Stem Cell Therapy – StemCell Therapy

California Legislation Removing Ban on Payments for Eggs for Research Heads to Governor

♫ Sunday, July 14th, 2013

Legislation to allow women in
California to be paid for their eggs for scientific research is on
its way to Gov. Jerry Brown following final legislative approval last
week.

Sponsors of the bill, a national
fertility industry organization, expect the governor later this month
to sign the measure, which would go into effect next year.

The measure, AB 926 by Assemblywoman
Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, would repeal a ban on payments to women who
provide eggs for scientific research. However, the measure would not
affect the ban on payments to egg providers in research funded by the
$3 billion California stem cell agency. That ban is covered by a
separate legal provision. Stem cell researchers around the country have complained that they they cannot get eggs without payment.

Women in California can be paid for
providing eggs for reproductive purposes. According to a legislative analysis, payments can run as high as $50,000 for women with special
characteristics but average around $9,000 for each session, which can
generate more than one egg.

The sponsor of the legislation is the
American Society for Reproductive Medicine of Alabama, whose members
represent a wide swath of the $5 billion-a-year fertility business.
The measure would open new business avenues for the industry.

Bonilla argues that the measure allows women to be treated on the same footing as men who provide sperm for
research and would encourage more research into reproductive health issues.

Opponents argue that the safety of the
egg production procedures has not been well-established including
their long-term impact. They also argue that allowing payment would
lead to exploitation of poor and minority women.

The bill received its final
legislative approval on July 1 when the Senate passed it on a 24-9
vote.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/2FyX5YnnQHA/california-legislation-removing-ban-on.html

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Eggs and Cash: Stem Cell Agency Considering Easing Restrictions on Stem Cell Lines Derived Using Payments

♫ Sunday, July 14th, 2013

The California stem cell agency is
moving to remove an absolute ban on use of stem cell lines derived
from eggs from women who have been paid to provide them.

The action comes as state legislation
is headed for Gov. Jerry Brown's desk that would permit payments for
eggs to be used in research that is not funded by the agency. The measure (AB926) would not alter the separate ban on egg payments
involving research funded by the $3 billion stem cell agency.

Under a proposal that will come before the agency's standards group July 24, CIRM's governing board could
approve the use of stem cell lines derived as a result of payment to
women. Board action would be based on whether stem cell lines would
“advance CIRM's mission” and would follow a staff evaluation
involving scientific and ethical issues.

Over recent years, stem cell
researchers around the country have reported that they are not able
to obtain sufficient eggs without payment. And earlier this year,
paid egg providers were used in research in Oregon that cloned human stem cells, a feat that researchers have struggled with for years.

A CIRM staff report said that the
Oregon research has “generated scientific interest among CIRM
grantees and the desire to utilize derived SCNT lines. CIRM’s
current policy prohibits the use of the (Oregon) SCNT lines because
oocyte donors were financially compensated. CIRM requests the Medical
and Ethical Standards Working Group (SWG) revaluate this prohibition
with regard to CIRM grantees ability to utilize the resulting lines
in light of recent scientific and policy developments.”

Last month, the California Stem Cell
Report queried the agency concerning earlier, sketchy information onthe CIRM blog about a possible change in its compensation rules. We
asked whether the agency was considering “sidestepping” the ban
on compensation. Kevin McCormack, a CIRM spokesman, said, “No, not
at all.” He said it would be premature to elaborate until a firm
proposal was ready.

The staff proposal to be considered on
July 24 said,

“Proposition 71’s 'prohibition on
compensation' compels the ICOC(the agency's governing board) to adopt
standards 'prohibiting compensation to research donors.' This
requirement has been consistently interpreted to prohibit the use of
CIRM funds to financially compensate oocyte (or other cell or tissue)
donors. In 2006, this interpretation was extended to exclude from
use, in CIRM-funded research, any stem cell line where research
donors were financially compensated, even if the derivation was done
without the use of CIRM funds. Proposition 71, however, does not
compel the ICOC (the agency's governing board) to prohibit the use of
stem cell lines where financial compensation is provided to the
oocyte donors, provided that CIRM funds are not used to compensate
the donors or derive the lines.”

The July 24 meeting will be held in San
Francisco. No remote teleconference locations have been announced. If approved, the changes would likely be considered July 25 by the full agency board.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/BF3kpSRnKXQ/eggs-and-cash-stem-cell-agency.html

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Sacramento Mental Health Advocate Appointed to Stem Cell Agency Board

♫ Sunday, July 14th, 2013

Al Rowlett
Turning Point photo

Sacramento mental health advocate Al
Rowlett has been named to the governing board of the $3 billion
California stem cell agency, it was announced today.

Rowlett replaces Jonathan Shestack on
the 29-member panel. Shestack had served on the board since 2004,
when the agency was created by the Proposition 71 ballot initiative.

Rowlett is chief operating officer of Turning Point Community Programs in Sacramento. He was appointed to
the CIRM board by California Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los
Angeles. Rowlett will fill one of the 10 patient advocate slots on
the board. He will be only African-American on the panel. The board
had also included one African-American, Ted Love, from 2004 to April
2012, when Love resigned.

Rowlett is no stranger to public and
governmental service. He is in his second term as a member of the Elk
Grove school board, the fifth largest school district in California.
He has worked for Turning Point since 1981.

