Stemson is going to use minipigs in the next stage of their hair cloning research

Joxy

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Joxy

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It's hard to keep up with who's who. Could you point out the names of the recently hired for us please? Thank you werefckd. I notice that the two main jobs are still listed on the company web site. No press release yet regarding the new hires. They hire people, which is great, but am wondering what these people know that the rest don't. Hiring people is nice but am wondering are they doing this because they're not achieving their objectives, are desperate and gambling to find the people who may possibly get the issues resolved? Too much we don't know. Again, I think it's my suspicion the pig models are failing and needing to be worked out by more experts. Again, if there was a success or even marginal success they would wish to brag about these accomplishments and drive even more investment to their group. No word about the pigs just yet, this is my main skepticism regarding Stemson at the moment. The IPSC technology also being hard to control casts another doubt as to how this technology will be useable. The recent discovery about totipotent stem cells have me more optimistic as being a more workable option but since the technology is so new, nothing can be expected right away.
Bro, I think you need to relax little bit. If you have hair loss it doesn’t mean it is end of the world for you or anybody else.
 

pegasus2

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IQ testing is incredibly flawed and simplistic. It doesn't account for the complexity of human intelligence. It isn't useless but it is more useful to recognize cognitive difficulties than the other way around. You could be a scientist with an IQ of 10,000 and still don't discover anything useful in your life.

We need more people working on a cure. With high IQ or not. A person with a normal IQ may be walking on the right path for a cure while a team of scientists with high IQ may be hitting a dead-end.
That's a cope for people with low IQs
 

Dogchebag

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The saddest part is it was an online test they took, which is usually inflated, and she still couldn't score more than 112. Real IQ maybe 105, American schools are a joke handing out PhDs to people like that. Even Harvard and MIT aren't what they used to be
You sound so full of yourself lol. But I like it.
 

Raccooner

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That's a cope for people with low IQs
IQ doesn't test everything related to intelligence. It surely recognizes forms of intelligence. More important is the person's talent in understanding science and biology. Also, there's no IQ requirement needed (as far as I know) in order to have a PhD. Do you think this should not be the case?
 

Super Metroid

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Thank you for finding the article Froggy7. Of course they're afraid to apply the IPSC technology due to cancer risks. Despite this good news, if they're too afraid to test it on any humans then it's more of the same research with no solution. The article mentions, "Eventually, we may be able to identify genes that rejuvenate without reprogramming, and specifically target those to reduce the effects of ageing."Of course no mention how to possibly accomplish this. Stemson Therapeutics is using this same IPSC technology, so surely they're looking for the cancer possibility in the animal models too. The good news in this article is science is moving forward but the bad news is they don't feel confident it is safe for humans to benefit, sigh!
In this research they targeted isolated human cells, but in another study ( I think by Bezos / Altos Labs) older mice were targeted and over time, their skin began to look more and more youthful. No side effects were found there as well.

Sure, mice again, but if more and more studies show safety in those studies and in human cell studies, eventually the technique will be tested on humans I believe.
 

Mighty

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That's a cope for people with low IQs
Nah. A "normal" brain is well balanced. We don't understand much about the brain but through observation it is noticeable that a brain specialized in one form of intelligence may affect other forms of intelligence. It is all about balancing processing power. That is why it is common that geniuses have some form of social quirk or difficulties with empathy.

There are people that had brain lesions that suddenly became geniuses in music, for example. Blind people also have other senses more sharp than most ppl. The brain reroute its processing power but it is not like the brain of a genius runs five times faster the normal people.

It is a pretty cool subject.
 

froggy7

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In this research they targeted isolated human cells, but in another study ( I think by Bezos / Altos Labs) older mice were targeted and over time, their skin began to look more and more youthful. No side effects were found there as well.

Sure, mice again, but if more and more studies show safety in those studies and in human cell studies, eventually the technique will be tested on humans I believe.
Can You provide a link to this research?
 

Joxy

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New huge novel breakthrough by Chinese scientists from Peking University.

Today, the top academic journal "Nature" launched a blockbuster study from a Chinese research team. The team led by Professor Deng Hongkui from Peking University has achieved breakthrough results in the field of stem cells. It is the first time to report the use of chemical small molecules to induce the transformation of human adult cells into pluripotent stem cells .

Compared with traditional methods, the advantages of chemical small molecules include simple operation, strong temporal and spatial control, reversible effects, and highly controllable cellular reprogramming process. In addition, the small molecule-induced somatic cell reprogramming technology avoids the safety problems caused by traditional transgenic operations, and is expected to become a safer clinical treatment method.


Original paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04593-5

With this new method no cancer risk in iPSCs.
 

Roeysdomi

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New huge novel breakthrough by Chinese scientists from Peking University.

Today, the top academic journal "Nature" launched a blockbuster study from a Chinese research team. The team led by Professor Deng Hongkui from Peking University has achieved breakthrough results in the field of stem cells. It is the first time to report the use of chemical small molecules to induce the transformation of human adult cells into pluripotent stem cells .

