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Nature Biotechnology: California Stem Cell Agency Receives 'Stinging Rebuke'

Posted: January 13, 2013 at 7:47 am

The headline this week in Nature
Biotechnology read: “IOM smacks down California Institute of
Regenerative Medicine.”
The story by Senior Editor Laura
DeFrancesco said that the $3 billion California stem cell agency
“received a stinging rebuke of much of the way it has been carrying
out its business by a group of independent reviewers.”
At the same time, DeFranesco wrote that
the blue-ribbon, Institute of Medicine panel “praised the courage
and vision of the individuals who spearheaded the program as well as
those toiling in the CIRM office in San Francisco.”
The Nature Biotechnology piece covered
familiar ground for many readers, summarizing the IOM's sweepingrecommendations last month, including those dealing with the built-in
conflicts of interest on the agency's 29-member governing board.
DeFrancesco wrote that is unclear
whether the agency will move to adopt any of the recommendations from
the panel, many of which have been rejected in the past.
Some members of the CIRM governing
board last month bristled at some of the recommendations. The board is scheduled to discuss the IOM report, for
which it paid $700,000, at a public meeting Jan. 23 in Berkeley.
Patient advocates are already organizing a turn-out to lobby against
some recommendations.  

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/bJIhSwMvwx8/nature-biotechnology-california-stem.html

Recommendation and review posted by Fredricko

Roman Reed is Stem Cell Person of 2012; Leigh Turner Runner-up

Posted: January 13, 2013 at 7:47 am

Roman Reed, a Fremont, Ca., patient advocate, this week was named Stem
Cell Person of 2012 by the Knoepfler Stem Cell Lab at UC Davis, which
cited Reed for energizing a new generation of
advocacy.

Roman Reed (left) and Paul Knoepfler
Knoepfler Lab photo
UC Davis stem cell scientist Paul
Knoepfler awarded Reed $1,000 from his personal funds. The ceremonial
check appears to be close to four-feet long in a photo taken in
Knoepfler's lab.
Knoepfler wrote on his blog that Reed
made a “tremendous difference” in 2012. The researcher said,

“One of the most notable was
catalyzing the TJ Atchison Spinal Cord Injury Research Act in
Alabama, which provides $400,000/year in funding for research. Of
course, TJ and many others who helped make this possible also deserve
great credit and have my admiration, but Roman provided key
leadership. Here in California, Roman’s Law supported its 11th
year of grants all eligible for all forms of stem cell research.
Roman informs me that it funded $749,00 overall and approximately
$200,000 in stem cell funding. 

“In addition, Roman in 2012 mentored
and energized a whole new generation of advocacy from young,
energetic leaders: TJ Atchison, Katie Sharify, Richard Lajara
and Tory Minus.”

Knoepfler personally made the decision on the award,
but also conducted an advisory poll that Reed won. Knoepfler wrote,

Leigh Turner
U of Minn photo

“Only 6% behind Roman was the amazing
activist Ted Harada followed by Roman’s dad the remarkable Don
Reed, the wonderful Judy Roberson, and the super Katie Sharify nearly
all tied for third. Next after them was the relative new kid in stem
cell town, Leigh Turner.”

Knoepfler named Turner, an associate
professor at the Center for Bioethics at the University of Minnesota,
as the official runner-up in the contest, No. 2 behind Reed.
Knoepfler wrote,

“Leigh took the courageous,
outside-the-box step in 2012 of contacting the FDA to investigate
Celltex when he perceived patients could be at risk. As “thanks”
for his action, he was put under enormous pressure and there was talk
of possible litigation against him. Pressure was applied to his
employer, the University of Minnesota. We’ll never know for sure,
but from everything that I know I believe that Leigh’s actions
directly led to prompt FDA action, which otherwise might not have
happened at all or until much later. In my opinion, Leigh’s act of
courage, helped make hundreds of patients safer in a direct way and
indirectly may have set a higher standard for the field of stem cell
treatments.”

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/QfG7CijBsy4/roman-reed-is-stem-cell-person-of-2012.html

Recommendation and review posted by Fredricko

BioTime Buys Geron’s Stem Cell Assets, Including hESC Clinical Trial

Posted: January 13, 2013 at 7:47 am

Geron Corp., which pioneered the first
clinical trial of an hESC therapy, today sold its stem cell
business to another San Francisco Bay Area firm whose two top
executives were once CEOs at Geron.

Michael West
BioTime photo
The total value of the complex deal was
not clear from the public statements released by Geron and the
acquiring firm, BioTime, Inc., of Alameda, but an unidentified
outside investor is adding $10 million to transaction.
In a telephone interview this evening,
Michael West, CEO of BioTime, said that as a result of the deal his
firm will hold 600 patents and patent applications involving stem
cells. He said the aggregation should help in attracting financial
interest in the firm and its efforts.
West founded Geron in 1990. BioTime
Acquistion Corp., the BioTime subsidiary that is picking up the Geron
assets, is headed by Tom Okarma, who was Geron's CEO from 1999 to
2011.
After Okarma left the firm in 2011,
Geron abruptly jettisoned its stem cell business along with the
clinical trial. Geron has been looking since then for a buyer for the
assets.
Tom Okarma
Geron photo
Only a few months prior to the Geron
decision in 2011, the California stem cell agency had signed a $25
million loan agreement with Geron to support the clinical trial. The
company paid back with interest the amount of the loan that it had
received.
Information from the two companies did
not specify whether BioTime will begin seeking additional
participants in the clinical trial. Nor did BioTime indicate whether
it would seek additional funding from the state stem cell agency.
However, West said during the telephone
interview that he has an “open mind” about working with CIRM.
Last year, agency officials indicated an interest in continuing to
support the clinical trial. West said BioTime had already hired some
employees that were laid off by Geron, including its patent attorney.
He said that he hoped to reassemble at least part of Geron's now
scattered stem cell team.
According to the Geron press release,
when the deal is officially concluded in September, “it is
anticipated that Geron stockholders would own approximately 21% of
BAC, BioTime would own approximately 72%, and a private investor
would own approximately 7% after an additional $5 million investment
in BAC.”
For its new operations, BioTime has
leased space in Menlo Park that Geron once used for its stem cell
business.
Both firms are publicy traded.
BioTime's stock price closed at $3.45 today and had a 52-week high of
$6.35 and a low of $2.67. Geron closed at $1.60 and had a 52-week
high of $2.99 and a low of 91 cents.

