Stem cell biotech, Advanced Cell Technology (ACT; stock symbol ACTC), has started off 2014 with indications that it is in a phase of rapid evolution. Some changes, such as today’s announced departure of now former CEO Gary Rabin (see my 2013 interview with him here), are already in the public domain, but other big developments are likely based on private conversations. ACT’s CFO and executive VP, Edward Myles, will serve as interim president during a search to replace Rabin, according to WBJournal. Miles is …Read More
Gary Rabin
Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) has confirmed that one of the patient in a clinical trial that it is running for treatment of macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness worldwide, has shown a striking improvement in vision. The patient reportedly had 20/400 vision prior to treatment and now has 20/40 vision after treatment. ACT uses an embryonic stem cell-based therapy composed of retinal pigmented epithelial cells. The improvement in vision is unlikely to be due to chance, however it is still unclear how promising this …Read More
One of the more exciting stem cell biotechs out there today is Advanced Cell Technology (ACT). At this time ACT has the only two ES cell-based FDA-approved clinical trials ongoing and so far they have looked quite promising in terms of preliminary safety data. However, ACT has much more in the pipeline including potentially iPS cell-related products such as platelets. I interviewed ACT CEO and Chairman, Gary Rabin, to get the latest on the company and its future. I wanted to thank Gary and …Read More