Asterias Biotherapeutics

Making a good thing better

/ Kevin McCormack / Leave a comment
Thomas Edison

Legend has it that Thomas Edison “failed” 1,000 times before he managed to create the incandescent lightbulb. Edison says he didn’t get discouraged, instead he looked at each unsuccessful experiment as being one step closer to finding the method that really worked. That’s a lesson in optimism and persistence for all of us.

Lineage Cell Therapeutics has that same spirit. Lineage is trying to develop a stem cell therapy to help people with spinal cord injuries. CIRM invested $14.3 million in the first version of this approach which produced encouraging results. But encouraging is not enough. So, Lineage set about doing a complete overhaul of the therapy known as OPC1.

The idea behind it is to turn embryonic stem cells into oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs). These OPCs are precursors to cells that play an important role in supporting and protecting nerve cells in the central nervous system, the area damaged in a spinal cord injury. By transplanting these cells at the injury site it’s hoped they will help restore some of the broken connections, allowing patients to regain some movement and feeling.

In the original trial many patients, who had been paralyzed from the chest down, regained some use of their arms, hands and even fingers. This was better than any previous therapy had managed. But for Lineage it wasn’t good enough. So, they set about redesigning their whole manufacturing process, making improvements at every step along the way.

In a news release they outlined those improvements:

  • A new ready-to-inject formulation of OPC1, which enables clinical use at a much larger number of spinal cord treatment centers, accelerating enrollment for a larger and potentially registrational clinical trial.
  • Elimination of dose preparation, reducing overall preparation time from 24 hours to 30 minutes and cutting logistics costs by approximately 90%.
  • A 10 to 20-fold increase in OPC1 production scale, sufficient to support late-stage clinical development and which can be further scaled to meet initial commercial use.
  • A 50-75% reduction in product impurities.
  • Improvements in OPC1 functional activity, as assessed by cellular migration and secretion of key growth factors.

They also came up with new quality control tests to make sure everything was working well and eliminated all animal-based production reagents.

Brian Culley, Lineage CEO was, understandably, enthusiastic about the changes and its prospects for helping people with spinal cord injuries:

“Manufacturing is the foundation of cell therapy and the significant enhancements we have achieved with OPC1 marks the second time we have successfully transformed a research-grade production process into one capable of supporting a successful commercial product. Our objective is to be the premier allogeneic cell therapy company and our dedication to manufacturing excellence allows us not only to reduce or eliminate certain regulatory and commercial hurdles, but also establish strong competitive barriers in our field.”

Lineage are now hoping to go back to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the near future and get permission to run another clinical trial.

Here are stories of the impact the first generation of this approach have already had on people.

Good news for two CIRM-supported therapies

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Jake Javier, a patient in the spinal cord injury stem cell therapy clinical trial

It’s always satisfying to see two projects you have supported for a long time do well. That’s particularly true when the projects in question are targeting conditions that have no other effective therapies.

This week we learned that a clinical trial we funded to help people with spinal cord injuries continues to show benefits. This trial holds a special place in our hearts because it is an extension of the first clinical trial we ever funded. Initially it was with Geron, and was later taken up by Asterias Biotherapeutics, which has seen been bought by Lineage Cell Therapeutics Inc.

The therapy involved transplanting oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs), which are derived from human embryonic stem cells, into people who suffered recent spinal cord injuries that left them paralyzed from the neck down.  OPCs play an important role in supporting and protecting nerve cells in the central nervous system, the area damaged in a spinal cord injury. It’s hoped the cells will help restore some of the connections at the injury site, allowing patients to regain some movement and feeling.

In a news release, Lineage said that its OPC therapy continues to report positive results, “where the overall safety profile of OPC1 has remained excellent with robust motor recovery in upper extremities maintained through Year 2 patient follow-ups available to date.”

Two years in the patients are all continuing to do well, and no serious unexpected side effects have been seen. They also reported:

– Motor level improvements

  1. Five of six Cohort 2 patients achieved at least two motor levels of improvement over baseline on at least one side as of their 24-month follow-up visit.
  2. In addition, one Cohort 2 patient achieved three motor levels of improvement on one side over baseline as of the patient’s 24-month follow-up visit; improvement has been maintained through the patient’s 36-month follow-up visit.

