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 …
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 »
Stem cell news is always burbling up, sometimes right there in front of us on the web and other times via networks of people. Astellas news. Some may remember there used to be this pioneering stem cell biotech called ACT, which then became Ocata, and finally was acquired by the big company Astellas. One of …
Stem cell news bites: Astellas trial, cystic fibrosis claim, a few cool papers Read More »
Late in 2015, one of the pioneering stem cell and regenerative medicine biotechs, Ocata Therapeutics (fka as ACT or Advanced Cell Technology) was acquired by Astellas Pharma. At the time of purchase, Ocata had a number of areas of focus, but was most closely followed for its development of human embryonic stem cell-based retinal pigmented epithelial …
Brief update from Bob Lanza on Astellas stem cell program 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 »
Every year I make stem cell and regenerative medicine predictions. Looking at my predictions for 2023, they reflect a wild year but in many ways a good one overall. Below I have graded my 2023 predictions. Overall, my crystal ball gave solid results. Some of the predictions have been condensed to keep things concise, but you …
2023 stem cell predictions grades reflect wild year for regenerative medicine Read More »
Some folks can view data from early, small clinical trials too skeptically or overly enthusiastically, and maybe that’s going on with some preliminary results from Verve Therapeutics. Good news? Bad news? I’m going to start with two articles about the same news that have very different vibes. What do I think? On the whole, I …
Weekly reads: Verve Therapeutics, Casgevy UK OK, GDNF, MYC Read More »
I’ve written before about Liz Parrish and her life-extension firm BioViva. Now they appear to have connections with another entity called Integrated Health Systems or IHS, according to a new Wired article. Some of what is going on with IHS and maybe BioViva in Mexico seems extremely risky to me. BioViva, Parrish, and Integrated Health Systems The …
Weekly reads: BioViva & life-extension clinic, RMATs, universal cells Read More »