Many of us have been discouraged by Geron decision to end their stem cell program, which included products based on human embryonic stem (ES) cells, but let’s keep some perspective on this and not give up hope. The opponents of hope want us to give up. They who have waged their own self-proclaimed war on […]
Perspectives on Geron ending stem cell program Read More »
The grapevine is afire with the Geron news and there are many interpretations out there of what it means and why it happened. Based on several accounts from folks who remain anonymous, here is the most probable prediction of what happened to lead us to yesterday’s announcement. Geron has been worried for a long time
The Scarlett letter? What the experts really think about Geron Read More »
Reportedly, Geron has decided to only focus on cancer research and for financial reasons has shut down its hESC trial for spinal cord injury. This is a very sad day for stem cell science. (Update in 2020: the firm still exists, but is working in different areas. The stock has struggled.) No more spinal cord
Bad news as Geron to quit hESC SCI trial for financial reasons Read More »
What’s up with Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) and Geron? ACT announced today that it has treated two patients in its clinical trials: one for Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy (see official trial page for a lot more info) and one for Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration (see official trial page here for a lot more info). The patients underwent
The latest scoop on ACT and Geron Read More »
What will we define as a success for any given stem cell biotech like ViaCyte? In academia, even if we do pre-clinical, translational kind of biomedical sciences, we still do not often think about what it takes to succeed in industry. Even if we very much want our research to make a difference for patients,
Two companies, Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) and Geron, both HQ’d here in California, have FDA-approved early stage clinical trials in the works. Geron’s trial has already started and reportedly now has enrolled at least two patients. The trial is of course for the safety of Geron’s GRNOPC1 oligodendrocyte product made from human ES cells for
Advanced Cell Technology and Geron: allies or competitors? Read More »
What is the valley of death of science and biotech? For those of us conducting stem cell research, especially human stem cell research, I don’t have to tell you how expensive it is. Even just doing pre-clinical or basic science research costs a fortune. When you start talking about the kind of pre-clinical research specifically
The valley of death: stem cells, biotechs, and money Read More »
How is Geron doing along with other stem cell biotechs? What’s going on these days with biotech companies working on stem cell-based products? Geron and ACT Geron’s and Advanced Cell Technology (ACT)’s FDA-approved trials presumably continue. As expected, no news yet. It’s too soon. Two important questions regarding both these companies are (1) did they
Stem cell biotech updates: Geron, ACT, Neuralstem, Pfizer Read More »
The FDA has given Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) the go ahead to begin their clinical trial using retinal progenitor cells derived from hESC by clearing the company’s IND application, bringing hope to those with vision loss and even blindness. The trial will be a combined Phase I/II to treat Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy and has huge