After the COVID-19 pandemic started clinical trials quickly sprouted up to test various kinds of cell therapy for COVID-19 including stem cells. The most common rationale for this approach is to suppress damaging overactive immune responses. Trials of cell therapy for COVID-19 including stem cells I’ve written quite a lot about these cellular medicine and […]
Our new paper assessing trials of cell therapy for COVID-19 Read More »
It’s always great when there’s good news in the stem cell field and a new trial of stem cells for spina bifida here at UC Davis School of Medicine is very encouraging. So I’ll lead off with this story. Stem cells for spina bifida This pioneering work is led by Drs. Diana Farmer and Aijun
Weekly reads: stem cells for spina bifida & diabetes trials, pubs Read More »
Sometimes change takes a very long time, but with brain organoids or advocating for better information for patients at Clinicaltrials.gov, after waiting you can see some interesting developments. These are two of the regenerative medicine stories of the week, along with some striking research papers. Clinicaltrials.gov Some of us have been advocating for improvements at
Regenerative reads: brain organoids, Clinicaltrials.gov change 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 »
Could various kinds of cell therapy help patients with COVID-19? A variety of cell therapies, mostly focused on mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs), have gotten cleared quickly in the U.S., China, and Israel and possibly other countries to be tested in patients with the novel coronavirus. I hope at least one proves helpful. It’s mostly a
Cell therapy trials for COVID-19 accelerate & some early reports Read More »
Could stem cells help patients with the novel coronavirus disease COVID-19? It’s hard to say at this point. Is it worth doing trials during the outbreak to find out? Three new clinical studies have popped up on Clinicaltrials.gov investigating the potential of stem cells to help patients infected with the new coronavirus 2019-nCoV. Update, the
COVID-19 stem cell trials pile up during novel coronavirus outbreak Read More »
The stem cell universe is populated by sometimes mysterious acronyms (see an image of a whole alphabet stem cell acronym soup), many of which refer to specific kinds of stem cells including one nebulous type called MUSE cells. MUSE cells clinical trials I’m not convinced that MUSE cells exist, but oddly there appear to be
MUSE cells are in 4 Japanese stem cell trials despite doubts Read More »
How much money and how many patients do stem cell clinics like San Diego’s StemGenex make each year? A new court document has some insights from an unexpected angle. I’ve been following StemGenex for years here on The Niche. It’s been a rollercoaster ride. Things hit a new low today, perhaps marking the operational end
StemGenex clinic bankruptcy reveals surprises including huge revenue 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 »
Clinicaltrials.gov is a wonderful resource for its many users, whether a patient searching for a clinical trial to actually participate in or someone doing research as I have done, but it’s not perfect and some sponsors have been breaking the rules regarding its use. It’s a major problem in fact. Based on new draft guidance
FDA outlines potential crackdown on Clinicaltrials.gov offenders Read More »