What if you could get 8-year grants to do whatever biomedical research you wanted? This sounds like a dream for many of us in the life sciences, but the first news item this week is all about such a potential new funding approach. The item especially caught my eye as I’m going to be doing […]
Weekly reads: hydra heads, iblastoids, new 8-year grants Read More »
Stem cell clinic firms often come and go rather quickly, but a few like Regenexx have persisted. It’s even become a brand name. I’ve been writing here on The Niche for more than twelve years about stem cell clinics. Regenexx has been around that whole time. Along with its founder Dr. Chris Centeno. Patients have
Fact-checking Regenexx: reviews, data & cost Read More »
Anyone with a seemingly only semi-functional nervous system now post-election might be turning to science to help their brains bounce back. Here are some of the things I’ve been reading or hope to soon. In good news for the stem cell and regenerative medicine field, especially here in California, it looks like us California voters
What do a Panama stem cell clinic and the Duke Autism Center have in common? More than I might have imagined. It’s a remarkable story that needs telling. Duke Autism Center There is a puzzle when it comes to the controversial idea of using cord blood for autism. Why? Because two of the strongest proponents
Duke Autism Center has Panama clinic to thank for $10s millions? Read More »
What are you reading these days and does it include topics like cell therapies for COVID-19, ALS, regenerative potential of fibroblasts, and why Zoom meetings are so tiring for the brain? I cover those topics and more below with recommended reads including papers and media items. Here’s last week’s recommended reads. Here’s to fibroblasts, which
Weekend recommended reads: Athersys, ALS, COVID-19, Fibroblasts, Zoom brain Read More »
“HSCT Chicago Clinic Closing!” is the startling header in all caps on a patient-run Facebook page about a stem cell therapy clinical trial program at Northwestern University. What’s going on? Unfortunately, the promising field of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune diseases seems to have suffered an unexpected setback
Northwestern abruptly ending Burt HSCT autoimmune trials Read More »
Magenta Therapeutics is a biotech company with a portfolio including stem cell products. Their most well known investigational drug product is an expanded umbilical cord stem cell product called MGTA-456, an “ex-Novartis” product. Magenta just released new trial data on MGTA-456, which I see as a case of good news-bad news, and investors seem to
Magenta Therapeutics Good News-Bad News Trial Data Read More »
One of the most famous living biological scientists, Sir Ian Wilmut, just announced that he has Parkinson’s Disease. I wish him the best in dealing with this illness. Wilmut is very well-known for having cloned the first mammal, Dolly the Sheep. This work followed on the earlier breakthrough by Sir John Gurdon of cloning the
Ian Wilmut, who cloned Dolly, opens up about his Parkinson’s Disease Read More »
Australian stem cell biotech Mesoblast announced that it has received regenerative medicine advanced therapy (RMAT) designation from the U.S. FDA. This is very good news for the company and an encouraging development for the field. Interestingly, last month the FDA clarified that there is expanded RMAT designation that can include gene therapies too. At the Meeting
Mesoblast gets FDA RMAT; List of 10 total designations so far Read More »
I am often critical of for-profit stem cell clinics on this blog for numerous reasons. For instance, one thing that concerns me greatly about these clinics is that they charge patients to get experimental “treatments” that have not been proven to be safe or effective. But as some patients have pointed out to me over the
Huge clinical trial patient fees allowed by FDA at times, details often secret Read More »