Stem Cell News Blog

President Barack Obama was lifting some restrictions on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research on Monday.

The decision reverses a decision by former president George W. Bush that restricted the use of federal funds for research using stem cells from human embryos, with the exception of a few lines of cells that had already been created.

Stem cells are primitive cells that are give rise to all other cells in the body. Scientists are working to use them to repair severed spinal cords, regenerate brain cells lost in Parkinson’s disease and restore the tissue destroyed by juvenile diabetes.

Companies seeking to make use of stem cells from other sources, such as the blood, or taken from amniotic fluid, also stand to benefit as research in the field accelerates.

Below is a list of embryonic and adult stem cell research companies that stand to benefit from President Obama’s ruling. Their stocks
jumped on Monday.

* Geron Corp. Geron’s shares rose as much as 35 percent on Monday. In January the company announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had cleared the way for it to begin a clinical trial using stem cells to regrow nerve tissue in patients with crushed spinal cords.

* StemCells Inc. The company’s shares rose as much as 73 percent. Last week the company said it would acquire cell-based drug discovery platforms and related businesses from Stem Cell Sciences.

* Advanced Cell Technology Inc. Shares of the company doubled. Last week it said it has received $400,000 in additional funding through its receipt of a final payment from Korean biotech CHA Biotech Co Ltd.

* Neuralstem Inc. Its shares rose more than 22 percent. Last month the company said U.S. regulators had put its spinal cord stem cell trial to treat ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, on hold while the company modifies the trial’s protocol and patient eligibility criteria.

* Aastrom Biosciences Inc. Aastrom’s shares rose 88 percent. Last week U.S. regulators removed a clinical hold that had been placed on a mid-stage study of its drug for congestive heart failure.

* Thermogenesis Corp. The company supplies products and services that process and store adult stem cells. Its shares rose as much as 50 percent.

* Osiris Therapeutics Inc. The company, which plans to stick in the adult stem cell space, saw its shares rise as much as 4 percent.

* NeoStem Inc. Its shares rose as much as 51 percent.

* Cytori Therapeutics Inc. The company said last week it had completed enrollment in a trial to evaluate the safety and feasibility of adipose tissue-derived stem and regenerative cells. Its shares rose as much as 44 percent.

* ReNeuron Group Plc rose 18 percent. In January the company licensed on of its neural stem cell lines to Belgium-based biotech company Galapagos NV for use in validating drug targets for Huntington’s disease.