Brian M. Culley, CEO of Lineage Cell Therapeutics called the news “exciting”, saying “To put these improvements into perspective, a one motor level gain means the ability to move one’s arm, which contributes to the ability to feed and clothe oneself or lift and transfer oneself from a wheelchair. These are tremendously meaningful improvements to quality of life and independence.”

Evie, cured of SCID by a therapy licensed to Orchard Therapeutics

The other good news came from Orchard Therapeutics, a company we have partnered with on a therapy for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) also known as “bubble baby diseases” (we have blogged about this a lot including here).

In a news release Orchard announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted an accelerated assessment for their gene therapy for metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD). This is a rare and often fatal condition that results in the build-up of sulfatides in the brain, liver, kidneys and other organs. Over time this makes it harder and harder for the person to walk, talk, swallow or eat.

Anne Dupraz-Poiseau, chief regulatory officer of Orchard Therapeutics, says this is testimony to the encouraging early results of this therapy. “We look forward to working with the EMA to ensure this potentially transformative new treatment, if approved, reaches patients in the EU as quickly as possible, and continuing our efforts to expand patient access outside the EU.”

The accelerated assessment potentially provides a reduced review timeline from 210 to 150 days, meaning it could be available to a wider group of patients sooner.  

One year later, spinal cord therapy still looks promising

/ Kevin McCormack / 6 Comments
Jake Javier – participant in the SCIStar study

The beginning of a clinical trial, particularly the first time a new therapy is being tested in people, is often a time of equal parts anticipation and nervousness. Anticipation, because you have been working to this point for many years. Nervousness, because you have never tested this in people before and even though you have done years of study to show it is probably safe, until you try it in people you never really know.

That’s why the latest results from the CIRM-funded SCiStar Study, a clinical trial for spinal cord injury, are so encouraging. The results show that, one year after being treated, all the patients are doing well, none have experienced any serious side effects, and most have experienced impressive gains in movement, mobility and strength.

Ed Wirth, Chief Medical Officer at BioTime

In a news release Ed Wirth,  BioTIme’s Chief Medical Officer, said they were encouraged by what they saw:

“We believe the primary goals of the SCiStar Study, which were to observe the safety of OPC1 in cervical spinal cord injury patients as well as other important metrics including related to the optimal timing of OPC1 injection, tolerability of the immunosuppression regimen, engraftment of OPC1 cells, and rates of motor recovery observed among different study subpopulations, have all been successfully achieved.”

The study involved transplanting what the researchers called AST-OPC1 cells into patients who have suffered recent injuries that have left them paralyzed from the neck down.  AST-OPC1 are oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, which develop into cells that support and protect nerve cells in the central nervous system, the area damaged in spinal cord injury. It’s hoped the treatment will restore connections at the injury site, allowing patients to regain some movement and feeling.

Altogether 25 patients were involved. Three, in Cohort 1, were given injections of just two million OPC1 cells. This was to ensure the approach was safe and wouldn’t endanger patients. The remaining 22, in Cohorts 2-5, were given between 10 and 20 million cells. One year after the last patient was treated the results show:

  • MRI scans show no evidence of adverse changes in any of the 25 SCiStar study subjects.
    • No SCiStar study subjects had worsening of neurological function post-injection
    • At 12 months, 95% (21/22) of patients in Cohorts 2-5 recovered at least one motor level on at least one side and 32% (7/22) of these subjects recovered two or more motor levels on at least one side. 
    • No patient saw decreased motor function following administration of OPC1 and all either retained for 12 months the motor function recovery seen through 6 months or experienced further motor function recovery from 6 to 12 months.
    • All three subjects in Cohort 1 and 95% (21/22) of those in Cohorts 2 to 5 have MRI scans at 12 months consistent with the formation of a tissue matrix at the injury site. This is encouraging evidence the OPC1 cells have engrafted at the injury site and helped to prevent cavitation, a destructive process that occurs within the spinal cord following spinal cord injuries, and typically results in permanent loss of motor and sensory function.

“We appreciate the support of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the world’s largest institution dedicated to bringing the future of cellular medicine closer to reality, whose generous grant funding to date of $14.3 million has helped advance the clinical development of our OPC1 program and generate these encouraging clinical results in patients with traumatic spinal cord injuries.”

BioTime is now planning to meet with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) later this year to discuss next steps for the therapy. Soon as we know the outcome of those talks, we’ll share them with you.

