We've moved!

We have moved our updates.

Please click here!

Our patients' stories

As non-managing founder of Theravitae, I get to do a lot of things at the company (and not get paid for it). The most important of which is getting personally involved with the patients who come to Thailand for VesCell therapy both while they are here and after they have returned home.

Four Americans have been treated this year. The first two, Calvin & Bob are doing great, and want to tell the world about it.

Ray in Hawaii, who hadn’t been able to walk more than a block or two, was walking 3 miles briskly after two weeks---who knows how far he is walking (or jogging?) now. Let’s call and ask him for my next post.

Jeannine in PA, 29, wife and mother of a two year old, was treated May 28 in Bangkok by Dr Amit Patel from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Dr. Kitipan Arom from Bangkok Hospital. Tomorrow, Wednesday June 23, Dr Patel and Jeannine are on their way to Washington to talk with some congress people on what is now Jeannine’s favorite subject: adult stem cells and what they are doing for her.

What all four have in common is that they felt so good, so quickly, that they began reactivating their lives faster than their personal physicians thought advisable or even possible. And they’ve refused to be reined in! Bob is now 3.5 months in and his home cardiologist is amazed at his transformation from couch potato to frequent traveler. Calvin, our first American patient, is now scuba diving at 90 feet and loving it. He’s promised me a picture in his dive gear when he gets back.

I met my new best friend, Billy Bob from Dallas, at the airport Saturday. At 84, he is 15 years older than our previous oldest patient, and is the most enthusiastic of the five! He is getting his blood drawn tonight. More about Billy Bob and his wonderful wife Marie over the next few days.

I am truly fortunate to be able to share the experience of these people getting their lives back with them and with all of you.

Luv
coo

coo@theravitae.com

Letter to BusinessWeek: Setting the Record Straight on Adult Stem Cells

I'd like to thank BusinessWeek Magazine for printing the following letter to the editor regarding our patient, Calvin Miller.

Read Letter at BusinessWeek.com

Setting The Record Straight On Adult Stem Cells

I would like to clarify information in "Biotech, finally" (News: Analysis & Commentary, June 13): Calvin Miller was the first off-trial patient treated by Siriraj Hospital in Thailand with adult stem cells harvested by a process pioneered by TheraVitae Ltd. This process does not use bone marrow. We draw 250cc of blood and expand the cells in the laboratory for about a week. Then they are implanted back into the patient. We can get the cells by drawing a small amount of blood instead of doing a painful bone marrow extraction. This process will soon allow the use of adult stem cells for treatment on a large scale.

Jay D. Lenner Jr.
TheraVitae Ltd.
Bangkok

BusinessWeek Magazine Features Adult Stem Cell Therapy Patient Calvin Miller

The first private patient to receive VesCell adult stem cell therapy, Mr. Calvin Miller, was featured in BusinessWeek magazine this week: Biotech, Finally

It’s great to see adult stem cell therapy in a magazine such as BusinessWeek but unfortunately, the article mentioned neither TheraVitae nor VesCell. It said that Dr. Amit Patel from The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center treated Calvin during a clinical trial with adult stem cells harvested from bone marrow. Dr. Patel is collaborating with us now but Calvin has not participated in any of Dr. Patel's trials.

The article incorrectly stated that the stem cells utilized in Calvin’s case were harvested from his bone marrow. Actually, they were harvested from about 250 cc of blood that was drawn from Calvin’s arm. The stem cells were expanded in TheraVitae’s laboratory in Israel, couriered back to Thailand and then implanted into one of his coronary arteries via catheter. This made Calvin the first private heart patient in the world to be treated with autologous adult stem cells harvested from peripheral blood as far as I know.

I have been in correspondence with BusinessWeek Magazine regarding these issues and I hope to see my letter to the editor in this week’s upcoming issue. I’d also like to point out that BusinessWeek has been very responsive to my emails over the past week.

Thank you, BusinessWeek.

US Heart Patients Being Treated with Adult Stem Cells in Thailand

Here is a link to the Official Press Release: Cell Therapy in Thailand featuring Dr. Amit Patel, The McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Dr. Valentin Fulga, TheraVitae Ltd. and Prof. Suphachai Chaithiraphan, President of The Heart Association of Thailand.

Last week was a busy one! - Adult Stem Cell Therapy for Heart Disease

Last week was an exciting week for us. Dr. Amit Patel, Director of Cardiac Stem Cell Therapies at The McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, arrived. He is now collaborating with us and came to train cardiac surgeons in Bangkok on his innovative adult stem cell transplantation techniques.

On Wednesday, we held a press conference to announce that Chaophya Hospital in Bangkok is now treating no-option heart patients with VesCell. Several patients from the United States have been treated this year. As far as I am aware, Thailand is currently the only country in the world offering adult stem cell therapy for heart disease from stem cells harvested from a small amount of the patient's blood.

The press release will come out May 31, 2005 but if you would like to see it before then, you can view it on our web site: US Heart Patients Being Treated with Adult Stem Cells in Thailand

A couple of days after the press conference, a major news wire agency was doing a story that included one of our patients, Calvin Miller. After they finished filming him walking in the SIam Society's garden, Calvin and I went to the skytrain. The platform is several stories above ground level. I was amazed as I was watched Calvin climb the stairs two-at-a-time all the way to the top with ease. At the top, he gave a big "Thumbs up" and a smile.

If you would like to read an interview I did with Calvin about a month ago please go to: Interview with Calvin Miller

That's it for today. I've got to get back to work now. I will do my best to keep this blog updated with useful information for anyone interested in the field of adult stem cell therapy for heart disease.


Regards,

Jay

Welcome

Welcome to the Theravitae's VesCell stem cell therapy blog.

This blog is dedicated to adult stem cell therapy for heart disease. In it you will find interesting news, press releases, interviews, websites and more; both from TheraVitae and from other reliable sources.

This blog will also give you a glimpse inside the workings of an emerging biotech company involved in the rapidly evovling field of adult stem cell therapy.

For more information:
VesCell
TheraVitae Ltd.

We hope you find this blog informative and most of all enjoyable!

Sincerely,

Jay D. Lenner
Director of Communications
TheraVitae Ltd.
Thailand/Israel/Hong Kong