Please click on the link below to view the e.paper of pharma biz and go to page no 16 to read the article written by our research director Dr Jyothsna Rao.
Issue dated April 29, 2010* NEW
http://www.eril.co.in/eMagazines/CP/2010/CP_apr29_2010/index.html
Friday, April 30, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Treatment for chronic lever failure
Until now, the only solution for end‐stage chronic liver disease was transplantation. Now ISSL brings you a much‐needed alternative in adult stem cell therapy.
Chronic liver damage causes scar tissue to slowly replace healthy liver tissue and leads to a progressive decline in blood supply through the liver. Over time, liver function degenerates and the natural regenerative capacity of the liver is not sufficient to off‐set the chronic damage.
Chronic liver failure can be caused by a number of factors, the main ones being alcohol, hepatitis A and B, and fatty liver disease.
Who needs therapy?
Patients who need a liver transplant should seriously consider this safe and effective alternative. There is no wait for treatment and the cost is much more affordable than that for transplantation.
What can ISSL offer?
ISSL offers a unique form of therapy using autologous (patient’s own) adult stem cells.
The safety and efficacy of the treatment has been proved. Clinical results have been published in the leading scientific journal, Transplantation Proceedings (May 2008).
All treated patients showed improvement in major liver function tests (see chart).
There were no incidents of adverse effects
Other studies
Numerous other studies around the world have also proven the safety and effectiveness of this therapy. Contact us to know more about these studies.
How can you receive treatment?
• Contact ISSL to schedule an appointment with our board‐certified doctors. If you would like to involve your physician in the process, we would be happy to work with them.
• After initial evaluation and case review, our doctors qualify the patient for
therapy.
• Patient is admitted into one of our state‐of‐the‐art therapy centers. A qualified and experienced physician will be assigned to design an individualized therapy regimen.
• Stem cells are harvested, enriched in our cGMP facilities and re‐implanted into the patient.
• The treatment duration is usually 1 – 2 days. Doctors qualify the patient for discharge after post‐treatment evaluation.
• Patient is required to attend all follow‐up procedures at our center or with their own physician.
Chronic liver damage causes scar tissue to slowly replace healthy liver tissue and leads to a progressive decline in blood supply through the liver. Over time, liver function degenerates and the natural regenerative capacity of the liver is not sufficient to off‐set the chronic damage.
Chronic liver failure can be caused by a number of factors, the main ones being alcohol, hepatitis A and B, and fatty liver disease.
Who needs therapy?
Patients who need a liver transplant should seriously consider this safe and effective alternative. There is no wait for treatment and the cost is much more affordable than that for transplantation.
What can ISSL offer?
ISSL offers a unique form of therapy using autologous (patient’s own) adult stem cells.
The safety and efficacy of the treatment has been proved. Clinical results have been published in the leading scientific journal, Transplantation Proceedings (May 2008).
All treated patients showed improvement in major liver function tests (see chart).
There were no incidents of adverse effects
Other studies
Numerous other studies around the world have also proven the safety and effectiveness of this therapy. Contact us to know more about these studies.
How can you receive treatment?
• Contact ISSL to schedule an appointment with our board‐certified doctors. If you would like to involve your physician in the process, we would be happy to work with them.
• After initial evaluation and case review, our doctors qualify the patient for
therapy.
• Patient is admitted into one of our state‐of‐the‐art therapy centers. A qualified and experienced physician will be assigned to design an individualized therapy regimen.
• Stem cells are harvested, enriched in our cGMP facilities and re‐implanted into the patient.
• The treatment duration is usually 1 – 2 days. Doctors qualify the patient for discharge after post‐treatment evaluation.
• Patient is required to attend all follow‐up procedures at our center or with their own physician.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Latest trends in stem cells therapy
Regenerative therapy using adult stem cells have come of age, so to speak, as the incidence of an average person undergoing stem cell therapy has peaked in the past few years. Much media attention has focused on the recently approved clinical trial using embryonic stem for treating Parkinson's Disease. However, the major gains in terms of therapy have been in the use of adult stem cells derived from bone marrow and cord blood.
The advantages of adult stem cells in terms of the easily available sources and none of the ethical challenges clearly outweigh their use compared to embryonic stem cells. Several clinical trials have been carried out for treating various disease including myocardial infarct, critical limb ischemia and spinal cord injury. In India, International Stemcell Services Ltd. has launched their stem cell therapy operations in the country and is the first company to have started ICMR-approved trials for spinal cord injury using autologous stem cells. ISSL has been in the forefront from the beginning and is incidentally the oldest stem cell company in India offering stem cell banking and therapy options to patients in a variety of disease contexts.
Results of the trials have been published in peer- reviewed medical journals and are accepted by noted physicians as treatment alternatives for patients who have no other options available for them. ISSL has completed the country's first and the world's largest trial on Beurger's disease (Critical Limb Ischemia) and have effectively established safety and efficacy in the patient population. ISSL has also completed clinical trials for liver cirrhosis, spinal cord injury and myocardial infarction to name a few.
As such, stem cell therapy must be a service-based industry, where knowledge-based companies offer therapy options in niche areas, so that such therapies are affordable as well as beneficial in the long run. The use of stem cells for therapy must be based on sound scientific background to prevent their misuse and avoid misleading claims. However, the lure of growing stem cell therapy-based business opportunities in India has attracted multinational companies to exert their influence on the nature of therapy practice.