Stories that caught our eye: National Geographic takes a deep dive into iPS cells; Japanese researchers start iPS cell clinical trial for spinal cord injury; and do high fat diets increase your risk of colorectal cancer

/ Kevin McCormack / 1 Comment

Can cell therapy beat the most difficult diseases?

That’s the question posed in a headline in National Geographic. The answer; maybe, but it is going to take time and money.

The article focuses on the use of iPS cells, the man-made equivalent of embryonic stem cells that can be turned into any kind of cell or tissue in the body. The reporter interviews Kemal Malik, the member of the Board of Management for pharmaceutical giant Bayer who is responsible for innovation. When it comes to iPS cells, it’s clear Malik is a true believer in their potential.

“Because every cell in our bodies can be produced from a stem cell, the applicability of cell therapy is vast. iPSC technology has the potential to tackle some of the most challenging diseases on the planet.”

But he also acknowledges that the field faces some daunting challenges, including:

  • How to manufacture the cells on a large scale without sacrificing quality and purity
  • How do you create products that have a stable shelf life and can be stored until needed?
  • How do you handle immune reactions if you are giving these cells to patients?

Nonetheless, Malik remains confident we can overcome those challenges and realize the full potential of these cells.

“I believe human beings are on the cusp of the next big wave of pharmaceutical innovation. The use of living cells to make people better.”

As if to prove Malik right there was also news this week that researchers at Japan’s Keio University have been given permission to start a clinical trial using iPS cells to treat people with spinal cord injuries. This would be the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

Japan launches iPSC clinical trial for spinal cord injury

An article in Biospace says that the researchers plan to treat four patients who have suffered varying degrees of paralysis due to a spinal cord injury.  They will take cells from the patients and, using the iPS method, turn them into the kind of nerve cells found in the spinal cord, and then transplant two million of them back into the patient. The hope is that this will create new connections that restore movement and feeling in the individuals.

This trial is expected to start sometime this summer.

CIRM has already funded a first-of-its-kind clinical trial for spinal cord injury with Asterias Biotherapeutics. That clinical trial used embryonic stem cells turned into oligodendrocyte progenitor cells – which develop into cells that support and protect nerve cells in the central nervous system. We blogged about the encouraging results from that trial here.

High fat diet drives colorectal cancer

Finally today, researchers at Salk have uncovered a possible cause to the rise in colorectal cancer deaths among people under the age of 55; eating too much high fat food.

Our digestive system works hard to break down the foods we eat and one way it does that is by using bile acids. Those acids don’t just break down the food, however, they also break down the lining of our intestines. Fortunately, our gut has a steady supply of stem cells that can repair and replace that lining. Unfortunately, at least according to the team from Salk, mutations in these stem cells can lead to colorectal cancer.

The study, published in the journal Cell, shows that bile acids affect a protein called FXR that is responsible for ensuring that gut stem cells produce a steady supply of new lining for the gut wall. When someone eats a high fat diet it upsets the balance of bile acids, starting a cascade of events that help cancer develop and grow.

In a news release Annette Atkins, a co-author of the study, says there is a strong connection between bile acid and cancer growth:

“We knew that high-fat diets and bile acids were both risk factors for cancer, but we weren’t expecting to find they were both affecting FXR in intestinal stem cells.”

So next time you are thinking about having that double bacon cheese burger for lunch, you might go for the salad instead. Your gut will thank you. And it might just save your life.

Stem Cell Agency celebrates 50 clinical trials with patient #1

/ Kevin McCormack / 2 Comments

Yesterday the CIRM Board approved funding for our 50th clinical trial (you can read about that here) It was an historic moment for us and to celebrate we decided to go back in history and hear from the very first person to be treated in a CIRM-funded clinical trial. Rich Lajara was treated in the Geron clinical trial after experiencing a spinal cord injury, thus he became CIRM’s patient #1. It’s a badge he says he is honored to wear. This is the speech Rich made to our Board.

Rich Lajara

Hello and good afternoon everyone. It’s an honor to be here today as the 50th clinical trial has been officially funded by CIRM. It was feels like it was just yesterday that I was enrolled into the first funded clinical trial by CIRM and in turn became California’s’ 1st embryonic stem cell patient.

I became paralyzed from the waist down in September 2011. It was Labor Day and I was at a river with some close friends. There was this natural granite rock slide feature next to a waterfall, it was about 60 feet long; all you had to do was get a bucket of water to get the rocks wet and slide down into a natural pool. I ended up slipping and went down head first backwards but was too far over and I slid off a 15’ ledge where the waterfall was. I was pulled from the water and banged up pretty bad. Someone said “look at that deformity on his back” and tapped my leg and asked if I could feel that. I knew immediately I was paralyzed. I thought this was the end, little did I know this was just the beginning. I call it being in the wrong place at the right time.