CIRM's press release said Rowlett also
serves on several other boards including Child Abuse Prevention
Center, California Institute of Mental Health and is a commissioner
for the United States Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association
Certification Program. In 2007, Rowlett won the National Association
of Social Work- California and California State University – Heart
of Social Work Award and the Asian Pacific Community Counseling –
Inspirational Mental Health Leadership Award.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/C2aH568yoco/sacramento-mental-health-advocate.html

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TV News Piece on Pay-for-Eggs Airs in Los Angeles, San Francisco

♫ Sunday, July 14th, 2013

The California pay-for-eggs legislation
yesterday picked up some mainstream media coverage, including a
two-minute, 24-second segment on two major television stations in Los
Angeles and San Francisco.

The piece stands out because the
mainstream media has largely ignored the bill, with a couple of
exceptions. The piece is also exceptional because it appeared on TV
news, which reaches many more people than print media.

Nannette Miranda, Sacramento bureau
chief for KABC-TV in Los
Angeles, KGTV in
San Diego, KGO-TV in San
Francisco and KFSN-TV in Fresno, prepared the segment, which included on-camera interviews with both
supporters and opponents. The video appeared on KGO and KABC
and may well appear later on the other stations. It can be seen at
the end of this item.

The legislation, AB926 by Susan
Bonilla, D-Concord, would remove the ban in California on paying
women for their eggs for stem cell and other scientific research.
Women can already be paid for their eggs for fertility purposes.

Another piece on the bill appeared in
another mainstream media outlet this morning, the San Diego U-T.
Writing in an op-ed column, Leah Campbell said she sold her eggs at
age 25 and has since become infertile as the result of problems her
doctors believe involved the process of providing the eggs.

“Six months (after providing the
eggs) my body began to fail me. I had always been a healthy and
active woman, but suddenly I was crippled by pain and unable to live
the life I had once enjoyed. I was soon diagnosed with stage IV
endometriosis, a disease my doctors now believe was pushed into
overdrive as a result of the potent hormones involved in my egg
donation protocols.”

Campbell continued,

“AB 926 may open the doors for
increased fertility research, but the potential costs for women’s
lives and health far outweigh any compensation that could ever be
offered.”

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/uMnWUVrymr8/tv-news-piece-on-pay-for-eggs-airs-in.html

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Shestack Resignation Letter: Heartfelt and Eloquent

♫ Sunday, July 14th, 2013

Jon Shestack(l) with J.T. Thomas, chairman of
CIRM, at a 2012 board meeting
California Stem Cell Report photo

Patient advocate Jon Shestack , who
resigned this week as a director of the
California stem cell agency, was on board on Day One in December 2004
when the agency's work began with no offices, no desks, no chairs, no phones and
no ability to even write checks.

Shestack's appointment came as a result
of his work in the autism community. He and his wife, Portia Iversen,
founded Cure Autism Now in 1995. A Hollywood film producer, Shestack
rattled cages at CIRM from time to time during his eight years of
service. And earlier this week, he wrote a heartfelt, eloquent
resignation letter, which he provided to the California Stem Cell
Report. The full text can be found below. Here are some excerpts.

“Over eight years there were moments
that were inspiring, some were contentious, and there was a bruising
number of meetings but through it all, the board was involved,
passionate and, will forever be for me, the gold standard when it
comes to integrity.
“The same goes double for the staff –
truly the most excellent, devoted, committed group of people I
have ever had the pleasure of working with.”

“When I started at CIRM, my sweet son
with autism was 12. Now he is 21. Over eight years our family has
learned more about how many are the challenges that await him and how
few the opportunities he has to look forward to. We have seen his
world get smaller and smaller. While my son is special to me. He is
not unique. There are thousands and thousands affected by mental
illness who need a better life.
“Sometimes feel that I have failed
these people, in particular those affected by autism or cerebral
palsy. Though CIRM ran first-rate workshops on these disorders, we
did not do all we could to follow up, put out disease-specific RFAs
and get in proposals that addressed the workshop recommendations. I
wish I had been more persuasive."

“In the movies, the third act is
where the hero takes stock of all the previous wins and losses, all
the hardships and lessons learned, and she puts all that knowledge
together in new, and surprising ways until victory is within reach!
As CIRM enters its third act, I hope it will do the same. I hope it
will challenge itself, always put the urgency of the mission
ahead of everything else and be willing to question the policies that
have been so successful in the past, and consider that new ones may
be needed for the future.
“And this is the future as I see it
for CIRM. We will have faith, but we will continue to earn our
miracles We will use our hearts and our minds to rip those miracles
out of the dreamy future and make them real today. We will seek out
the best scientists and encourage them to use all their wisdom, art
and discernment to bring us cures. And when we have done that, we
will do it again the next day. We will be optimistic, but not
satisfied. We will question authority, despise complacency and above
all love those among us in need of healing--this is the obligation
without end, whose reward is also without end.”
Shestack
Resignation Letter

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/BaaZlqP9Q4s/shestack-resignation-letter-heartfelt.html

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Veto Campaign Launched on California Pay-For-Eggs Bill

♫ Sunday, July 14th, 2013

Opponents of the California
pay-for-eggs bill have kicked off a campaign to urge Gov. Jerry Brown to veto the industry-backed legislation.

The Center for Genetics and Society of
Berkeley yesterday posted a pitch on its website urging readers to
contact the governor's office by email, fax, phone or letter. The
target is a bill that would remove the ban in California on paying
women for their eggs for stem cell and other scientific research.
Women can already be paid for their eggs for fertility purposes.

