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JULY 18th, 2005
CRYO-CELL International, Inc. (OTC:CCEL) (BULLETIN BOARD: CCEL),
a company that provides blood cord storage services for new-borns, a stem-cell technology that has promise to protect these
same new-borns from disease years in the future, reported that its revenue increased 12 percent for the quarter ended May
31, 2005. Revenue for the second quarter was $3.6 million compared to $3.2 million for the same quarter a year ago.
CRYO-CELL, located in Oldsmar, Florida, presently has over 80,000
clients and is accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB). The company reports that it operates in a Good
Manufacturing Practice and Good Tissue Practice (cGMP/cGTP) compliant facility.
JULY 1st, 2005
BioPhysics Assay Laboratory (BioPAL), Inc., with its gadolinium
nanocolloids and microspheres, indicates it has devised a readily usable technology to image and track injected stem cells.
The technology is expected to be central in the determination of the effectiveness of stem cells for the regeneration of cells
in specific organs and areas. The technique involves the labeling of stem cells with nanometer sized colloids and the precise
determination of the number of delivered cells to the target anatomical tissue, bone or organ. The microspheres role in the
process is to determine the quantity of living tissue in a region and the blood flow to a region. The company says that with the technology, a researcher can determine the amount of living tissue that has grown as
a result of a stem cell treatment.
Two of the company’s executives helped explain the technology.
Ernest Groman, Ph.D., VP R&D, said, "Our cell tracking nanocolloids are unique materials that have powerful properties
including low toxicity, stability to sterilizing procedures and high assay sensitivity. In fact, the ability to image a gadolinium-based
nanocolloid with MRI was thought to be impossible, but we have discovered a new technology that we have designated Proton
Cascade which makes this important new contrast agent highly effective."
Christopher Reinhardt, Ph.D., President and CEO, added, "BioPAL
labeled microspheres are easy to use, very robust and have high sensitivity yielding superior measurements of blood flow and
new tissue generation. Detection down to the level of single microspheres is possible. We are confident that all of these
new products will play a central role in helping to bring effective cellular therapies to patients as soon as possible."
One concern with stem cell technology are stem cells that don’t
reach the desired target destination. Stem cells lodged in non-targeted locations have the potential for unwanted side effects.
BioPAL’s technology can also be used to help determine the percentage of stem cells that don’t reach their target
region.
JUNE 14th, 2005
Arrowhead Research Corporation (NASDAQ:ARWR) has obtained an exclusive
license for a nanotechnology device that is reported to control the behavior of stem cells. The license was obtained from
Stanford University. As part of the agreement Arrowhead will fund additional research related to device - about $600,000
over a two year period.
Dr. Nick Melosh in the Materials Science Department at Stanford
and his group, use nano-reservoirs built on a chip to stimulate adult stem cell behavior. According to Dr. Melosh, "The solution
we are pursuing is to build a device that can interact with the stem cell at the micro- and nanoscale. For example, exposure
to minute amounts of chemical at the appropriate time and place could be the key for guiding stem cells isolated from fat
tissue to turn into cartilage or bone constructs."
JUNE 9th, 2005
Dolby's $5 Million Donation for Regenerative Medicine
Accepted
Ray and Dagmar Dolby's donation of $5 million to The Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee
(ICOC) for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has been accepted. The organization also reported that
it met with legislators about pending legislation entitled SCA-12 and approved 11 members for its Scientific and Medical Research
Facilities Working Group.
Chair of the ICOC, Robert Klein, on acceptance of the donation said,
"Last November, 7 million Californians voted for Proposition 71, in favor of stem cell research or regenerative medicine.
Among those in San Francisco were Ray and Dagmar Dolby, who recently thought about the critical nature of the Proposition
71 startup situation. They decided to step forward to make a gift of $5 million to the California Institute for Regenerative
Medicine to fund critical staffing needs essential to advance the Institute's mission. For my family, for every California
family suffering from chronic disease, and for every Californian with friends and relatives suffering from chronic disease,
we thank the Dolbys -- they are great champions of this medical frontier and the Institute's undaunted commitment to honor
the mandate of 7 million California voters."
