New Scientist
9-9-15
IT’S a quiet revolution. Simple stem cell therapies are finally making their way towards the clinic, and a treatment for wounds caused by Crohn’s disease could be the first off-the-shelf therapy to get European Union approval.
Hard-to-treat wounds near the anus afflict around 50,000 people in Europe every year. In a phase III trial, a treatment developed by TiGenix in Belgium improved the chances of healing such wounds by 50 per cent – and apparently with no adverse side effects.
The therapy uses stem cells derived from donated liposuction tissue, which have extremely low levels of the proteins that trigger immune reactions, says TiGenix head Eduardo Bravo. This means that the treatment, should it be approved after the full results are published next year, can be given off-the-shelf – the stem cells from a single person could be used to treat 2500 people.
By contrast, the only stem-cell-based medicinal product that is currently approved for use in the EU – a cornea treatment – involves removing cells from each individual’s eye and growing them outside the body for weeks. And bone-marrow transplants, which also involve stem cells and have been performed for decades, require a matched donor.
9-9-15
IT’S a quiet revolution. Simple stem cell therapies are finally making their way towards the clinic, and a treatment for wounds caused by Crohn’s disease could be the first off-the-shelf therapy to get European Union approval.
Hard-to-treat wounds near the anus afflict around 50,000 people in Europe every year. In a phase III trial, a treatment developed by TiGenix in Belgium improved the chances of healing such wounds by 50 per cent – and apparently with no adverse side effects.
The therapy uses stem cells derived from donated liposuction tissue, which have extremely low levels of the proteins that trigger immune reactions, says TiGenix head Eduardo Bravo. This means that the treatment, should it be approved after the full results are published next year, can be given off-the-shelf – the stem cells from a single person could be used to treat 2500 people.
By contrast, the only stem-cell-based medicinal product that is currently approved for use in the EU – a cornea treatment – involves removing cells from each individual’s eye and growing them outside the body for weeks. And bone-marrow transplants, which also involve stem cells and have been performed for decades, require a matched donor.