Diane Tober, associate executive
director of the center, wrote,

“If you agree that more research on
short- and long-term risks is needed before expanding the market for
women’s eggs, please act quickly. Contact Governor Brown and ask
him to veto AB926.”

Also making the same pitch is the
Alliance for Humane Biology, another San Francisco Bay area
organization.

The bill, AB926 by Assemblywoman Susan
Bonilla, D-Concord, has literally been cloaked in motherhood/reproductive issues. The measure has easily swept through the legislature and is now on its
way to the governor. The bill is sponsored by the AssociationFew if any stem cell or other research
organizations have been heard from during hearings on the bill. (For
more information, see here, here and here.)

However, stem cell scientists have
complained in past years about the lack of eggs for research,
declaring that women want to be paid.

The measure would not affect the ban on
compensation for eggs in research funded by the $3 billion California
stem cell agency. However, the agency on July 24 will consider providing exceptions for stem cell lines derived from eggs that
involve compensation for women.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/OqoMeSiIO_c/veto-campaign-launched-on-california.html

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California Stem Cell Merger: Capricor and Niles Therapeutics

♫ Sunday, July 14th, 2013

Capricor, Inc., a Beverly Hills company
benefiting from $27 million from the California stem cell agency,
this week announced that it is merging with Niles Therapeutic, Inc.,
of San Mateo.

Linda Marban
Capricor photo

The Capricor story and its treatment
for heart disease have been highlighted (see here and here) by the $3
billion state research agency, which is partially funding a clinical
trial for the firm. The firm sprang from work by Eduardo Marban of
Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, one of Capricor's founders. He received
$6.9 million for his early and current work. Capricor was awarded
$19.8 million more.

Capricor, a privately held firm, and
the publicly traded Niles announced on Monday that they were merging.
The new company will be known as Capricor Therapeutics, Inc., and will
be based in San Mateo.

The new firm will be publicly traded
with Capricor CEO Linda Marban as the new CEO.

The new board of directors will have
two members from Niles and seven from Capricor, including its
executive chairman, Frank Litvack, who was an unsuccessful candidate for chairman of the stem cell agency board in 2011.

The merger press release said that the
new company “should
have better access to capital, more potential for steady pipeline
development and more risk diversification."

On completion of the merger, a joint
press release said,

“Nile
will issue to Capricor stockholders shares of Nile common stock such
that Capricor stockholders will own approximately 90% of the combined
company's outstanding shares, and Nile stockholders will own
approximately 10%, calculated in each case on a fully-diluted basis
assuming the issuance of shares underlying options and warrants.
Options of Capricor will be assumed by Nile and become options to
acquire stock of Nile.”

Linda Marban said,

"Capricor's
and Nile's product portfolios complement each other well, as our
therapies will address both the underlying causes and debilitating
effects of heart disease. Capricor's CDCs are allogeneic cardiac
derived stem cells that aim to attenuate and potentially improve
damage to the heart that can result in heart failure, while Nile's
cenderitide is intended to treat patients following hospital
discharge from an acute episode of heart failure."

Niles' stock price stood at $0.04
recently. Its 52 week high was $0.20 and the 52-week low was $0.02.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/qqVK630tSl0/california-stem-cell-merger-capricor.html

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Pay-for-Eggs Legislation: Strange Bedfellows and Existential Questions

♫ Sunday, July 14th, 2013

The California pay-for-eggs bill
today generated a feature article that said the legislation has
“sparked an unusual lineup of partisans on both sides and resonates
far beyond” the Golden State.

The piece by Alex Mathews on Capitol
Weekly, a news service specializing in California government and
political coverage, said,

“(C)omplicating the issue is
California’s role as a national leader in stem cell research, the
existential question of who or what constitutes a research subject,
and finally, the fact that compensation for fertility purposes is and
has been legal for years in California.”

Mathews was writing about the measure
(AB926) by Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, that removes a ban
in California on paying women for eggs for scientific research.
Currently women can be paid in California for providing eggs for IVF.
The measure would not alter a ban on compensation for eggs in
research financed by the $3 billion California stem cell agency.
However, later this month, the agency will consider modifying its position somewhat.

The bill has passed the legislature and
is on its way to Gov. Jerry Brown. The industry association
sponsoring the bill expects the governor to sign it later this month
although the governor, as a general rule, does not make public
commitments on legislation.

Mathews' article covered the background
and arguments on the bill and noted that it has received little
mainstream media attention.

Lisa Ikemoto
UC Davis photo

She also quoted Lisa Ikemoto, a law
professor and bioethicist at UC Davis, on the sensitive nature of the
issue. Ikemoto said,

“On the fertility side, it’s
politically hard to touch because it’s all around family formation.
Nobody wants to restrict family formation. On the research side, when
the issue of payment for eggs came up, it was connected with human
embryonic stem cell research, and human embryonic stem cell research
was politicized from the outset.”

Mathews also wrote about the strange
bedfellows opposing the bill. She said,

“Groups that fundamentally oppose
stem cell research such as the California Catholic Conference and
other pro-life groups are natural opponents of the bill, but they are
joined by a number of pro-choice groups who expressed concerns over
the limited research on the effects of egg donation on women’s
health.”

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/pskHpPceyco/pay-for-eggs-legislation-strange.html

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“Comfort News” for California’s Stem Cell Research Effort

♫ Sunday, July 14th, 2013

The California stem cell agency has
enjoyed a spate of good financial and scientific news this week from
the biotech industry as the research effort pushes on with its
mission of turning stem cells into cures.

