The big news broke Friday that the FDA approved two new gene therapies for sickle cell disease. While the approvals were expected and the actual use of these treatments will be complex on several levels, this is a historic development. 2 FDA-approved gene therapies for sickle cell Friday’s news follows on recent UK approval for …
Dr. Paolo Macchiarini exemplifies how things can change quickly in the stem cell world and go from sky highs to deep lows. Stem cell rollercoasters Over the years, a few academic stem cell researchers as well as some operators in the unproven clinic sphere have had dizzying ups and downs. There’s John Kosolcharoen. His company …
Paolo Macchiarini guilty in criminal stem cell case but does a Houdini again Read More »
Before starting the umbilical cord cell supplier and marketing firm Liveyon, John Kosolcharoen was involved in some alleged health care fraud. The feds brought a case against him related to prescription drugs. Older case coming to a head As Liveyon was having its misadventures in the stem cell clinic sphere, the status of that past …
Feds want $3M, prison for Liveyon founder in old fraud case Read More »
When I read about Elizabeth Holmes and her blood testing startup Theranos I see parallels to hucksters in the arena of stem cells and cell therapy. I’m thinking especially of the unproven stem cell clinics out there. It goes farther than that though too, including people who aren’t hucksters at all but get caught up …
Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos, & lessons for the stem cell field Read More »
Liveyon is a cord blood product marketer that distributed a batch of cells a couple of years back that led to many patients being hospitalized with infections. Some had sepsis and ended up in the ICU. It was thought at the time that about a dozen patients who had been injected with the Liveyon product …
Liveyon product hurt many more patients says new CDC study Read More »
Although in my years as a stem cell biologist I haven’t yet been in a leadership role at the International Society for Stem Cell Research or ISSCR, unproven stem cell clinics have claimed that I somehow speak for ISSCR. I am just a standard member of the group like thousands of other researchers. In fact, …
Recommended reads: ISSCR guidelines pushback, TB outbreak from regen product, pubs Read More »
Remember our old friends Liveyon? Their leader John Kosolcharoen? Liveyon’s continuing metamorphosis This biologics supply firm has gone through several stages of corporate metamorphosis as a supplier of biologics including at first a purported living umbilical cord stem cell product. That stem cell thrust ultimately landed a dozen or more people in the hospital as …
Liveyon is back (again) with unproven exosome product Read More »
A new film-commercial entitled Awakening pitches unproven exosomes and has already been possibly tied to the troubled stem cell supplier firm Liveyon, but now it seems that the links go far deeper including a possible relative of Liveyon leader John Kosolcharoen. Even so, Kosolcharoen (pictured with another Liveyon leader Alan Gaveck below in a web …
More Liveyon links to exosome Awakening film include potential relative Read More »
What’s Liveyon up to these days? A new, somewhat mysterious short film that serves as an advertisement for unproven exosomes has some of us scratching our heads. It seems to point to Liveyon. Can you guys as readers of The Niche help solve the puzzle of who’s behind this wild “cinematic commercial” and what the …
Mystery of wild sci-fi film ad for unproven exosomes: Liveyon? Read More »
Umbilical “stem cell” supplier Liveyon has suspended sales of its products according to the WaPo after a harsh FDA warning letter. While not fully shutting off the tap to the perinatal stem cell clinic universe, as other suppliers including in Utah seem to be continuing, this Liveyon voluntary hold will equal a major reduction in …
Why did clinic supplier Liveyon halt sales but others kept going despite FDA? Read More »