Chalk up another exciting development for the stem cell and regenerative medicine field in 2014 related to diabetes. It’s been a huge year. (Update: read my Fall 2019 interview with ViaCyte here.) For the first time ever, an ES cell-based device has been transplanted into a diabetic patient. ViaCyte working together with Dr. Robert Henry […]
Diabetes Stem Cell Milestone: ViaCyte Transplants 1st Patient Read More »
Type 1 Diabetes is a huge global problem. Where are the solutions that would compliment or replace insulin therapy for diabetics? There haven’t been too many that have gotten very far, which makes the news of a potential stem cell-based therapy moving along in the pipeline all the more exciting. ViaCyte (see more posts here,
Great News: FDA Nod For ViaCyte IND of Diabetes Stem Cell-Based Product Read More »
Allan Robins of Viacyte (pictured at left–sorry for the fuzzy image) and Paul Simmons of Mesoblast presented this morning at the CIRM Grantee Meeting. Both talks were outstanding. Robins went first. He started by saying how Viacyte had a productive pre-IND meeting with the FDA last year. I believe a target for them is to
Viacyte & Mesoblast present at CIRM Meeting 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,
Viacyte is one of the most exciting biotechs in the stem cells for diabetes space. Dr. Kevin D’Amour, Director of Stem Cell Research at Viacyte, gave an excellent, extremely interesting talk Friday morning: Developing an Encapsulated Stem Cell Therapy for Diabetes. Viacyte talk In the talk, Dr. D’Amour gave a very detailed description of their
What are the most significant stem cell and regenerative medicine good news stories of 2024? Since it has been an eventful year, there are many possibilities. Please see our poll at the bottom of this post and weigh in on what you think is the most important encouraging news. If you don’t see your choice
Poll on stem cell & regenerative medicine good news of 2024 Read More »
New research on stem cell patches is exciting. However, more broadly, “stem cell patches” can mean very different things. What I’m talking about here are the types of patches that can repair holes or other problems with tissues. This is a powerful regenerative approach. In contrast, I’m not a fan of the type of stem cell
Weekly reads: stem cell patches, helicase editing, hearing loss, Astellas, Dr. No Read More »
People often ask me what is the most promising new cell therapy and while it is difficult to choose just one, I often highlight the promise of stem cells for diabetes. Here in the U.S., early data from diabetes clinical trials by Vertex look encouraging. Other teams worldwide are also working in this space and
How is research looking on stem cells for diabetes? I’m feeling more encouraged about the clinical research in that area. Before we jump into that let’s talk about two other things. The big news of the week was the felony plea deal by Liveyon’s John Kosolcharoen to charges related to marketing an unapproved cell therapy
The biotechs Vertex and CRISPR Therapeutics have an interesting relationship as biotechs. They are partners are multiple levels but also are very different as companies including in size. There’s been a key development in one of their partnerships. Before we jump into that, please check out the video version of my 20 stem cell and
Weekly reads: Vertex & CRISPR Therapeutics, Arnold Caplan death, MS genetics Read More »