The $3 billion agency is
scheduled to make its last grants in less than three years and, given
the glacial pace of medical research, needs all the help it can get
by then to bring a stem cell therapy close to the marketplace – the
promise it made to voters when the agency was created nine years ago.

CIRM, as the agency is known, requires
not only steady scientific progress but also a rosy outlook for the
industry, which has languished in past years as major investors
shunned the field. This week, CIRM garnered good news on both fronts.

There was enough so that the agency
even touted it on the agency's research blog in an item by
Neil Littman, CIRM's business development officer. He said it all
helps to leverage CIRM investments and create a favorable investment climate. The good news included yesterday's announcement that
Viacyte, Inc., of San Diego, Ca., has come up with $10.6
million needed to match a $10.1 million, much-ballyhooed award from CIRM last fall. The Viacyte financing
includes important support from Big Pharma, in the form of Johnson &
Johnson. CIRM has pumped a total of $39.4 million into Viacyte.

Another CIRM award winner,
Cellular Dynamics International, Inc., of Madison, Wisc., yesterday
announced its price on its upcoming stock offering to raise up to $53
million. Cellular Dynamics scored $16 million from the agency last
March.

The “comfort news” for CIRM also included Monday's announcement that Capricor, Inc., a private Beverly Hills company benefiting from $27 million from the California stem cell agency, is merging with publicly traded Niles Therapeutic, Inc., of San Mateo. The merger is aimed at providing better access to capital.

And then there was Tuesday's news that a $20 million CIRM disease team award is paying off with the beginning of a clinical trial by Calimmune of Tucson, Az. for an HIV treatment.

All on top of the news in June when bluebird bio of Masschusetts brought in $101 million on its stock offering. Bluebird is the recipient of a $9.4 million CIRM award.

The rosy news comes amid a generally
better outlook for biotech in general. John Carroll, editor of Fierce
Biotech, this week noted that there were only 11 biotech stock offerings last
year. He wrote,

“In the last 6 months, though, the
industry has seen a tremendous rebound, with almost twice that number
of IPOs in half the time. And there's no sign that the great leap
into the public market is waning, with 10 more IPOs in the queue.”

Carroll's comments were echoed in a
piece by Peter Winter on Bioworld headlined “Bubbleology and Biotech's Bull Run.”

All of this plays into what some might
call the “everybody's-doing-it dance" or the “lemming
syndrome,” depending on your point of view. The reality is that
big investors and venture capitalists are timid souls and need the
comfort of companionship-in-risk as they fork over tens or hundreds
of millions of dollars on something that may not pay off for a decade
or more. No one wants to be the out-front pioneer who winds up with
financial arrows in his or her back. Being in a crowd provides an
illusion of safety.

Of course, there is always the caveat
about how markets and investors are fickle. A piece of bad news can
translate quickly into major reversals as Apple has learned over the
last year. Nonetheless, the folks at the stem cell agency have to be feeling good today.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/g8tqW1ynaMw/comfort-news-for-californias-stem-cell.html

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Eggs and Cash: Stem Cell Agency Considering Easing Restrictions on Stem Cell Lines Derived Using Payments

♫ Sunday, July 14th, 2013

The California stem cell agency is
moving to remove an absolute ban on use of stem cell lines derived
from eggs from women who have been paid to provide them.

The action comes as state legislation
is headed for Gov. Jerry Brown's desk that would permit payments for
eggs to be used in research that is not funded by the agency. The measure (AB926) would not alter the separate ban on egg payments
involving research funded by the $3 billion stem cell agency.

Under a proposal that will come before the agency's standards group July 24, CIRM's governing board could
approve the use of stem cell lines derived as a result of payment to
women. Board action would be based on whether stem cell lines would
“advance CIRM's mission” and would follow a staff evaluation
involving scientific and ethical issues.

Over recent years, stem cell
researchers around the country have reported that they are not able
to obtain sufficient eggs without payment. And earlier this year,
paid egg providers were used in research in Oregon that cloned human stem cells, a feat that researchers have struggled with for years.

A CIRM staff report said that the
Oregon research has “generated scientific interest among CIRM
grantees and the desire to utilize derived SCNT lines. CIRM’s
current policy prohibits the use of the (Oregon) SCNT lines because
oocyte donors were financially compensated. CIRM requests the Medical
and Ethical Standards Working Group (SWG) revaluate this prohibition
with regard to CIRM grantees ability to utilize the resulting lines
in light of recent scientific and policy developments.”

Last month, the California Stem Cell
Report queried the agency concerning earlier, sketchy information onthe CIRM blog about a possible change in its compensation rules. We
asked whether the agency was considering “sidestepping” the ban
on compensation. Kevin McCormack, a CIRM spokesman, said, “No, not
at all.” He said it would be premature to elaborate until a firm
proposal was ready.

The staff proposal to be considered on
July 24 said,

“Proposition 71’s 'prohibition on
compensation' compels the ICOC(the agency's governing board) to adopt
standards 'prohibiting compensation to research donors.' This
requirement has been consistently interpreted to prohibit the use of
CIRM funds to financially compensate oocyte (or other cell or tissue)
donors. In 2006, this interpretation was extended to exclude from
use, in CIRM-funded research, any stem cell line where research
donors were financially compensated, even if the derivation was done
without the use of CIRM funds. Proposition 71, however, does not
compel the ICOC (the agency's governing board) to prohibit the use of
stem cell lines where financial compensation is provided to the
oocyte donors, provided that CIRM funds are not used to compensate
the donors or derive the lines.”

