STEM CELL STOCKS

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News Release
Geron Collaborators Publish Data on hESC-Derived Glial Progenitor Cell Therapy in Cervical Spinal Cord Injury

Data Provide Preclinical Proof-of-Concept to Support Clinical Development of GRNOPC1 in Patients with Cervical Spinal Cord Injuries

MENLO PARK, Calif., November 11, 2009 - Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN) ....

"We are excited by Dr. Keirstead's study in the cervical injury model," said Thomas B. Okarma, Ph.D., M.D., Geron's president and chief executive officer. "These preclinical studies demonstrate that transplantation of hESC-derived OPCs resulted in sparing of spinal cord tissue in the cervical lesion site. This sparing starts very soon after injection and importantly, results in the preservation of motor neurons which is correlated to recovery of forelimb movement. Our own IND-enabling safety and efficacy studies with GRNOPC1 in a cervical injury model are ongoing and will be submitted to the FDA upon completion."

http://tinyurl.com/yzxqz7e

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This should be good for research and sector:

First New Embryonic Stem Cell Lines Approved for U.S. Funding




By Rob Waters

Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Thirteen human embryonic stem cell lines were approved for use by U.S.-funded researchers today, the first of hundreds of new cell colonies that may become available under new polices promised by President Barack Obama.

The newly approved lines were created by researchers at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Rockefeller University, in New York, using private donations during the eight years that federal funding for stem-cell research was restricted by former President George W. Bush. The approval of the lines was announced today by Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, in a telephone briefing with reporters.

Hundreds of new lines are being reviewed or have been submitted for review by to see if they meet ethical guidelines announced by the health agency in April, according to the NIH Web site. Obama pledged to reverse Bush administration limits on stem-cell funding during his campagin for president. Congress twice voted to overturn the Bush restrictions, and measures were vetoed by Bush both times.

The newly approved lines were created by researchers at Harvard and Rockefeller Universities using embryos left over at fertility clinics and with private donations during the eight years that federal funding for stem-cell research was sharply restricted by former President George W. Bush.

Embryonic stem cells, taken from days-old human embryos and kept alive in solution, have the ability to turn into roughly 200 cell types in the body. Their use is opposed by some people because their extraction causes the destruction of the embryo.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Waters in San Francisco at rwaters5@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: December 2, 2009 12:33 EST

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Wouldn't it be a major accomplishment if we got health care costs down through innovation? .....


WASHINGTON -- The National Institutes of Health approved 13 human embryonic stem-cell lines for use in federally funded research, a move that cheered investors in the politically charged field.

The NIH announcement follows President Barack Obama's decision in March to lift restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. President George W. Bush had allowed such funding but limited it to 21 stem-cell lines already in place as of August 2001, saying he didn't want a federal incentive for more embryos to be destroyed.

NIH Director Francis Collins said the 13 stem-cell lines were created in a manner that was "beyond reproach" and "ethically defensible."

Embryonic stem cells can develop into many types of tissue and are thought to hold promise in treating a variety of diseases, although actual applications are still years from approval. Embryos used for research generally are donated by couples who created more than they needed during fertility treatments.

Children's Hospital in Boston developed 11 of the approved lines and Rockefeller University in New York City developed two. The NIH is reviewing another 96 lines, and Dr. Collins said some new lines may be approved as soon as Friday.

Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the secretariat of pro-life activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, criticized the NIH move, saying it "encourages scientists to keep destroying live human embryos for their stem cells to qualify for federal grants."

Dr. Collins said there are already 31 NIH grants approved to use stem-cell lines. One grantee will use the stem cells to determine if heart tissue can be regenerated following a heart attack, he said.

Opponents of embryonic stem-cell research say other kinds of stem cells that don't present ethical issues show promise in research, including stem cells drawn from adults and cells from adult tissue that can be genetically altered to return to an embryonic-like state.

"The science has moved on, and the political agenda is lagging behind," said Mr. Doerflinger.

Shares of a few small biotechnology companies that specialize in stem cells rose on Wednesday's news. Geron Corp. shares jumped 14% to $6.20. The company has received Food and Drug Administration approval to conduct a human trial of a treatment for spinal-cord injuries derived from embryonic stem cells.

George Q. Daley, the doctor at Children's Hospital in Boston who developed the stem-cell lines approved Wednesday, said he used only embryos that were "essentially destined for waste." He said the embryos were considered of "low grade," meaning they were less likely to produce a pregnancy.

Dr. Daley said the process for getting the embryos started in 2004. He said it took two years to get the appropriate consent before he could start working with the embryos.

He said he will use the stem-cell lines to study blood development and thinks they hold a lot of promise. "It's remarkable how many different areas of medicine these cells touch," he said.

He said he has created 100 vials of the stem-cells, which will be sold for a fee of $500 to qualified researchers who want to use them.

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Something to track...hope it works.

ROCKVILLE, Md., Dec. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Neuralstem, Inc. (NYSE Amex: CUR) today announced that its Phase I trial to treat Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) with its spinal cord stem cells has been approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. The trial, which was approved by the FDA in September, will take place at the Emory ALS Center, under the direction of Dr. Jonathan Glass M.D., Director of the Emory ALS Center, who will serve as the site Principal Investigator (PI).

