Few advances in the history of human health have raised as much hope as the development and application of pluripotent stem cell technology. It’s an enthusiasm based on the fact that pluripotent stem cells, unlike adult cells, have the remarkable ability, under the right conditions, to be transformed into all sorts of different cells, which can then be used for more efficient research, testing, and ultimately the replacement of damaged tissues and cells for the treatment of heart failure, Parkinson’s disease, cancer, and other life threatening conditions. A key point is that there are different kinds of stem cells, though with similar capabilities.
Embryonic Stem Cells (ES Cells) are pluripotent stem cells derived from excess embryos, eggs that have been fertilized in vitro (IVF) and donated for research purposes with the informed consent of the donors. These embryos did not develop inside the body, and consist of only about 100 cells, long before organs, tissues, or nerves have developed. ES Cells have well-documented potential to differentiate into any of the over 200 cell types found in the human body (that is, they are pluripotent).
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS Cells) are derived from adult cells, typically human skin or fat cells, that have been genetically reprogrammed to behave like ES Cells. This is done by forcing the cells to express the genes necessary for maintaining the differentiating ability found in ES Cells. Although ES Cells and iPS Cells are similar in many respects, including the important ability to differentiate into other types of cells, scientists are still determining if there some ways in which they are not alike.
VistaGen Therapeutics is a biotechnology company primarily focused on using advanced stem cell technologies for rescuing previously researched drugs. These are drugs that may have had millions of dollars in research behind them, with proven efficacy, but were blocked because of possible toxicity issues, usually heart or liver toxicity. In some cases this is due simply to the inability of existing assays to provide adequate toxicity data. Such drugs offer immense potential if they can be brought back to life through today’s state-of-the-art testing methods being made possible by VistaGen’s proprietary pluripotent stem cell technologies.
For example, VistaGen’s human heart cell bioassay system, CardioSafe 3D, can provide clearly predictive heart toxicity data on drug candidates before they are ever tested in humans. CardioSafe 3D is based upon a combination of proprietary and exclusively licensed stem cell technologies, including technologies developed over the last 20 years by renowned Canadian scientist, Dr. Gordon Keller, and Dr. Ralph Snodgrass, VistaGen’s founder, President and Chief Scientific Officer. It’s a superior approach designed to eliminate the possibility of toxicity surprises such as occurred with Merck’s Vioxx or GlaxoSmithKline’s Avandia.
VistaGen’s additional advantage is that the Company has developed the ability to use iPS Cells as well as ES Cells for their applications, and in fact has not had to use excess embryos from IVF clinics for over 7 years.
For additional information, visit the Company’s website at www.VistaGen.com
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