The July 24 meeting will be held in San
Francisco. No remote teleconference locations have been announced. If approved, the changes would likely be considered July 25 by the full agency board.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/BF3kpSRnKXQ/eggs-and-cash-stem-cell-agency.html

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HIV Clinical Trial Hailed by California Stem Cell Agency

♫ Sunday, July 14th, 2013

The
California stem cell agency today scored what it called an “important
milestone” with the announcement of the start of a clinical trial
involving a therapy to help protect persons infected with HIV from
the effects of the virus.

The
trial is partially funded from a $20 million award from the stem cell
agency, which is known as CIRM, to researchers
at UCLA and Calimmune, a Tucson, Az.,
company. Calimmune's share of the award was $8.2 million.

Alan
Trounson, president of the $3 billion state agency, said in a
statement,

“CIRM
funding of this Phase l/ll trial is an important milestone for us.
One of our goals is to support research that moves the most promising
science out of the lab and into clinical trials in people. To be able
to do that with a disease as devastating as HIV/AIDS highlights the
importance of our funding and the potential impact it could have on
the health of people around the world.”

The
trial was announced by Calimmune this morning. The company said,

“The
first patient has begun treatment in a Phase I/II clinical trial
designed to determine whether a pioneering genetic medicine approach
can help to protect individuals infected with HIV from the effects of
the virus. The study, “Safety
Study of a Dual Anti-HIV Gene Transfer Construct to Treat HIV-1
Infection,”
utilizes a gene medicine called Cal-1, developed in the lab of Nobel
Laureate Dr. David
Baltimore and
by Calimmune.”

Baltimore
served on the CIRM board from 2004 until June 6, 2007. He resigned
from the board about
18 months before the application process began for the grant round
that ultimately funded Calimmune, a company he helped to found. He is currently chairman of the Calimmune board.

Asked
for comment, Jeff Sheehy, a member of the CIRM governing
board and communications director for AIDS research at UC San
Francisco, said,

"This
trial will hopefully offer several important insights into the safety
and feasibility of genetically modifying blood forming stem cells in
an HIV patient as a potential therapy. We are very early in
this research, and with this Phase I trial's goal of establishing
safety and the risks involved, I applaud the courage and altruism
demonstrated by the patients who are willing to participate in this
study."

The Calimmune
press release said
the principal investigators on the clinical trial are Ron
Mitsayasu of
UCLA and Jacob
P. Lalezari of Quest
Clinical Research of
San Francisco. Quest is currently soliciting patients for the
clinical trial as well as UCLA. (Persons interested in participating
in the trial can find email contacts at
this website.
Twelve are needed.)

The
principal investigators on the CIRM award are Irvin Chen of
UCLA and Geoff Symonds of Calimmune.

Here are links to the CIRM press release on the subject and the agency's blog item.

(An earlier version of this story did not include the fact that Calimmune's share of the CIRM award was $8.2 million or the links to the agency press release and blog.)

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/Zot_z3D2WnI/hiv-clinical-trial-hailed-by-california.html

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California Legislation Removing Ban on Payments for Eggs for Research Heads to Governor

♫ Sunday, July 14th, 2013

Legislation to allow women in
California to be paid for their eggs for scientific research is on
its way to Gov. Jerry Brown following final legislative approval last
week.

Sponsors of the bill, a national
fertility industry organization, expect the governor later this month
to sign the measure, which would go into effect next year.

The measure, AB 926 by Assemblywoman
Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, would repeal a ban on payments to women who
provide eggs for scientific research. However, the measure would not
affect the ban on payments to egg providers in research funded by the
$3 billion California stem cell agency. That ban is covered by a
separate legal provision. Stem cell researchers around the country have complained that they they cannot get eggs without payment.

Women in California can be paid for
providing eggs for reproductive purposes. According to a legislative analysis, payments can run as high as $50,000 for women with special
characteristics but average around $9,000 for each session, which can
generate more than one egg.

The sponsor of the legislation is the
American Society for Reproductive Medicine of Alabama, whose members
represent a wide swath of the $5 billion-a-year fertility business.
The measure would open new business avenues for the industry.

Bonilla argues that the measure allows women to be treated on the same footing as men who provide sperm for
research and would encourage more research into reproductive health issues.

Opponents argue that the safety of the
egg production procedures has not been well-established including
their long-term impact. They also argue that allowing payment would
lead to exploitation of poor and minority women.

The bill received its final
legislative approval on July 1 when the Senate passed it on a 24-9
vote.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/2FyX5YnnQHA/california-legislation-removing-ban-on.html

♫ Posted in Stem Cell Therapy, Stem Cells | | Comments Off»

Purtier NZ Live Stem Cell Therapy presented by Dr Chen – Video

♫ Tuesday, July 9th, 2013

Purtier NZ Live Stem Cell Therapy presented by Dr Chen
For Live demo and discussion: Call John 90036287 / Daphne 91455217.

By: petty joy

Visit link:
Purtier NZ Live Stem Cell Therapy presented by Dr Chen - Video

♫ Posted in Stem Cell Therapy | | Comments Off»

Challenge to WARF hESC Patents Cites Recent U.S. Supreme Court Decision

♫ Sunday, July 7th, 2013

Patents on human embryonic stem cells
are being challenged in a new legal filing that cites the recent U.S.
Supreme Court decision that barred the patenting of human genes.