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/200 ... CTH007LOGO )

The trial will study the safety of Neuralstem's cells and the surgical procedures and devices required for multiple injections of Neuralstem's cells directly into the grey matter of the spinal cord. The Emory ALS Center has posted the relevant trial information for patients on its website at http://www.neurology.emory.edu/ALS/Stem%20Cell.html. ALS affects roughly 30,000 people in the U.S., with about 7,000 new diagnoses per year.

"The commencement of the first trial using our stem cells, and the first ALS stem cell trial in the U.S., represents a significant step in regenerative medicine," said Richard Garr, Neuralstem CEO. "We look forward to working with the Emory ALS Center. We expect to begin treating patients with our stem cells in January. Again, patients who are interested should reach out directly to the Emory ALS Center."

http://tinyurl.com/yzpfrbh

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Be on the look out for more deals like this in the future:


UPDATE 1-Athersys inks deal with Pfizer on stem-cell therapy

* Pfizer to develop and market Athersys' Multistem

* Athersys to receive up-front payment of $6 mln

* Athersys to receive milestone payments of up to $105 mln

* Athersys shares double in pre-market trade

http://tinyurl.com/y9q2gcg

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Cord blood stem cell transplant hopes lifted

A technique which may eventually remove the need for matched bone marrow transplants has been used in humans for the first time.

It is hoped that "master cells" taken from umbilical cords could be used on any patient without rejection.

The latest advance, published in the journal Nature Medicine, greatly multiplies the tiny number of cells from the cord ready for a transplant.

http://tinyurl.com/y8hqf38

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Grant money could speed stem cell cures
State money from 2004's Proposition 71 is being channeled toward research with the most potential for near-term benefits.

"People are curing mice right and left," said the City of Hope neuroscientist. The real challenge is convincing the Food and Drug Administration to let her try this on people with brain tumors.

Reams of safety data must be amassed to satisfy the FDA. Scientists struggle to navigate all that red tape. Many don't even try.

Now the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has stepped in -- with an $18-million grant financed by state taxpayers, courtesy of 2004's Proposition 71, which created the state agency.

"If we went 10 years and had no clinical treatments, it would be a failure," said the institute's director, Alan Trounson, a stem cell pioneer from Australia. "We need to demonstrate that we are starting a whole new medical revolution."

A better therapy?

Count Karen Aboody among the impatient masses.

Watching her sister-in-law struggle with breast cancer that spread to the brain, she saw up close how the side effects of treatment can be as devastating as cancer itself. Aboody is convinced that stem cells can provide more effective, less debilitating therapies.

It all hinges on her discovery that neural stem cells flock to a chemical that cells make when they need new blood vessels. Tumors, which need blood to grow, release that chemical in abundance. And so stem cells flock to tumors.

Now she is using her Proposition 71 money to engineer human neural stem cells that produce a key enzyme. The cells are injected into a patient's brain, and a drug called CPT-11 is administered. As the enzyme and drug interact, they produce a powerful chemotherapy agent that kills tumor cells as they divide but leaves surrounding tissues intact.

http://tinyurl.com/yb6lsah

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Imagine what these guys could do with TARP $?


Monday, February 01, 2010
New Form of Stem Cell Communication Rescues Diseased Neurons
Source: Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute
Date: February 1, 2010

Summary:

LA JOLLA, Calif., -- Investigators at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham, formerly Burnham Institute for Medical Research), the Karolinska Institutet, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Harvard Medical School and Université Libre de Bruxelles have demonstrated in mouse models that transplanted stems cells, when in direct contact with diseased neurons, send signals through specialized channels that rescue the neurons from death. These direct cell-to-cell connections may also play a role in normal development by laying down the blueprint for more mature electrical connections between neurons and other cells. The research was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on February 1.








http://tinyurl.com/yztvxrv

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Want to change medicine?

Want to change the cost structure?

Want to help people?



Watch this:

Stem Cell Research on The Oprah Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uAVYsYWfGU

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Athersys Secures Stem Cell Patents and Stock Swells

Biopharmaceutical company Athersys (NASDAQ: ATHX) received a major boost in its stock price on February 10th, following the announcement that it had received US and European patents related to its MultiStem technology. Guess there’s nothing investors like more than learning your company has dibs on stem cells. MultiStem is a product that is essentially non-embryonic multipotent stem cells derived from the bone marrow of select human donors. Athersys is able to take these donated stem cells, isolate them, grow them, and then process them so they can be used in patients. A single donor could provide enough MultiStem doses for hundreds of thousands if not millions of recipients! Just as impressive, no immunosuppression or donor matching is needed when using MultiStem. Athersys is hoping to make their product the stem cell equivalent of Type O blood and is working with Pfizer, Angiotech and others to develop specific treatments. Let’s hope Athersys’s bump in stock price is a good sign that safe and effective stem cell treatments are coming to the mainstream soon.

http://tinyurl.com/ygbv7e9