few years with various clinical trials including for COVID. The “stem cells for heart disease” arena has also had a tough time. Here’s more news along these lines: BioCardia pauses enrollment in PhIII trial of heart failure stem cell therapy, EndPoints.
A review board said the trial of the product CardiAMP was unlikely to succeed. (You might find this broader look to be useful: Stem cell therapy for heart disease: what you need to know.) Here’s the trial listing on Clinicaltrials.gov. BioCardia also has an MSC product called CardiAllo, which is a lab-expanded investigational allogeneic cell therapy.
More recommended reads
Illegal medical lab containing bioengineered mice and infectious agents including HIV and herpes discovered in California, Insider. What in the world were these folks thinking? Apparently the Feds are investigating this crazy situation. From coverage:
“The lab was run under a company called Prestige Biotech unlicensed for business in California, whose president Xiuquin Yao said was a successor to the now-defunct company Universal Meditech Inc.”
Family of Henrietta Lacks Settles with Biotech Company That Used Her Cells, NYT. The Lacks family prevailed in a lawsuit against Thermo Fisher. Expect other similar suits.
In vivo Delivery of Therapeutic Molecules by Transplantation of Genome-Edited Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, Cell Transplantation. Notably, all the transplanted mice got teratoma. Could pre-differentiation address this issue for more translational potential? It’s still intriguing to think about cellular delivery of drugs in vivo.
Stem Cell Therapy May Restore Fertility After Ovarian Failure, Technology Networks.
Science Corrects Itself, Right? A Scandal at Stanford Says It Doesn’t, Sci Am. This piece centers on the resignation of Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Stanford’s president over serious publication issues.
Blood of Young Mice Extends Life in the Old, NYT. Nice coverage from Carl Zimmer. There’s been so much young blood research over the years in mice. However, most of it has been looking at markers of aging and it’s entirely unclear if there’s relevance to humans. This new study looked at murine life expectancy and found a modest increase.
Lineage Cell CEO says that cell therapy isn’t about the ‘magic’ of stem cells – it’s about how you control them, Longevity.Technology. This is an interesting interview with Brian Culley. I agree there’s too much hype out there.
In my view, one of the traps is some cell therapy biotechs taking a spaghetti-against-the-wall approach of throwing their investigational cell therapy against too many health conditions in trials, some of which don’t have as solid rationales.