The stem cell case involves the
Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), which holds the patents on the
much-heralded work performed by Jamie Thomson at the University of Wisconsin. The lawsuit was filed
by the Public Patent Foundation of New York City on behalf of
Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit group in Santa Monica, Ca. Jeanne
Loring, director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at the
Scripps Research Institute, is also involved along with Alan
Trounson, president of the California stem cell agency. The agency
itself is not a party.

This week's filing follows the
so-called Myriad decision last month by the nation's highest court which said,

“Myriad did not create anything. To
be sure, it found an important and useful gene, but separating that
gene from its surrounding genetic material is not an act of
invention.”

This week's stem cell suit said,

"WARF did not create or alter the
properties inherent in stem cells any more than Myriad created or
altered the genetic information encoded in the DNA it claimed.”

The legal filing came in an appeal of
an earlier decision by the U.S. Patent Office. The Public Patent
Foundation, which was a successful party in the Myriad case, did the earlier legal work on the challenge to the WARF patents as well as this
week's appeal.

The appeal, prepared by Dan Ravicher,
said the WARF patents have "put a severe burden on taxpayer-funded
research in California.”

Trounson released a statement saying,

“We don't want to do anything that
gets in the way of finding treatments for some of the biggest killers
today, so we feel that all patients with all kinds of diseases
deserve to have access to these kinds of cells.”

Loring was quoted in a Consumer Watchdog press release as saying,

"Human embryonic stem cells hold
great promise for advancing human health, and no one has the ethical
right to own them.”

John M. Simpson of Consumer Watchdog
said,

“The best course if WARF truly
cares about scientific advancement would be to
simply abandon these over-reaching patent claims.”

A story by Bradley Fikes in the San
Diego U-T cited intellectual property attorney Lisa Haile of DLA
Piper as saying,

“A successful use of the Myriad case
as a precedent for throwing out the foundation’s patent would open
the door to similar challenges in just about any biotech product
using material derived from life.”

WARF made no immediate comment.

Other stories on the WARF challenge
appeared in the Milwaukee Journal, Genomeweb and the LaCross Tribune.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/LuLuZLLjyDo/challenge-to-warf-hesc-patents-cites.html

♫ Posted in Stem Cell Therapy | | Comments Off»

California Legislation, Human Egg Sales and Profits

♫ Sunday, July 7th, 2013

California legislation to allow women
to be paid for their eggs for scientific research is sailing toward
final passage literally swaddled in motherhood and apple pie
arguments. Missing from the debate is a key reason behind
the bill – building profits for what some call the “baby
business.”

The legislation is touted as providing
equal treatment for women, permitting them to be paid for supplying
eggs for stem cell and other research, much as men are paid for
sperm. It also would put women who sell their eggs for research on an
equal economic footing with women who sell their eggs for fertility
treatments, which is currently permitted under state law. Payments to
those women range from an average of $9,000 to as much as $50,000,
according to a legislative analysis of the bill.

Assemblywoman Susan Bonillla,
D-Concord, author of the bill(AB926), says,

“It is time to let women, just as any
other research subject, make an informed decision as to
participation, and justly compensate them for doing so.”

She also says that the ban on payments
has had serious impact on fertility research. In a legislative bill analysis, she says,

“It has led to a de facto prohibition
on women’s reproductive research in California, adversely
impacting the same women that the ban intended to protect. With few
oocytes donated, fertility research and fertility preservation
research has been at a standstill. This greatly affects women
suffering from fertility issues and women facing cancer who would
like to preserve their oocytes.”

Bonilla is carrying the measure on
behalf of an industry group, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine of Alabama. The fertility or baby business, which is largely
unregulated, brings in about $5 billion annually in the United
States from something like 500 clinics. It has grown rapidly over the
last couple of decades, but is likely heading for a soft spot.

Little public information is available
on the Internet discussing the industry's economic challenges.
However, demographic studies show that the size of the key market
for fertility services is stagnating. A 2012 report by the federal
government projects that the number of women in the 35 to 44 age
group, prime consumers of fertility services, is likely to grow only
0.5 percent from 2010 to 2020. And since that forecast was made, the
Census Bureau has downgraded its projections for total population
growth.

Bonilla's legislation effectively adds
a new, potential revenue stream for the industry. Fertility clinics
would be able to buy the eggs and then resell them to researchers,
adding premiums for eggs from women with special characteristics. The bill would also add a tool for bringing down the cost of fertility
treatments, which can run as much as $12,000 to $17,000 a round or
more and require several rounds, according to the NIH. Clinics could discount those prices for some women, bringing in
new customers, if they agree to authorize the use of excess eggs for
scientific research.

None of this appears necessarily
pernicious. What is pernicious is the absence of discussion of the
economics of the legislation. Without a full understanding of all
that is at stake, including economic issues and motivations,
legislators, the governor and the public are hard-pressed to make
good decisions about a significant change in California law.

Opponents of the legislation have
raised serious questions about the treatment of women by fertility
clinics, noting that the bill would turn egg providers into “vendors”
– not patients of the clinics. The Center for Genetics and Society
in Berkeley has captured the arguments in opposition including
testimony before a Senate committee hearing early in June.

Jennifer Schneider, a physician who
lost a 31-year-old daughter to cancer seven years after the younger
woman sold her eggs three times, told lawmakers,

“Unlike infertile women who are
considered patients, egg donors are treated as vendors( (her italics).
When they walk out of the IVF clinic, no one keeps track of them.
My daughter’s death was not reported. The long-term risks of egg
donation are unknown."