So, after a few days in the hospital of course everyone, as well as myself, wanted a cure. We quickly learned one didn’t exist. A close family friend had been making phone calls and was able to connect with the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and learned about a clinical trial with “stem cells”. One of my biggest question was how any people have done this? “Close to none”, I was told.

I was also told I most likely would have no direct benefit as this was a safety trial? So why do it at all? Obviously at that time I was willing to overlook the “most likely” part because I was willing to do anything to try and get my normal life back.

Looking back the big picture was laying the ground work for others like Kris or Jake (two people enrolled in a later version of this trial). At the time I had no clue that what I was doing would be such a big deal. The data collected from me would end up being priceless. It’s stories like Jake’s and Kris’ that make me proud and reinforce my decision to have participated in California’s first stem cell clinical trial funded by prop 71.

Like I said earlier it was just the beginning for me. A couple of years later I became a patient advocate working with Americans for Cures. I have been able to meet many people in the stem cell industry and love to see the glow in their face when they learn I was California’s first embryonic stem cell patient.

I can’t even fathom all the year’s of hard work and countless hours of research that had lead up to my long anticipated surgery, but when I see their glowing smile I know they knew what it took.

I also enjoy sharing my story and bridging the gap between myths and facts about stem cells, or talking to students and helping inspire the next generation that will be in the stem cell industry.  As a matter of fact, I have 13 year old sister, Maddie, dead set on being a neurosurgeon.

Fast forward to today. Life in a wheelchair is not exactly a roll in the park (no pun intended) but I have grown accustomed to the new normal. Aside from some neuropathic pain, life is back on track.

Not once did I feel sorry for myself, I was excited to be alive. Sure I have bad days but don’t we all.

In the last 14 years CIRM has funded 50 human clinical trials, published around 2750 new peer-reviewed scientific discoveries, and they’ve transformed California into the world leader in stem cell research. As I look around the posters on the wall, of the people whose lives have been transformed by the agency, I can’t help but be struck by just how much has been achieved in such a short period of time.

While my journey might not yet be over, Evie and 40 other children like her, (children born with SCID) will never remember what it was like to live with the horrible condition they were born with because they have been cured thanks to CIRM. There are hundreds of others whose lives have been transformed because of work the agency has funded.

CIRM has proven how much can be achieved if we invest in cutting-edge medical research.

As most of you here probably know CIRM’s funding from Proposition 71 is about to run out. If I had just one message I wanted people to leave with today it would be this. Everyone in this room knows how much CIRM has done in a little over a decade and how many lives have been changed because of its existence. We have the responsibility to make sure this work continues. We have a responsibility to make sure that the stories we’ve heard today are just the beginning.

I will do everything I can to make sure the agency gets refunded and I hope that all of you will join me in that fight. I’m excited for the world of stem cells, particularly in California, and can’t wait to see what’s on the horizon.

 

Stem cell treatment for spinal cord injury offers improved chance of independent life for patients

/ Kevin McCormack / 15 Comments

kris-boesen

Kris Boesen, CIRM spinal cord injury clinical trial patient works to strengthen his upper body. (Photo/Greg Iger)

A spinal cord injury is devastating, changing a person’s life in a heartbeat. In the past there was little that doctors could do other than offer pain relief and physical therapy to try and regain as much muscle function as possible. That’s why the latest results from the CIRM-supported Asterias Biotherapeutics spinal cord injury trial are so encouraging.

Asterias is transplanting what they call AST-OPC1 cells into patients who have suffered injuries that left them paralyzed from the neck down.  AST-OPC1 are oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, which develop into cells that support and protect nerve cells in the central nervous system, the area damaged in spinal cord injury. It’s hoped the treatment will restore connections at the injury site, allowing patients to regain some movement and feeling.

The latest results seem to suggest they are doing just that.

In a news release, Asterias reports that of the 25 patients treated in this clinical trial none have experienced serious side effects. They also reported that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests show that more than 95 percent of the patients have shown evidence of what’s called “tissue matrix” at the injury site. This is encouraging because it suggests the implanted cells are engrafting and helping prevent a cavitation, a serious process that often occurs in spinal cord injuries and can lead to permanent loss of muscle and sensory function plus chronic pain.

