It’s bad enough to have to battle a debilitating and ultimately deadly disease like Huntington’s disease (HD). But it becomes doubly difficult and frustrating when you feel that the best efforts to develop a therapy for HD are running into a brick wall. That’s how patients and patient advocates working on HD feel as they … Continue reading A ‘Call to Action’ for change at the FDA
Food and Drug Administration
‘Right To Try’ laws called ‘Right To Beg’ by Stem Cell Advocates
In recent years, ‘Right to Try’ laws have spread rapidly across the US, getting approved in 32 states, with at least three more states trying to pass their own versions. The organization behind the laws says they serve a simple purpose: ‘Right To Try’ allows terminally ill Americans to try medicines that have passed Phase … Continue reading ‘Right To Try’ laws called ‘Right To Beg’ by Stem Cell Advocates
Why Goldilocks could provide the answer to changing the way FDA regulates stem cells
One of the hottest topics of the past year in regenerative medicine has been the discussion about the need for regulatory reform at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) so it’s no surprise that topic was the subject of the first main panel discussion at the 2016 World Stem Cell Summit in West Palm Beach, … Continue reading Why Goldilocks could provide the answer to changing the way FDA regulates stem cells
Creating a “Pitching Machine” to speed up our delivery of stem cell treatments to patients
When baseball players are trying to improve their hitting they’ll use a pitching machine to help them fine tune their stroke. Having a device that delivers a ball at a consistent speed can help a batter be more consistent and effective in their swing, and hopefully get more hits. That’s what we are hoping our … Continue reading Creating a “Pitching Machine” to speed up our delivery of stem cell treatments to patients
Funding stem cell research targeting a rare and life-threatening disease in children
If you have never heard of cystinosis you should consider yourself fortunate. It’s a rare condition caused by an inherited genetic mutation. It hits early and it hits hard. Children with cystinosis are usually diagnosed before age 2 and are in end-stage kidney failure by the time they are 9. If that’s not bad enough … Continue reading Funding stem cell research targeting a rare and life-threatening disease in children
CIRM’s Randy Mills: New FDA rules for stem cells won’t fix the problem
For the last two days the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been holding a hearing in Bethesda, Maryland on new regulations that would tighten control over stem cell treatments. The FDA invited public testimony during the hearing on the regulations that would impact many of the clinics that currently offer unproven therapies The testimony … Continue reading CIRM’s Randy Mills: New FDA rules for stem cells won’t fix the problem
New approach could help turn back the clock and reverse damage for stroke patients
Stroke is the leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the US. Every year almost 800,000 people suffer from a stroke. The impact on their lives, and the lives of those around them can be devastating. Right now the only treatment approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is tissue plasminogen activator or … Continue reading New approach could help turn back the clock and reverse damage for stroke patients
Finally a possible use for your excess fat; using it to fix your arthritic knee
One of the most common questions we get asked at CIRM, almost every other day to be honest, is “are there any stem cell treatments for people with arthritis in their knees?” It’s not surprising. This is a problem that plagues millions of Americans and is one of the leading causes of disability in the … Continue reading Finally a possible use for your excess fat; using it to fix your arthritic knee
Why is a cell therapy that restores sight to the blind against the law?
A lot of people are frustrated with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its woefully slow process for approving stem cell therapies. That’s one of the reasons why we started the CIRM Stem Cell Champions campaign, to gather as many like-minded supporters of stem cell research as possible and help to change the … Continue reading Why is a cell therapy that restores sight to the blind against the law?
Timing is everything: could CRISPR gene editing push CIRM to change its rules on funding stem cell research?
Talk about timely. When we decided, several months ago, to hold a Standards Working Group (SWG) meeting to talk about the impact of CRISPR, a tool that is transforming the field of human gene editing, we had no idea that our meeting would fall smack in the midst of a flurry of news stories about … Continue reading Timing is everything: could CRISPR gene editing push CIRM to change its rules on funding stem cell research?