3 years sure maybe 10 in the U.S !!
Pioneering stem cell treatment for heart failure could be used in three years
A revolutionary stem cell treatment for heart failure could be available in three years, it was revealed yesterday.
Clinical trials of the therapy, which uses stem cells from a patient's own bone marrow to repair the heart, have just started in Belgium.
Assuming they prove successful, the biotech company pioneering the treatment hopes to make it commercially available in 2012.
advertisementBritish patients could be recruited for the second phase of international trials taking place over the next two to three years.
All the patients taking part have suffered damage from heart attacks. Their heart muscle has been weakened, making it less able to pump blood around the body.
The therapy, called C-Cure, involves implanting partially developed repair cells into the heart which go on to build new healthy tissue.
Since the cells originate from the patient's own bone marrow, there is no danger of them being rejected by the immune system.
Stem cells are immature cells that can take a number of different development paths.
The C-Cure treatment takes adult stem cells from the bone marrow and exposes them to a cocktail of chemicals to coax them into becoming heart muscle cells.
Grown in the laboratory, they reach a halfway stage where they become "cardiopoietic" cells with the power to regenerate heart muscle.
They can then be injected into the heart of a patient. Once implanted, natural signals guide them to repair the organ.
Dr Christian Homsy, chief executive of Cardio3 BioSciences, said: "This is the first therapy that has the potential to regenerate heart muscle. It is a revolutionary treatment.
"We are entering an era where instead of trying to get more out of a failed heart by increasing its function, you repair the failing heart."
Pioneering stem cell treatment for heart failure could be used in three years
A revolutionary stem cell treatment for heart failure could be available in three years, it was revealed yesterday.
Clinical trials of the therapy, which uses stem cells from a patient's own bone marrow to repair the heart, have just started in Belgium.
Assuming they prove successful, the biotech company pioneering the treatment hopes to make it commercially available in 2012.
advertisementBritish patients could be recruited for the second phase of international trials taking place over the next two to three years.
All the patients taking part have suffered damage from heart attacks. Their heart muscle has been weakened, making it less able to pump blood around the body.
The therapy, called C-Cure, involves implanting partially developed repair cells into the heart which go on to build new healthy tissue.
Since the cells originate from the patient's own bone marrow, there is no danger of them being rejected by the immune system.
Stem cells are immature cells that can take a number of different development paths.
The C-Cure treatment takes adult stem cells from the bone marrow and exposes them to a cocktail of chemicals to coax them into becoming heart muscle cells.
Grown in the laboratory, they reach a halfway stage where they become "cardiopoietic" cells with the power to regenerate heart muscle.
They can then be injected into the heart of a patient. Once implanted, natural signals guide them to repair the organ.
Dr Christian Homsy, chief executive of Cardio3 BioSciences, said: "This is the first therapy that has the potential to regenerate heart muscle. It is a revolutionary treatment.
"We are entering an era where instead of trying to get more out of a failed heart by increasing its function, you repair the failing heart."