Ocata Therapeutics Inc fka OCAT

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RPE Therapy Works! This Is An Unchallenged FACT!

Lanza and his colleagues were also the first to demonstrate that nuclear transplantation could be used to reverse the aging process and to generate immune-compatible tissues, including the first organ tissue-engineered from cloned cells. One of his greatest early achievements came from his demonstration that techniques used in preimplantation genetic diagnosis could be used to generate human embryonic stem (hES) cells without embryonic destruction. He and colleagues have also succeeded in differentiating human pluripotent stem cells into retinal (RPE) cells, and has shown that they provide long-term benefit in animal models of vision loss. Using this technology some forms of blindness may be curable, including macular degeneration and Stargardt disease, a currently untreatable form eye disease that causes blindness in teenagers and young adults. Lanza’s company (ACT) received FDA approval to begin clinical trials using them to treat degenerative eye diseases. These two clinical trials began in July 2011. Recently, ACT received similar approval for the first human embryonic stem cell trial in Europe. Surgeons at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London will inject healthy retinal cells into the eyes of patients with Stargardt’s macular dystrophy, hoping to slow, halt or even reverse the effects of the disease. The first person received the embryonic stem cell treatment earlier this year. The patient reports improved vision in the eye treated with the cells, which The Guardian said “represents a huge scientific achievement.”

Dr. Lanza and his colleagues published the first-ever report of human embryonic stem cells transplanted into human patients. Two clinical studies were initiated to establish the safety and tolerability of subretinal transplantation of hESC-derived RPE in patients with Stargardt’s macular dystrophy and dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). After surgery, evidence confirmed cells had attached and continued to persist during the study. There were no signs of tumorigenicity or rejection in either patient. The patients who received the stem cell transplants say their lives have been transformed by the experimental procedure. During the observation period visual acuity improved from hand motions to 20/800 (and improved from 0 to 5 letters on the standard visual acuity chart) in the study eye of the patient with Stargardt’s disease, and vision also seemed to improve in the patient with dry AMD. One of the patients no longer needs a large magnifying glass to read and can reportedly thread a needle and has begun to go shopping on her own. The future therapeutic goal will of these studies will be to treat patients earlier in the disease processes, potentially increasing the likelihood of visual rescue.

http://www.robertlanza.com/who-is-robert-lanza/