Cell Therapy Deal Review: September

by Mark Curtis | Oct 20, 2015

. Welcome to your Cell Therapy Deal Review for the month of September. Aduro Biotech went the way of Juno and Kite and bought an antibody discovery platform. Intrexon and ZIOPHARM entered into an agreement to develop a novel Treg-based immunotherapy for GvHD. Kite...

Right Turn: Sparking STEM cells interest at Super Cells

by Erin Sugar | Oct 16, 2015

. Walking through the doors of MaRS Discovery District’s Phase II building in Toronto, Canada brings visitors face to face with Super Cells: The Power of Stem Cells, a free, award-winning exhibition with the purpose of educating children and teens, ages 4-14, about...

CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing: Is truth becoming stranger than fiction?

by Nicole Kuchinsky | Oct 15, 2015

Last week, a Nature News article reported that the Harvard geneticist George Church had modified over 60 genes in pig embryos using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing. I’m sure you’re expecting my scientific perspective on the significance of this news in the context of the...

Right Turn: What we can learn from a dancing doctor

by Erin Sugar | Oct 9, 2015

. When he’s not roaming hospital corridors, Dr. Adnan Khera, an anesthesiology resident at Boston’s Tufts Medical Center, can be found dancing on the city streets two nights a week. But he’s not dancing for fame, he’s earning money for his charity “Doctor Be...

First gene therapy prescribed: How can we ensure there are more in the future?

by James Smith | Oct 6, 2015

. With contributions from blogger David Brindley September 2015 has been an historic month for regenerative medicine. For the first time ever in the Western world, a prescription has been issued for a gene therapy, Glybera. At the ESGCT and FSGT Collaborative...

Right Turn: Turning the brain on and off with optogenetics

by Hamideh Emrani | Oct 2, 2015

. So many of today’s biomedical advances are only possible because of a step forward in basic science research that happened many years ago. Basic science, be it biology, math or physics, always tries to advance our knowledge of the universe around us. It doesn’t...

Cell Therapy Deal Review: August

by Mark Curtis | Sep 30, 2015

. Welcome to your cell therapy deal review for the month of August. Synthetic biology giant Intrexon closed a large financing; Immune Design announced a collaboration to pair its viral-based immunotherapy platform with a checkpoint inhibitor; and, NantKwest received a...

Update from the Clinic: August

by Mark Curtis | Sep 29, 2015

. Welcome to your Update from the Clinic for the month of August. The adult stem cell community enjoyed a much needed confidence boost after TiGenix announced its Phase 3 trial hit its primary endpoint. Northwest confirmed its Phase 3 trial of DCVax in glioblastoma is...

From bench to bedside: clinical trials and cancer drug approval in Canada

by Sara M. Nolte | Sep 28, 2015

. Much of what we discuss here on Signals is what’s going on in the lab. I’ve definitely done my share of promoting basic science research in the cancer stem cell field (here and here). By now you, and almost everyone else, must be wondering why these “wonder drugs”...

Right Turn: The why and what of clinical trials

by Stacey Johnson | Sep 25, 2015

. Not quite daily, but often enough to have a prepared message at the ready, I get inquiries from people seeking a stem cell treatment for themselves or loved ones who suffer from one disease/condition or another. (When I’m not working on Signals, I am responsible for...