Ray Dolby, founded Dolby Laboratories in 1965. Dolby Laboratories,
based in San Francisco, is a major provider of audio technology to semiconductor companies. The company recently went
public with an IPO.
JUNE 3rd, 2005
StemCell Pharma Acquires Exclusive Rights to Placenta
Stem Cell Technology
As part of a strategy to repair and engineer organs, StemCell Pharma, Inc. has acquired exclusive
rights to an FDA approval-free technology of Russian origins. The proprietary technology is based on placenta stem cells,
placenta nutrients, hormones and the actual placenta. According to the company, the implant "has everything a placenta contains
including vital nutrients and the stem cells capable of building practically every cell, tissue and organ of the body."
The technique was first developed at The Filatov Institute in Odessa
and later expanded on with stem cell knowledge by Dr. Sapse. The implant operation, which can be done at a doctor's office,
involves the surgical placement of a 1" x 1/4" implant underneath the skin.
The company has focused its efforts on use of the implant in the
treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. A product is expected to be available within 12 months.
MAY 26th, 2005
New York Receives $50 Million for
Stem Cell Research
Three biomedical research institutes in New York City, through The Starr Foundation will receive
$50 million over a three year period to further stem cell research. The new initiative called the Tri-Institutional Stem Cell
Initiative includes The Rockefeller University, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Center.
One of the primary goals of the initiative is to combine the research
and advancements from different technologies to advance medical technology. Collaborations that the initiative encourages,
between the three institutions that compose it ,include toxicology, neuroscience, cell cycle research, chemistry, and physics.
MAY 13th, 2005
Cellerant Therapeutics Inc., a company focused on the use of stem
cells for the treatment of cancers, genetic blood disorders and autoimmune diseases, has raised $16 million in a Series B
round of financing. The round's participants included Allen & Company, George Rathmann and CX Venture Group and MPM Capital.
The round was led by Novel Bioventures.
Pointing towards the commercialization prospects of the Cellerant's
products, Han Chiu, M.D., Managing Director of Novel Bioventures said, "Cellerant represents one of the strongest and most
impressive platforms and management teams for commercializing stem cell products. The company has significant near-term revenue
opportunities and is attracting a rich pipeline of ever more exciting technologies and breakthroughs. Novel is pleased to
have the opportunity to lead a company that has the seeds to become one if not "the" dominant player in the stem cell market,
one of the most important and exciting development areas in biotechnology today."
George Rathmann, Chairman at Cellerant, emphasized the company's
adult-derived stem cell technology, "Cellerant's hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) purification technology opens the door for
widespread clinical use of adult-derived stem cells for indications where conventional drug therapy has failed."
Plans for the funding were disclosed by Bruce Cohen, Cellerant's
CEO, "The proceeds from this financing will be used to accelerate commercial development of our HSC purification platform.
We also plan to initiate clinical trials for our first cell-based product - human Myeloid Progenitors for the treatment of
radiation- and chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. We are extremely pleased to have support for our programs from such strong
investors."
Cellerant's efforts have been in supporting the redevelopment of
the blood forming system of chemotherapy patients through the use of hematopoietic stem cells. Cellerant says that the blood
forming system is fundamental to the human immune system, which in turn is fundamental to the ability to fight off disease.
MARCH 17th, 2005
California's stem cell initiative, Proposition 71, guaranteed $3 billion
in funds for stem cell research. The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) is one of the first beneficiaries. UCLA
has now announced the formation of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine. The Institute is to be funded with $20
million over the next five years.
The Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine brings together the
resources of the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center, the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and
Applied Science, and the UCLA College. These three operations will bring together their respective knowledge of integrated
microfluidics, microarrays, mass spectroscopy based proteomics and bioinformatics computational expertise and facilities for
the development of stem cell related therapies.
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