Sindy Wei, a former egg provider and
now a physician with a Ph.D. in biology, testified that she wound up
in an intensive care unit after 60 eggs were extracted from her in
2001. She said,

“I fear that cases like mine are
buried deep by fertility centers concerned about their image. An
industry thriving on profits and reputation has little incentive to
report adverse events, or protect the health and medical rights of
donors.”

Where is the $3 billion California stem
cell agency on all this? The agency has not taken a position on the
bill nor have any major research organizations. The measure does not
change the law affecting agency-funded research, which bans the use of
compensation for eggs in its research. Enactment of the law, however, would
create a two-tier stem cell research standard in California, one for
scientists not constrained by the payment ban and another for those
who could use the full range of research tools. Some stem cell
researchers may well think that they have become disadvantaged as a
result.

(Editor's note: An earlier version of this article said the IVF business generated $4 billion in revenues annually. More recent estimates place it at $5 billion.)

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/0ke5iLQwGdA/california-legislation-human-egg-sales.html

♫ Posted in Stem Cell Therapy | | Comments Off»

California Legislation, Human Egg Sales and Profits

♫ Sunday, July 7th, 2013

California legislation to allow women
to be paid for their eggs for scientific research is sailing toward
final passage literally swaddled in motherhood and apple pie
arguments. Missing from the debate is a key reason behind
the bill – building profits for what some call the “baby
business.”

The legislation is touted as providing
equal treatment for women, permitting them to be paid for supplying
eggs for stem cell and other research, much as men are paid for
sperm. It also would put women who sell their eggs for research on an
equal economic footing with women who sell their eggs for fertility
treatments, which is currently permitted under state law. Payments to
those women range from an average of $9,000 to as much as $50,000,
according to a legislative analysis of the bill.

Assemblywoman Susan Bonillla,
D-Concord, author of the bill(AB926), says,

“It is time to let women, just as any
other research subject, make an informed decision as to
participation, and justly compensate them for doing so.”

She also says that the ban on payments
has had serious impact on fertility research. In a legislative bill analysis, she says,

“It has led to a de facto prohibition
on women’s reproductive research in California, adversely
impacting the same women that the ban intended to protect. With few
oocytes donated, fertility research and fertility preservation
research has been at a standstill. This greatly affects women
suffering from fertility issues and women facing cancer who would
like to preserve their oocytes.”

Bonilla is carrying the measure on
behalf of an industry group, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine of Alabama. The fertility or baby business, which is largely
unregulated, brings in about $5 billion annually in the United
States from something like 500 clinics. It has grown rapidly over the
last couple of decades, but is likely heading for a soft spot.

Little public information is available
on the Internet discussing the industry's economic challenges.
However, demographic studies show that the size of the key market
for fertility services is stagnating. A 2012 report by the federal
government projects that the number of women in the 35 to 44 age
group, prime consumers of fertility services, is likely to grow only
0.5 percent from 2010 to 2020. And since that forecast was made, the
Census Bureau has downgraded its projections for total population
growth.

Bonilla's legislation effectively adds
a new, potential revenue stream for the industry. Fertility clinics
would be able to buy the eggs and then resell them to researchers,
adding premiums for eggs from women with special characteristics. The bill would also add a tool for bringing down the cost of fertility
treatments, which can run as much as $12,000 to $17,000 a round or
more and require several rounds, according to the NIH. Clinics could discount those prices for some women, bringing in
new customers, if they agree to authorize the use of excess eggs for
scientific research.

None of this appears necessarily
pernicious. What is pernicious is the absence of discussion of the
economics of the legislation. Without a full understanding of all
that is at stake, including economic issues and motivations,
legislators, the governor and the public are hard-pressed to make
good decisions about a significant change in California law.

Opponents of the legislation have
raised serious questions about the treatment of women by fertility
clinics, noting that the bill would turn egg providers into “vendors”
– not patients of the clinics. The Center for Genetics and Society
in Berkeley has captured the arguments in opposition including
testimony before a Senate committee hearing early in June.

Jennifer Schneider, a physician who
lost a 31-year-old daughter to cancer seven years after the younger
woman sold her eggs three times, told lawmakers,

“Unlike infertile women who are
considered patients, egg donors are treated as vendors( (her italics).
When they walk out of the IVF clinic, no one keeps track of them.
My daughter’s death was not reported. The long-term risks of egg
donation are unknown."

Sindy Wei, a former egg provider and
now a physician with a Ph.D. in biology, testified that she wound up
in an intensive care unit after 60 eggs were extracted from her in
2001. She said,

“I fear that cases like mine are
buried deep by fertility centers concerned about their image. An
industry thriving on profits and reputation has little incentive to
report adverse events, or protect the health and medical rights of
donors.”

Where is the $3 billion California stem
cell agency on all this? The agency has not taken a position on the
bill nor have any major research organizations. The measure does not
change the law affecting agency-funded research, which bans the use of
compensation for eggs in its research. Enactment of the law, however, would
create a two-tier stem cell research standard in California, one for
scientists not constrained by the payment ban and another for those
who could use the full range of research tools. Some stem cell
researchers may well think that they have become disadvantaged as a
result.

(Editor's note: An earlier version of this article said the IVF business generated $4 billion in revenues annually. More recent estimates place it at $5 billion.)

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/0ke5iLQwGdA/california-legislation-human-egg-sales.html

♫ Posted in Stem Cell Therapy, Stem Cells | | Comments Off»

Challenge to WARF hESC Patents Cites Recent U.S. Supreme Court Decision

♫ Sunday, July 7th, 2013

Patents on human embryonic stem cells
are being challenged in a new legal filing that cites the recent U.S.
Supreme Court decision that barred the patenting of human genes.

