Pharmboy January 18th, 2010 at 9:28 am
Ilene – to answer your questions:
1. I believe so, although I am not a law expert.
2. There are at least a half dozen companies focused on the stem cell arena, but this is an area I know little about. Without researching the science (most of it is proprietary), it would be hard to give them a fair shake. Any company can say they have ‘cured’ something in a rat, mouse, etc, but until they get proof in humans, it is all pie in the sky. To me, the companies are so early in the game, much like DNA/RNA companies of 20 or so years ago where things are just starting to come out to the market e.g., ISIS. I think what WILL explode in the coming years is medical devices and testing. The DNA/RNA is getting smaller, faster and less expensive, so Dr.s will be able to run a simple test and know what is going on within minutes while in the office. Cutting out the lab services companies. I think I have noted it before on the site – anything that gets reimbursement my medicare/medicaid will do well, b’c Dr.s can charge against it and get incremental revenue.
3. Again, I am not an expert, so I can see things go wrong where a liver is growing in the brain, etc. I believe though one the cells have moved down a path, then it would be very hard for them to change their course. As for long standing cell lines, from my experience, I have used cells that have been frozen in liquid Nitrogen for > 7 yrs, and they are fine to bring out again. Supposedly the cells will last for many, many more beyond that, so I don’t see a problem for time. # of passages yes (by passages I mean the number of times the cells are split into new cells) but don’t know how many it is too many.
January 18th, 2010 at 9:28 am
Ilene – to answer your questions:
1. I believe so, although I am not a law expert.
2. There are at least a half dozen companies focused on the stem cell arena, but this is an area I know little about. Without researching the science (most of it is proprietary), it would be hard to give them a fair shake. Any company can say they have ‘cured’ something in a rat, mouse, etc, but until they get proof in humans, it is all pie in the sky. To me, the companies are so early in the game, much like DNA/RNA companies of 20 or so years ago where things are just starting to come out to the market e.g., ISIS. I think what WILL explode in the coming years is medical devices and testing. The DNA/RNA is getting smaller, faster and less expensive, so Dr.s will be able to run a simple test and know what is going on within minutes while in the office. Cutting out the lab services companies. I think I have noted it before on the site – anything that gets reimbursement my medicare/medicaid will do well, b’c Dr.s can charge against it and get incremental revenue.
3. Again, I am not an expert, so I can see things go wrong where a liver is growing in the brain, etc. I believe though one the cells have moved down a path, then it would be very hard for them to change their course. As for long standing cell lines, from my experience, I have used cells that have been frozen in liquid Nitrogen for > 7 yrs, and they are fine to bring out again. Supposedly the cells will last for many, many more beyond that, so I don’t see a problem for time. # of passages yes (by passages I mean the number of times the cells are split into new cells) but don’t know how many it is too many.