I recently stumbled on something called Helixa Cruises. It kind of blew my mind and not in a good way.
As I’ve said before, I sometimes think that the stem cell arena can no longer shock me, but big surprises are still out there and new ones emerge.
The other day I had this funny idea for a cartoon of a cruise offering stem cell infusions. It was kind of a jokey thing at first. Then I suddenly realized it could be real now.
After all, at one point in the early days of The Niche I drew a cartoon (below) about a “magic” stem cell bus. It would be driving around offering people unproven stem cells right on the bus.
Then at some point there actually was a stem cell bus-like thing, a stem cell mobile, in Florida doing this kind of thing. When it comes to stem cells, truth is at least as strange as fiction.
A quick search of the web found what appears to be a stem cell cruise. Are you shocked or not really?
Helixa Cruises
Something called Helixa Cruises markets cruises where you can get some kinds of stem cells. You can bank cells too. It has other more surprising offerings as well.
A motto or statement from the site, “Cell Therapy is the Future, Let’s Journey Together.” The firm’s website also says, “Revolutionizing healthcare with the world’s first floating medical sanctuaries, delivering cutting-edge treatments and hope in international waters.” Of course, one practical advantage for such a company is that things like FDA regulations (or similar ones in place in other countries, the EU, etc.) don’t seem to apply in international waters.
I’m imagining someone on a cruise with a margarita in one hand and an IV pumping some kind of cells into the other arm.
Are the cells on this cruise actual stem cells? Remember that MSCs are mostly not stem cells. Are the cells at sea alive? It’s hard to be sure what is being offered here.
Helixa offering unproven CRISPR at sea?
Thinking unproven stem cells were plenty to worry about, I then scrolled down and found Helixa Cruises saying it also offers CRISPR gene editing “therapy”:
“This unprecedented initiative allows patients to access cutting-edge gene therapies in a highly controlled and advanced environment while benefiting from the flexibility of international waters. Utilizing the latest advancements in CRISPR-Cas9, base editing, and prime editing, Helixa offers targeted genetic modifications to treat hereditary diseases, rare disorders, and age-related conditions at a molecular level.”
What exactly would this gene editing be? CRISPR of myostatin? From the site:
“Conditions such as cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, sickle cell anemia, and others can be addressed through targeted gene therapy. This treatment, only available aboard Helixa Cruises, could offer life-changing solutions for families with hereditary conditions.”
This all sounds potentially very unsafe to me. Unproven, unregulated gene therapies and gene editing can have many risks including cancer.
Even FDA-approved gene and cell therapies come with some serious risks. Imagine with little if any oversight. As a side note, I also have been concerned about an unproven oligonucleotide therapy called SOT Therapy or Q-REstrain sold at clinics here in the U.S. and in other countries including for cancer. A recent Nevada biologics law okayed, at least at the state level, unproven gene therapies too that might include Q-REsrain.
Who’s behind Helixa Cruises & what about expertise?
I couldn’t find the names of any Helixa Cruises leaders or even employees listed on the web. Nothing on LinkedIn.
So is this real? Is it just an aspirational idea for the future?
With no identification of leadership, scientists, or physicians, I have serious doubts about the expertise that will be at work here should this kind of cruise end up launching.
The website also just has stock or AI-generated photos. If a company is going to offer stem cell and gene editing “therapies” with real hope of helping people safely, they would need to be upfront about who the leaders are, their training and expertise, and why potential customers should trust them.
So far, I don’t see that here.
If we’ve had stem cell mobiles and now possible stem cell and CRISPR cruises, what’s next? Stem cell injections in space? CRISPR on the moon?
What are you doing to get FDA approval WITH PHASE 3 Clinical Trials so that source and dosage can be standardized and insurance paid. Meanwhile people suffer and die.
@John, Yes, we need more Phase 3 trials but the road to such a trial is very challenging and requires great data. We can’t just force this to happen and be successful.
Despite all the brilliant scientists coming up with cool ideas, doing trials, etc., most trials fail, including trials of stem cells and other cell therapies. Why? Because the biological product in question just isn’t safe and effective for a certain health issue.
At the same time we have all these clinic folks already trying to profit from dubious at best cell injections that have a much great chance of doing harm than good. We can’t ignore that.
So, John, what do you suggest we do to try to get more cleared late stage trials and approved therapies?
Lower standards at the FDA?
Somehow be smarter about which candidate cells (or other biologics) are the best ones to trial?
I’m not sure there’s a clever short-cut around the hard work and clinical research needed.
Sounds a bit like Minicircle.