The study also shows that after six months:

  • 100 percent of the patients in Group 5 (who received 20 million cells) have recovered at least one motor level (for example increased ability to use their arms) on at least one side
  • Two patients in Group 5 recovered one motor level on both sides
  • Altogether four of the 25 patients have recovered two or more motor levels on at least one side.

Not surprisingly Ed Wirth, the Chief Medical Officer at Asterias, was pleased with the results:

“The results from the study remain encouraging as the six-month follow-up data continued to demonstrate a positive safety profile and show that the AST-OPC1 cells are successfully engrafting in patients.”

While none of the patients are able to walk, just regaining some use of their arms or hands can have a hugely important impact on their quality of life and their ability to lead an independent life. And, because lifetime costs of taking care of someone who is paralyzed from the neck or chest down can run as high as $5 million, anything that increases a patient’s independence can have a big impact on those costs.

The impact of this research is helping change the lives of the patients who received it. One of those patients is Jake Javier. We have blogged about Jake several times over the last two years and recently showed this video about his first year at Cal Poly and how Jake is turning what could have been a life-ending event into a life-affirming one.

 

Stem Cell Roundup: Jake Javier’s amazing spirit; TV report highlights clinic offering unproven stem cell therapies

/ Kevin McCormack / 2 Comments

JakeJavier_A_0107_20161207142726_JakeJavier_SeesTheDay

Jake Javier: Photo Michael Clemens, Sees the Day

In the Roundup we usually focus on studies that highlight advances in stem cell research but today we’re going to do something a little different. Instead of relying on print for our stories, we’re turning to video.

We begin with a piece about Jake Javier. Regular readers of our blog will remember that Jake is the young man who broke his neck the day before he graduated high school, leaving him paralyzed from the upper chest down.

After enrolling in the CIRM-funded Asterias clinical trial, and receiving a transplant of 10 million stem cells, Jake regained enough use of his arms and hands to be able to go to Cal Poly and start his life over.

This video highlights the struggles and challenges he faced in his first year, and his extraordinary spirit in overcoming them.

(thanks to Matt Yoon and his Creative Services team at Cal Poly for this video)

Going Undercover

The second video is from the NBC7 TV station in San Diego and highlights one of the big problems in regenerative medicine today, clinics offering unproven therapies. The investigative team at NBC7 went undercover at a stem cell clinic seminar where presenters talked about “the most significant breakthrough in natural medicine” for improving mobility and reducing pain. As the reporter discovered, the reality didn’t live up to the promise.

NBC7 Investigative Report

 

Friday Roundup: A better kind of blood stem cell transplant; Encouraging news from spinal cord injury trial; Finding an “elusive” cell that could help diabetics

/ Kevin McCormack / 2 Comments

Cool Instagram image of the week:

Pancreatic Progenitors

Diabetes Research Institute scientists have confirmed that the unique stem cells reside within large ducts of the human pancreas. Two such ducts (green) surrounded by three islets (white) are shown. [Diabetes Research Institute Foundation]

Chemo- and radiation-free blood stem cell transplant showing promise

Bubble baby disease, also known as severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), is an inherited disorder that leaves newborns without an effective immune system. Currently, the only approved treatment for SCID is a blood stem cell transplant, in which the patient’s defective immune system cells are eliminated by chemotherapy or radiation to clear out space for cells from a healthy, matched donor. Even though the disease can be fatal, physicians loathe to perform a stem cell transplant on bubble baby patients:

Shizuru“Physicians often choose not to give chemotherapy or radiation to young children with SCID because there are lifelong effects: neurological impairment, growth delays, infertility, risk of cancer, etc.,” says Judith Shizuru, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at Stanford University.

To avoid these complications, Dr. Shizuru is currently running a CIRM-funded clinical trial testing a gentler approach to prepare patients for blood stem cell transplants. She presented promising, preliminary results of the trial on Tuesday at the annual meeting of Stanford’s Center for Definitive and Curative Medicine.

Trial participants are receiving a protein antibody called CD117 before their stem cell transplant. Previous studies in animals showed that this antibody binds to the surface of blood stem cells and blocks the action of a factor which is required for stem cell survival. This property of CD117 provides a means to get rid of blood stem cells without radiation or chemotherapy.

