It’s been a busy few weeks for the stem cell field. Below are some news briefs on developments. RetractionWatch reports that Piero Anversa is leaving Harvard/Brigham and Women’s Hospital after an investigation and dismissed lawsuit he filed against the institution. All still quiet on the STAP cell front at the same institutions. There’s some more …
Stem Cell News Briefs: Anversa, Japan Regs, Ocata Suit, More Read More »
Astellas Pharma is on track to purchase Ocata Therapeutics (formerly Advanced Cell Technology). This has stirred a lot of strong feelings amongst investors in Ocata. (Update, now almost 5 years later, the Ocata vision program is still not going full steam ahead at its new owner it seems). I’ve also been wondering what exactly is …
What is Astellas Pharma, the purchaser of Ocata? Read More »
I asked Ocata CSO, Bob Lanza, for a comment on the big news of the acquisition of the company by Astellas. Here’s what he had to say: “I can say that this is an exciting time for regenerative medicine. The merger should greatly accelerate the pace of discovery, and, I hope, lead to treatments for …
Brief quote from Bob Lanza on Ocata acquisition by Astellas Read More »
Bombshell news in the stem cell field as Ocata Therapeutics (OCAT; formerly Advanced Cell Technology or ACT) is reportedly to be acquired by Astellas Pharma, Inc. The offer for purchase of OCAT will be $8.50/share or almost $380 million. For more details see this detailed PDF from Astellas. This quote on the deal form Ocata: “Paul …
Ocata bought by Astellas of Japan: initial perspectives on end of an era Read More »
We’ve been hearing a lot this week about an important new clinical study for vision loss (macular degeneration) in the UK. This team is using retinal pigmented epithelial cells (RPEs) made from embryonic stem cells (ESC). They are now testing safety. The new work in the UK is Moorfields Eye Hospital is a great addition …
New UK trial & Ocata: stem cell hope on vision impairment Read More »
Here is a link to the Ocata website, marking the start of a new era for what was formerly Advanced Cell Technology or ACT. It’s been a big summer for stem cell biotech Advanced Cell Technology (ACT; stock ACTCD) as it continues what I would call a process of reinventing itself. What’s been happening? ACT recently …
ACT reinventing itself with new name Ocata Therapeutics Read More »
Toward the end of each year, I make stem cell & regenerative medicine predictions for the coming year. It’s a fun tradition here on The Niche that goes way back. The stem cell field has changed dramatically as reflected in each year’s predictions. Here’s a list of past predictions with my grades of how they …
2023 stem cell & regenerative medicine predictions Read More »
The recent news of Vertex Pharma buying small stem cell biotech ViaCyte and Doug Melton moving to Vertex brought to mind an old stem cell biotech called Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) and its leader, stem cell biologist Dr. Robert Lanza. Years ago, big pharma firm Astellas bought ACT and Lanza moved to be a leader of regenerative …
ViaCyte is one of the most exciting stem cell and regenerative medicine biotech companies so I like to try to check in with them regularly. Today’s post is my new interview with ViaCyte leader Paul Laikind on recent developments. We had a great chat about the science and how things are looking upbeat for the …
ViaCyte Q&A: CRISPR Tx quick progress, ongoing diabetes trial, & more Read More »
What new papers and news in the stem cell sphere caught your eye? Here are some recent items that seem notable to me. Diabetes relief in mice by glucose-sensing insulin-secreting human α-cells. This paper reports cellular reprogramming to insulin-producing cells in mice. They reprogrammed α-cells with Pdx1 and MafA proteins. ‘Mitophagy inhibits amyloid-β and tau pathology and reverses …
Recent stem cell pubs & news: reprogramming, chromatin, single-cell, Astellas, & more Read More »