The stem cell case involves the
Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), which holds the patents on the
much-heralded work performed by Jamie Thomson at the University of Wisconsin. The lawsuit was filed
by the Public Patent Foundation of New York City on behalf of
Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit group in Santa Monica, Ca. Jeanne
Loring, director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at the
Scripps Research Institute, is also involved along with Alan
Trounson, president of the California stem cell agency. The agency
itself is not a party.

This week's filing follows the
so-called Myriad decision last month by the nation's highest court which said,

“Myriad did not create anything. To
be sure, it found an important and useful gene, but separating that
gene from its surrounding genetic material is not an act of
invention.”

This week's stem cell suit said,

"WARF did not create or alter the
properties inherent in stem cells any more than Myriad created or
altered the genetic information encoded in the DNA it claimed.”

The legal filing came in an appeal of
an earlier decision by the U.S. Patent Office. The Public Patent
Foundation, which was a successful party in the Myriad case, did the earlier legal work on the challenge to the WARF patents as well as this
week's appeal.

The appeal, prepared by Dan Ravicher,
said the WARF patents have "put a severe burden on taxpayer-funded
research in California.”

Trounson released a statement saying,

“We don't want to do anything that
gets in the way of finding treatments for some of the biggest killers
today, so we feel that all patients with all kinds of diseases
deserve to have access to these kinds of cells.”

Loring was quoted in a Consumer Watchdog press release as saying,

"Human embryonic stem cells hold
great promise for advancing human health, and no one has the ethical
right to own them.”

John M. Simpson of Consumer Watchdog
said,

“The best course if WARF truly
cares about scientific advancement would be to
simply abandon these over-reaching patent claims.”

A story by Bradley Fikes in the San
Diego U-T cited intellectual property attorney Lisa Haile of DLA
Piper as saying,

“A successful use of the Myriad case
as a precedent for throwing out the foundation’s patent would open
the door to similar challenges in just about any biotech product
using material derived from life.”

WARF made no immediate comment.

Other stories on the WARF challenge
appeared in the Milwaukee Journal, Genomeweb and the LaCross Tribune.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/LuLuZLLjyDo/challenge-to-warf-hesc-patents-cites.html

♫ Posted in Stem Cell Therapy, Stem Cells | | Comments Off»

Stem Cell Therapy Treatment for Dopamine Responsive Dystonia by Dr Alok Sharma, Mumbai, India. – Video

♫ Friday, July 5th, 2013

Stem Cell Therapy Treatment for Dopamine Responsive Dystonia by Dr Alok Sharma, Mumbai, India.
Improvement seen after Stem Cell Therapy Treatment for Dopamine Responsive Dystonia by Dr Alok Sharma, Mumbai, India. After Stem Cell Therapy 1. His neck and trunk control has improved. 2....

By: neurogenbsi

♫ Posted in Stem Cell Therapy | | Comments Off»

Stem Cell Therapy Treatment for DuchenneMuscular Dystrophy by Dr Alok Sharma, Mumbai, India. – Video

♫ Friday, July 5th, 2013

Stem Cell Therapy Treatment for DuchenneMuscular Dystrophy by Dr Alok Sharma, Mumbai, India.
Improvement seen in just 5 day after Stem Cell Therapy Treatment for DuchenneMuscular Dystrophy by Dr Alok Sharma, Mumbai, India. After Stem Cell Therapy 1. Stair climbing is easy now. 1....

By: neurogenbsi

More here:
Stem Cell Therapy Treatment for DuchenneMuscular Dystrophy by Dr Alok Sharma, Mumbai, India. - Video

StemCell Therapy

Archive for the ‘Stem Cell Therapy’ Category

California Legislation Removing Ban on Payments for Eggs for Research Heads to Governor

Eggs and Cash: Stem Cell Agency Considering Easing Restrictions on Stem Cell Lines Derived Using Payments

Sacramento Mental Health Advocate Appointed to Stem Cell Agency Board

TV News Piece on Pay-for-Eggs Airs in Los Angeles, San Francisco

Shestack Resignation Letter: Heartfelt and Eloquent

Veto Campaign Launched on California Pay-For-Eggs Bill

California Stem Cell Merger: Capricor and Niles Therapeutics

Pay-for-Eggs Legislation: Strange Bedfellows and Existential Questions

“Comfort News” for California’s Stem Cell Research Effort

Eggs and Cash: Stem Cell Agency Considering Easing Restrictions on Stem Cell Lines Derived Using Payments

HIV Clinical Trial Hailed by California Stem Cell Agency

California Legislation Removing Ban on Payments for Eggs for Research Heads to Governor

Purtier NZ Live Stem Cell Therapy presented by Dr Chen – Video

Challenge to WARF hESC Patents Cites Recent U.S. Supreme Court Decision

California Legislation, Human Egg Sales and Profits

California Legislation, Human Egg Sales and Profits

Challenge to WARF hESC Patents Cites Recent U.S. Supreme Court Decision

Stem Cell Therapy Treatment for Dopamine Responsive Dystonia by Dr Alok Sharma, Mumbai, India. – Video

Stem Cell Therapy Treatment for DuchenneMuscular Dystrophy by Dr Alok Sharma, Mumbai, India. – Video

Flax Day 0 Stem cell Therapy 360p – Video

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