How might Trump’s nominee to lead the FDA, Martin Makary, change the agency? Should we be worried or hopeful? I’ve been closely following the FDA and its commissioners ever since I started The Niche in 2010. I’ve been particularly interested in how these leaders impacted FDA actions on cell and gene therapies. How might Makaray […]
What you need to know about Martin Makary and planning for the Trump 2.0 FDA Read More »
It’s been a long saga for the FDA and the unproven stem cell clinic group called Cell Surgical Network, headquartered in Beverly Hills. A court case involving the two has been unfolding for many years. It has big implications for agency authority and the hundreds of stem cell clinics across the U.S. The case took
I think the FDA has been holding its breath on one level for about two years. How freely could it regulate certain unproven fat cell therapies sold by more than a hundred clinics throughout the US? This authority hung in the balance. Now the agency just got a federal court ruling that could free them
FDA wins big in key federal stem cell clinic court case Read More »
FDA Commissioners including Robert Califf have radically different approaches to the job including oversight of marketing of unproven stem cells. As to stem cell clinics, some have been very engaged, while others seem the opposite. During his second go as FDA Commissioner, Robert Califf has been vocal about many topics. However, as best as I
Silence from FDA Commissioner Robert Califf on stem cell clinics is a problem Read More »
I recently interviewed Kyle Cetrulo of the Perinatal Stem Cell Society. This organization seeks to catalyze big changes in stem cell use and clinical trials in the U.S. In the interview, we touched on many topics including FDA oversight of the cell therapy space. Some of this discussion was in reaction to the new Utah
Concerns after interview with Kyle Cetrulo of Perinatal Stem Cell Society Read More »
The Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies or AABB recently had a very useful Q&A with the FDA on cord blood use. There are some important new things from the FDA on the marketing and use of cord blood in there. The agency was also quite blunt in some ways about the challenges,
Surprising new FDA remarks to AABB on cord biologics misuse & stem cell clinics Read More »
BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics is developing Nurown, an investigational therapy intended for treating ALS. I recently posted about BrainStorm and its prospects for providing real hope on stem cells for ALS. I see it as a long shot. The ALS community needs real hope, but one challenge is determining how good clinical data have to be to
BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Hail Mary with FDA on Nurown for ALS Read More »
It feels like I’ve been writing about the Florida clinic US Stem Cell for a very long time. The FDA has been aware of them for about as long. It was only after reports of patient injuries that the FDA at last took action on US Stem Cell and its subsidiary US Stem Cell Clinic. Several
Did US Stem Cell Clinic defy FDA injunction? New injured patient suit sparks questions Read More »
I wrote recently about how political pressure on FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn in 2020 may have helped the Texas firm Direct Biologics move their product ExoFlo forward inside the agency. Today I analyze the ExoFlo Phase I clinical trial paper used in that push on Hahn to get the firm the IND for a Phase II
Review of ExoFlo paper used to push Direct Biologics IND inside FDA finds red flags Read More »
An FDA FOIA dump of text messages of former Commissioner Stephen Hahn suggests that a Texas regenerative firm called Direct Biologics benefited from political pressure on him in mid-2020. Then he was asked again to help in early 2021. This was shortly before he resigned at the start of the Biden Administration. The push came from
FDA leader Stephen Hahn was pressured to aid Texas firm Direct Biologics Read More »