4 thoughts on “Podcast Episode 1: July 5, 2011”

1. 
   

   Would this fall under stem cell tourism or is this legitimate?…I know if I had heart problems I would want in to the treatment. How would you draw the line?

   South Korea back in stem cell spotlight with new treatment

   FCB-Pharmicell specializes in developing stem cell drugs for incurable diseases. Hearticellgram-AMI takes somatic stem cells extracted from the patient’s own bone marrow that are then cultured and directly injected into the damaged heart.

   “Our first goal is to apply them in patients with illnesses that are not curable through conventional treatment procedures and medications,” FCB-Pharmicell Chief Executive Officer Kim Hyun-soo said from the company’s headquarters in Seongnam, south of Seoul.

   Shares in FCB Twelve Co, which announced a full takeover of its affiliate FCB-Pharmicell on Monday, rose as much as 85 percent in just a week in late June, buoyed by expectations of the KFDA approval of the treatment. FCB Twelve has a market value of around $271 million.

   The stem cell medication, if injected into coronary arteries, will help the damaged cells regenerate and recover function, FCB-Pharmicell says.

   In the company’s clinical trials over the past six years, patients showed a near 6 percent improvement in heart function six months after one dose of the injection, it says.

   http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/07/us-korea-stemcell-idUSTRE76610C20110707

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2. 
   

   It is legitimate. Why not?
   South Korean FDA is a government regulatory agency.
   http://eng.kfda.go.kr/index.php
   The stem cell product underwent all phases of clinical trials since 2006
   http://www.fcbpharmicell.com/english/biz/medical_heart.php
   and according Reuters now available on the market.
   Unfortunately, i was not able to find more trusted source for this release (company’s site or KFDA).
   No official releases from S. Korean mass media so far.

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3. 
   

   Well, they said it was not verified through a peer review. I’m not a scientist so I don’t know if that is significant. Also, for some reason they ie S.Korea seem to strongly oppose hesc research…any break through makes continuation along that path less needed according to the anti-hesc groups logic.

   A follow up article on huff post here:

   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/07/stem-cells-korea-heart-attack_n_892194.html

   Meanwhile in Toronto..
   McEwen Centre scientist discovers “pure” human blood stem cell and opens the door to expanding cells for more clinical use

   http://www.uhn.ca/applications/Media/iNews/ViewStory.aspx?s_id=1504&isremoteusr=1

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4. 
   

   Stem Cell Tourism in the U.S. is an effective topic which was podcast July 5, 2011. I downloaded it. Thanks

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