Here is a link to an article in the San
Francisco Business Times about the deal. Here are links to the
BioTime press release, a BioTime FAQ and the Geron press release.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/TBbR-z7OPWc/biotime-buys-gerons-stem-cell-assets.html

Recommendation and review posted by Fredricko

BioTime Stock Jumps 22 Percent in Two Days in Wake of Geron Deal

Posted: January 13, 2013 at 7:47 am

The stock price of Biotime, Inc., of
Alameda, Ca., shot up more than 12 percent today following the
announcement of a complex deal that will give it the stem cell assets
of Geron Corp., the first firm to launch a clinical trial for an hESC
therapy.

Geron stock price Jan. 2-8
Google chart
BioTime stock closed at $3.88, up
43 cents or 12.46 percent. That followed a 9.6 percent gain
yesterday. Geron's stock closed at $1.63, up three cents or 1.9
percent.
News coverage of the deal was light
with our tracking showing only one story so far today on The Scientist magazine web site.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/mQRu0qUrqwM/biotime-stock-jumps-22-percent-in-two.html

Recommendation and review posted by Fredricko

BioTime Buys Geron's Stem Cell Assets, Including hESC Clinical Trial

Posted: January 13, 2013 at 7:47 am

Geron Corp., which pioneered the first
clinical trial of an hESC therapy, today sold its stem cell
business to another San Francisco Bay Area firm whose two top
executives were once CEOs at Geron.

Michael West
BioTime photo
The total value of the complex deal was
not clear from the public statements released by Geron and the
acquiring firm, BioTime, Inc., of Alameda, but an unidentified
outside investor is adding $10 million to transaction.
In a telephone interview this evening,
Michael West, CEO of BioTime, said that as a result of the deal his
firm will hold 600 patents and patent applications involving stem
cells. He said the aggregation should help in attracting financial
interest in the firm and its efforts.
West founded Geron in 1990. BioTime
Acquistion Corp., the BioTime subsidiary that is picking up the Geron
assets, is headed by Tom Okarma, who was Geron's CEO from 1999 to
2011.
After Okarma left the firm in 2011,
Geron abruptly jettisoned its stem cell business along with the
clinical trial. Geron has been looking since then for a buyer for the
assets.
Tom Okarma
Geron photo
Only a few months prior to the Geron
decision in 2011, the California stem cell agency had signed a $25
million loan agreement with Geron to support the clinical trial. The
company paid back with interest the amount of the loan that it had
received.
Information from the two companies did
not specify whether BioTime will begin seeking additional
participants in the clinical trial. Nor did BioTime indicate whether
it would seek additional funding from the state stem cell agency.
However, West said during the telephone
interview that he has an “open mind” about working with CIRM.
Last year, agency officials indicated an interest in continuing to
support the clinical trial. West said BioTime had already hired some
employees that were laid off by Geron, including its patent attorney.
He said that he hoped to reassemble at least part of Geron's now
scattered stem cell team.
According to the Geron press release,
when the deal is officially concluded in September, “it is
anticipated that Geron stockholders would own approximately 21% of
BAC, BioTime would own approximately 72%, and a private investor
would own approximately 7% after an additional $5 million investment
in BAC.”
For its new operations, BioTime has
leased space in Menlo Park that Geron once used for its stem cell
business.
Both firms are publicy traded.
BioTime's stock price closed at $3.45 today and had a 52-week high of
$6.35 and a low of $2.67. Geron closed at $1.60 and had a 52-week
high of $2.99 and a low of 91 cents.

Here is a link to an article in the San
Francisco Business Times about the deal. Here are links to the
BioTime press release, a BioTime FAQ and the Geron press release.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/TBbR-z7OPWc/biotime-buys-gerons-stem-cell-assets.html

Recommendation and review posted by Fredricko

Reverse Engineering Grandpa

Posted: January 13, 2013 at 7:47 am

Stem cells are rarely the subject of
cartoons, but one popped last week from Bizarro.

The cartoon appeared in the San
Francisco Chronicle and elsewhere, including the
Bizarro web site. The image was of a petri dish in a lab with
tiny maternal speck giving parental advice to an even tinier speck:
"You can be anything you want to be when you grow up."
Artist Dan Piraro said the cartoon was his favorite of the
week because of its “strangeness.”
Piraro wrote on his blog,

“To use a term common in the
vernacular of geneticists, it’s creepy cool.”

The cartoon did not differentiate
between embryonic and adult cells, much less reprogrammed adult
cells. Using reprogrammed cells in the cartoon would have been even
creepier and cooler, giving new meaning to the 1947 song, “I Am My
Own Grandpa.”(See here and here.)

(A nod to "Bob" for calling our attention to the cartoon.)

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/gXXLRtG2Sx4/reverse-engineering-grandpa.html

Recommendation and review posted by Fredricko


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