MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'geron'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:49:39 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4872475&cid=t_119982_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FQv7sASpsCEI%2F Hired someone new and exciting? Promoted a rising star? Finally solved that hard-to-fill spot? Share the news with us and we’ll share with it others. That’s right. Send us your announcements and we’ll find a home for them. Don’t be shy. Everyone wants to know who is coming and going, especially with all the layoffs. Despite the downsizing, there is movement. Here are some of the latest changes. Recognize anyone? And here is our regular feature. Send us a photo and we will spotlight a different person each week. This time around, we note that Pfizer named Craig Lipset as head of clinical innovation. Most recently , he was venture partner in Pfizer Venture Investments, which oversees a $50 million budget for private investments in diagnostics and health technology. Before that, he wa... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4872475 Fri, 27 May 2011 12:09:20 +0100 4872475 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2200383&cid=t_119982_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F02%2Ffetal-stem-cells-cause-tumors-in-human.html This story is disturbing and raises questions about whether the FDA's license to Geron to conduct human embryonic stem cell experiments should be suspended pending further studies. In Israel, a child treated with fetal stem cells developed tumors four years after receiving fetal stem cell treatments. From the story: The boy, now 17, received the stem cells in 2001 at a Moscow hospital and four years later scans showed brain and spinal tumours, PLoS Medicine reports. Israeli doctors removed the abnormal growth from his spine and tests suggest it sprouted from the stem cells...The boy in question was treated for a condition called Ataxia Telangiectasia--a genetic disease that attacks the brain region controlling movement and speech. He received three courses of foetal stem cell injections to... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2200383 Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:37:00 +0100 2200383 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2144447&cid=t_119982_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F01%2Fwas-fdas-escr-human-trial-approval.html When the FDA approved Geron's application to conduct human trials of their embryonic stem cell treatment for acute spinal cord injury, some noted that it might be political, coming as it did within days of the change of the presidential guard. I wasn't among those, but perhaps I should have been more cynical. Science has an article about the decision ("Celebration and Concern Over U.S. Trial of Embryonic Stem Cells Jennifer Couzin Science 30 January 2009: Vol. 323. no. 5914, p. 568--no link). This reaction from a stem cell research supporter should set off alarm bells:Evan Snyder, a neuroscientist who directs the stem cell research center at the nonprofit Burnham Institute for Medical Research in San Diego, California, warns that a shaky start could set the field back enormously. "There's ... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2144447 Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:34:00 +0100 2144447 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2095805&cid=t_119982_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F01%2Fmedia-reportage-reads-like-press.html The media is at it again, pushing the stem cell line desired by a Big Biotech company. This story in the Chicago Tribune seems sparked by Geron's publicity department rather than having been garnered through independent reporting. It's about why the field has moved slowly and how Geron is uniquely poised to make big breakthroughs. Anybody want to buy stock?First, we find that embryonic stem cell research has supposedly been starved for funds. From the story:The biggest hurdle may have been the lack of government funding for stem cell studies. Because there is no federal money for this kind of research, other than through the National Institutes of Health, there has been little movement in the embryonic stem cell arena outside of Geron's privately funded effort. That means regulators lack t... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2095805 Sun, 11 Jan 2009 22:18:00 +0100 2095805 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1445875&cid=t_119982_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F05%2Fno-human-escr-trials-per-fda.html Geron Corporation has released a series of press releases over several years stating that "next year" it would start the first human trials using ES cells. Apparently, that won't be happening yet. From the story: The F.D.A. convened a meeting April 10 of expert advisers who stressed the need for stringent safety measures in embryonic stem cell trials.Steven Bauer, chief of the F.D.A.'s cell and tissue therapy branch, said at the meeting that the agency might require "particularly strong" evidence early in studies that stem cell treatments are effective. The agency may also require longer trials of stem cell therapies than it does for conventional drugs, Mercedes Serabian, a supervisory toxicologist for the agency, said after the meeting.The company will announce its plans once it receives ... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1445875 Thu, 15 May 2008 22:04:00 +0100 1445875 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1226690&cid=t_119982_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F02%2Fgeron-touts-pending-human-trial-of-escr.html Geron has issued the latest in a long series of press releases claiming that it will soon be applying to the FDA for permission to conduct human trials of a medical trial created with ESCR. Why this is news beats me. As I have pointed out previously, it has been making the very same claim for years, to wit:Today November 13, 2007October 31, 2007May 10, 2007January 2007August 4, 2006June 17, 2006March 29, 2006April 19, 2005December 1, 2004Some suggestion of a pending request was also strongly implied as far back as 2002.This is not to say that this will be another false alarm. But it is to say that perhaps the media should be a little skeptical and report about the many false starts that Geron has previously made.HT: David Prentice (Source: Secondhand Smoke) Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1226690 Wed, 13 Feb 2008 01:15:00 +0100 1226690 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1041884&cid=t_119982_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F188255331%2F Despite excitement among some scientists - and at the White House - about an embryo-free technique for creating human stem cells, reaction from companies that might turn the research into treatments is subdued, the Associated Press reports. In two papers published yesterday, researchers reported successfully programming ordinary human skin cells to behave like embryonic stem cells, which can theoretically be transformed into a variety of human tissues. But while biotech execs say the announcement is scientifically interesting, they also add that the new technique is even less likely to yield meaningful results soon than using embryonic cells - which requires destroying embryos. One exec, whose company’s stem-cell treatments may soon enter human clinical trials, notes that the FDAS is... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1041884 Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:33:21 +0100 1041884 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=623807&cid=t_119982_134_f&fid=35152&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsstrumello.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F05%2Fhuman-embryonic-stem-cells-cultured_19.html On Thursday, May 17, 2007, a private company known as Geron Corp., which is based in Menlo Park, CA (near Stanford University) reported that they had successfully transformed human embryonic stem cells into the pancreatic beta cells. Earlier research was able to successfully culture beta cells in vitro, but those cultured beta cells did not properly release insulin in response to glucose. In Genron's lab dishes, the cultured cells produced insulin, glucagon and somatostatin, three of the major hormones produced by islet cells.It is now fairly is well-established that islet transplantation, which can potentially be done on an outpatient basis by infusing beta cells into the patient's portal vein, can restore insulin independence, at least temporarily. The early results using the Edmonton Pr... Scott's Web Log blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=623807 Sat, 19 May 2007 16:20:00 +0100 623807