Early results in two participants indicate that, 6 and 9 months after receiving the CD117 blood stem cell transplants, the donor cells have successfully established themselves in the patients and begun making immune cells.

Spinal cord injury trial reports more promising results:

AsteriasRegular readers of our blog will already know about our funding for the clinical trial being run by Asterias Biotherapeutics to treat spinal cord injuries. The latest news from the company is very encouraging, in terms of both the safety and effectiveness of the treatment.

Asterias is transplanting stem cells into patients who have suffered recent injuries that have left them paralyzed from the neck down. It’s hoped the treatment will restore connections at the injury site, allowing patients to regain some movement and feeling in their hands and arms.

This week the company announced that of the 25 patients they have treated there have been no serious side effects. In addition:

  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans show that in more than 90 percent of the patients the cells appear to show signs of engraftment
  • At least 75 percent of those treated have recovered at least one motor level, and almost 20 percent have recovered two levels

In a news release, Michael Mulroy, Asterias’ President and CEO, said:

“The positive safety profile to date, the evidence supporting engraftment of the cells post-implantation, and the improvements we are seeing in upper extremity motor function highlight the promising findings coming from this Phase 1/2a clinical trial, which will guide us as we work to design future studies.”

There you are! Finding the “elusive” human pancreatic progenitor cells – the story behind our cool Instagram image of the week.

Don’t you hate it when you lose something and can’t find it? Well imagine the frustration of scientists who were looking for a group of cells they were sure existed but for decades they couldn’t locate them. Particularly as those cells might help in developing new treatments for diabetes.

Diabetes-Research-Institute_University-of-Miami-Miller-School-of-MedicineWell, rest easy, because scientists at the Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami finally found them.

In a study, published in Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News, the researchers show how they found these progenitor cells in the human pancreas, tucked away in the glands and ducts of the organ.

In type 1 diabetes, the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas are destroyed. Finding these progenitor cells, which have the ability to turn into the kinds of cells that produce insulin, means researchers could develop new ways to regenerate the pancreas’ ability to function normally.

That’s a long way away but this discovery could be an important first step along that path.

How a stem cell transplant may help transform Lucas Lindner’s life

/ Kevin McCormack / 1 Comment

Lucas Lidner was left paralyzed below the chin after a truck accident last May.  Photo: Fox6Now, Milwaukee

On a Sunday morning in early 2016, Lucas Lindner was driving to get some donuts for his grandmother. A deer jumped in front of his truck. Lucas swerved to avoid it and crashed, suffering a severe spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the neck down.

Lucas took part in a CIRM-funded clinical trial, becoming just the second person to get 10 million stem cells transplanted into his neck. Since then he has regained some use of his arms and hands. While some patients with spinal cord injuries do experience what is called “spontaneous” recovery, Lucas was not the only person in the trial who experienced an improvement. Asterias Biotherapeutics, the company behind the clinical trial, reported that four of the six patients in the trial “have recovered 2 or more motor levels on at least one side through 12 months, which is more than double the rates of recovery seen in both matched historical controls and published data in a similar population.”

Lucas says his improvement has changed his life.

“I was pretty skeptical after the accident, on being able to do anything, on what was going to happen. But regaining hand function alone gave me everything I pretty much needed or wanted back.”

Lucas can now type 40 words a minute, use a soldering iron and touch his pinkie to his thumb, something he couldn’t do after the accident.

In August of last year Lucas did something else he never imagined he would be able to do, he threw out the first pitch at a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game. At the time, he said “I’m blown away by the fact that I can pitch a ball again.”

Lucas Lindner at the Milwaukee Brewers baseball game.

Now Lucas has his sights set on something even more ambitious. He is going back to school to study IT.

“When I was in 3rd grade a teacher asked what I want to be and I said a neuro-computational engineer. Everyone laughed at me because no one knew what that meant. Now, after what happened to me, I want to be part of advancing the science, helping make injuries like mine a thing of the past.”

Even though he was one of the first people to take part in this clinical trial, Lucas doesn’t think of himself as a pioneer.

“The real pioneers are the scientists who came up with this therapy, who do it because they love it.”

You can read more about Lucas and other patients who’ve participated in CIRM-funded clinical trials in CIRM’s 2017 Annual Report on our website. 

For more about Lucas and his story, watch this video below from Asterias.

Positive update on Asterias’ SCiStar study for spinal cord injury at TMM 2017

/ Samantha Yammine / Leave a comment

This guest blog is reposted with permission from Signals Blog, published by the Center for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM) in Canada.