One trend is to develop a stem cell product - specifically using mesenchymal stem cells, thus emulating the pharma industry. However, the claims that these cells can treat a wide variety of disease remain to be validated. Proper follow ups need to be in place and the patients should be properly educated. In many cases, people are misled by so- called "counsellors", who lead them to dubious centers, who claim to treat them for enormous exchange of money. Companies resort to treatment options under the guise of stem cells. Patients remain clueless about the nature of these cells and are left high and dry after the therapy is completed.
Currently, there are very few Indian companies that are active in stem cell therapy research. This may be due to our west-centric attitude regarding developing technologies, which leads to a paucity of inbred talent. In India, the need is to develop technologies that can provide stem cell treatment options to the Indian population at a cost that is affordable. Unfortunately, many of the therapies are offered at exorbitant prices. Moreover, many of the claims for therapy are anecdotal and lack published data. People forums must be in place to educate people so that proper education will result in directing them to the right destination and true benefits of the therapy can be documented.
Government regulations are in place but unfortunately not enforced, which gives rise to spurious claims by dubious persons, claiming their share in the stem cell therapy wagon and misleading patients towards therapy procedures which may not be appropriate. Stringent rules are needed and practitioners of stem cell therapies must adhere to them so that follow-ups can be documented and validated.
Lastly, although many corporate houses are seeing this as business proposition and are entering into the stem cell therapy domain, there is still a strong need to regulate these therapies so that there is a common standard maintained and maximum benefit can be given to deserving patients. Indian corporate houses must practice in cultivating a strong research background, so that companies can cut down the costs, as they can fall back on in-house R&D. Proper documentation and trials must be in place so that responsibility will solely rest on them to ensure proper therapy procedures to deserving patients.
This article came in Pharmabiz written by Dr Jyothsna Rao
http://www.pharmabiz.com/article/detnews.asp?articleid=52042§ionid=50
The advantages of adult stem cells in terms of the easily available sources and none of the ethical challenges clearly outweigh their use compared to embryonic stem cells. Several clinical trials have been carried out for treating various disease including myocardial infarct, critical limb ischemia and spinal cord injury. In India, International Stemcell Services Ltd. has launched their stem cell therapy operations in the country and is the first company to have started ICMR-approved trials for spinal cord injury using autologous stem cells. ISSL has been in the forefront from the beginning and is incidentally the oldest stem cell company in India offering stem cell banking and therapy options to patients in a variety of disease contexts.
Results of the trials have been published in peer- reviewed medical journals and are accepted by noted physicians as treatment alternatives for patients who have no other options available for them. ISSL has completed the country's first and the world's largest trial on Beurger's disease (Critical Limb Ischemia) and have effectively established safety and efficacy in the patient population. ISSL has also completed clinical trials for liver cirrhosis, spinal cord injury and myocardial infarction to name a few.
As such, stem cell therapy must be a service-based industry, where knowledge-based companies offer therapy options in niche areas, so that such therapies are affordable as well as beneficial in the long run. The use of stem cells for therapy must be based on sound scientific background to prevent their misuse and avoid misleading claims. However, the lure of growing stem cell therapy-based business opportunities in India has attracted multinational companies to exert their influence on the nature of therapy practice.
One trend is to develop a stem cell product - specifically using mesenchymal stem cells, thus emulating the pharma industry. However, the claims that these cells can treat a wide variety of disease remain to be validated. Proper follow ups need to be in place and the patients should be properly educated. In many cases, people are misled by so- called "counsellors", who lead them to dubious centers, who claim to treat them for enormous exchange of money. Companies resort to treatment options under the guise of stem cells. Patients remain clueless about the nature of these cells and are left high and dry after the therapy is completed.
Currently, there are very few Indian companies that are active in stem cell therapy research. This may be due to our west-centric attitude regarding developing technologies, which leads to a paucity of inbred talent. In India, the need is to develop technologies that can provide stem cell treatment options to the Indian population at a cost that is affordable. Unfortunately, many of the therapies are offered at exorbitant prices. Moreover, many of the claims for therapy are anecdotal and lack published data. People forums must be in place to educate people so that proper education will result in directing them to the right destination and true benefits of the therapy can be documented.
Government regulations are in place but unfortunately not enforced, which gives rise to spurious claims by dubious persons, claiming their share in the stem cell therapy wagon and misleading patients towards therapy procedures which may not be appropriate. Stringent rules are needed and practitioners of stem cell therapies must adhere to them so that follow-ups can be documented and validated.
Lastly, although many corporate houses are seeing this as business proposition and are entering into the stem cell therapy domain, there is still a strong need to regulate these therapies so that there is a common standard maintained and maximum benefit can be given to deserving patients. Indian corporate houses must practice in cultivating a strong research background, so that companies can cut down the costs, as they can fall back on in-house R&D. Proper documentation and trials must be in place so that responsibility will solely rest on them to ensure proper therapy procedures to deserving patients.
This article came in Pharmabiz written by Dr Jyothsna Rao
http://www.pharmabiz.com/article/detnews.asp?articleid=52042§ionid=50
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