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 cells (RPEs) for treatment of multiple kinds of macular degeneration. These products were advancing in promising clinical trials and had demonstrated good safety profiles. After the purchase of Ocata by …Read More
dry AMD stem cells
Stem cell studies continue to make big news with a mixed bag of trends, and some good stem cell news and others not so much. Mesoblast ($MESO) had its stock suspended for quite so time recently in anticipation of a big announcement. When that news came today it was discouraging in the form of its partner Teva choosing to end their relationship with Mesoblast on a stem cell heart disease trial. Mesoblast spun this as something good that they regained the rights from Teva, but investors …Read More
Masayo Takahashi (高橋 政代) on IPSC Trial for Macular Degeneration By Michael Cea Stem Cell Analyst & Advocate (editor’s note: piece was originally posted on Michael’s blog here; follow Michael on Twitter @msemporda) Having followed closely the developments in programs using pluripotent based therapeutics I was fortunate during ISSCR2015 to have the opportunity to sit down with Dr Masayo Takahashi to discuss her pioneering efforts to translate Shinya Yamanaka’s groundbreaking iPS technology for debilitating retinal conditions. As most everyone is aware, the first iteration of the …Read More