With the extensive exploitation of regenerative medicine through the marketing and selling of unapproved stem cell “therapies” online, it was refreshing to hear an update about clinical trials for a legitimate stem cell therapy at the Till & McCulloch Meetings (TMM) in Canada earlier this month.

Dr. Jane Lebkowski, of Asterias, speaking at TMM 2017

Dr. Jane Lebkowski, President of R&D and Chief Scientific Officer at Asterias Biotherapeutics Inc. shared updates from their SCiStar study. This California-based company is currently in an open-label, single-arm Phase 1/2a clinical trial for testing the safety and efficacy of treating several types of spinal cord injuries (SCI) with AST-OPC1s – a type of brain cell called an oligodendrocyte progenitor cell, which they derived from pluripotent stem cells. Earlier this year they reported promising safety results in their first two cohorts of patients and clearance to proceed into additional patients.

Asterias uses a cryopreserved human ESC (embryonic stem cell) line to derive their AST-OPC1s, which they report are a non-homogenous population containing mostly OPCs and some neural progenitor cells. Importantly, they do not observe evidence that any ESCs remain in their differentiated cultures.

Their clinical trial is operating off the heels of extensive nonclinical safety and efficacy studies in over 28 different animal studies in >3,000 rodents and pigs with a unilateral contusion SCI model, as well as data from the first ever human clinical trial with human ESC-derived products previously conducted by Geron.

In their last non-clinical animal model studies of cervical (neck) and thoracic (back) SCI, Asterias showed that as long as they inject cells within the first 30 days of injury they see a persistent reduction in cavity formation at the injury site. They also saw myelination (growth of a protective, insulating sheath around nerve extensions) of nerve cells when AST-OPC1s were injected into myelin-free Shiverer mice, and increased vascularization (blood vessel growth) of injured tissue that persists to nine months post-transplantation. They also have in vitro data to suggest that the injected cells can secrete neurotrophic factors. Importantly, they saw behavioural improvements in their animal models that include “increases in running speed, right forelimb stride length, right forelimb maximal longitudinal deviation, and right rear stride frequency.”

In her talk at TMM, Dr. Lebkowski gave some exciting details about the company’s most recent clinical study. They’ve been delivering their AST-OPC1s to 18-69 year-old patients with C4-C7 spinal cord injury at multiple doses: a low dose of about two million cells and medium at 10 million cells. They give a single injection of either two million, 10 million, or 20 million AST-OPC1s within 21 to 42 days of injury. They have results from patients in the first two cohorts so far, and reported that both two and 10 million cell doses appeared safe 12 months after administration.

Excitingly, patients who received 10 million cells showed signs of functional improvements (in their movement) that have so far persisted up to 12 months after the injection – an improvement of 12.3% on their motor test, equivalent to two full motor scores. This translates to increased arm and hand function and improved independence in activities of daily living at 12 months. Given that these patients were requiring over six hours of home care a day, even small improvements in motor function can have huge impact on their quality of life and independence.

The research community is still waiting to hear preliminary results from the third cohort of patients who received 20 million cells. Asterias is currently recruiting more patients, including those with incomplete spinal cord injury. These studies will be used to inform a larger, double-blind controlled clinical trial that will include more extensive tests of the functional and physiological effects of injecting AST-OPC1s.

This promising work has not been an easy road. It has taken over a decade of thorough and challenging research. The current work was made possible by a $14.3 million investment from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and Dr. Lebkowski estimates that they have spent over $125 million U.S. for this trial. While Asterias covers non-routine medical costs for the patients who enroll, it will take time and more support from government institutions to further test this treatment and, if proven safe and effective, make it financially accessible to all eligible patients.

Returning to my first point about unapproved stem cell therapies, please engage in conversations about “hype and hope” of stem cell therapies with members of the general public, and encourage them to ask their family health team and a scientist before enrolling in any clinical trials advertised online. There are other ways you can keep our industry “honest” here. For more plain language resources on the current status of stem cell therapies, please see here and here.

Samantha Yammine

Samantha is a PhD Candidate studying neural stem cell biology in Dr. Derek van der Kooy’s lab at the University of Toronto. She is also an avid science communicator who uses social media to make science more accessible to everyone. For your daily dose of the fun and trendy side of science, find her online as @SamanthaZY on Twitter and @Science.Sam on Instagram.