Compared with traditional methods, the advantages of chemical small molecules include simple operation, strong temporal and spatial control, reversible effects, and highly controllable cellular reprogramming process. In addition, the small molecule-induced somatic cell reprogramming technology avoids the safety problems caused by traditional transgenic operations, and is expected to become a safer clinical treatment method.


Original paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04593-5

With this new method no cancer risk in iPSCs.
Crazy , altho stemson and denovo already overcome this problem
 

RolfLeeBuckler

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Paul Laikind, PhD, Joins Stemson Therapeutics Board of Directors​

Seasoned biotech entrepreneur and CEO will support Stemson’s efforts to develop the first iPSC-derived cell therapy to treat hair loss
April 18, 2022 12:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Stemson TherapeuticsCorp., a private biotechnology company developing an iPSC-derived autologous cell therapy to regenerate healthy hair follicles, announced today that Paul Laikind, serial entrepreneur and former CEO of cell therapy company ViaCyte, has joined the Stemson Board of Directors. Paul brings significant company building and therapeutics development experience to the Stemson Board.
Stemson’s unique combination of novel technologies to bioengineer hair follicles not only has the potential to help millions of people suffering from hair loss, but can more broadly advance the capabilities for cell therapy development across the industry.
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“We welcome Paul as an important addition to our board of directors,” said Matt Posard, Stemson’s executive chairman of the board. “With more than 35 years of experience founding and leading therapeutics development companies from preclinical to clinical stage development and from start-up through IPO, Paul will provide valuable guidance to accelerate Stemson’s progress.”
“I am delighted and honored to join Stemson’s Board of Directors,” said Paul. “Stemson’s unique combination of novel technologies to bioengineer hair follicles not only has the potential to help millions of people suffering from hair loss, but can more broadly advance the capabilities for cell therapy development across the industry. I look forward to working with the team and supporting their journey.”
Paul Laikind, PhD, was CEO of ViaCyte from 2012 until 2020, where he lead the development of the first stem cell-derived cell therapies designed to replace pancreatic beta cells for the treatment of Type 1 Diabetes. Paul led the company from the preclinical stage through the introduction of two product candidates into clinical trials before retiring at the end of 2020. A third product that Viacyte developed in collaboration with CRISPR Tx recently also entered clinical development.
Dr. Laikind served as Chief Business Officer and Senior Vice President of the Sanford Burnham Medical Research Institute from 2009 – 2011, focusing on enhancing the translational capabilities of the institute. From 1999 - 2009, Paul was cofounder and CEO of Metabasis Therapeutics, which concentrated on therapeutics development for metabolic and liver diseases. He took Metabasis from founding through IPO, and from preclinical to clinical stage development, with five products in the clinic. From 1986 – 1999, Paul cofounded and served as Vice President of Corporate Development at Gensia Pharmaceuticals where they developed small molecule therapies for the treatment of cardiovascular, neurological and inflammatory diseases. During that time, he cofounded and served as an advisor to Viagene from 1988 – 1994, the first commercially focused gene therapy company developing proprietary gene delivery technology to treat HIV, cancer and inherited disorders. Gensia, Viagene and Metabasis each completed successful initial public offerings and were eventually acquired for combined proceeds of over $3.5 billion.
Throughout his career, Dr. Laikind has played a leadership role in the evolving biotechnology industry. He serves or has served on the board of industry organizations including BIO, BIOCOM, CONNECT, and Alliance for Regenerative Medicine.
Paul earned his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of California, San Diego, and is a veteran of the US Navy.
“We are very lucky to have Paul join us. The next stage of Stemson’s development is to advance our first product toward human clinical trials,” stated Geoff Hamilton, cofounder and CEO of Stemson Therapeutics. “Paul’s tremendous business leadership experience and industry relationships, as well as his involvement developing similar technologies to Stemson’s while at ViaCyte, will help us guide the company toward that goal.
 

werefckd

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Paul Laikind, PhD, Joins Stemson Therapeutics Board of Directors​

Seasoned biotech entrepreneur and CEO will support Stemson’s efforts to develop the first iPSC-derived cell therapy to treat hair loss
April 18, 2022 12:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Stemson TherapeuticsCorp., a private biotechnology company developing an iPSC-derived autologous cell therapy to regenerate healthy hair follicles, announced today that Paul Laikind, serial entrepreneur and former CEO of cell therapy company ViaCyte, has joined the Stemson Board of Directors. Paul brings significant company building and therapeutics development experience to the Stemson Board.

“We welcome Paul as an important addition to our board of directors,” said Matt Posard, Stemson’s executive chairman of the board. “With more than 35 years of experience founding and leading therapeutics development companies from preclinical to clinical stage development and from start-up through IPO, Paul will provide valuable guidance to accelerate Stemson’s progress.”
“I am delighted and honored to join Stemson’s Board of Directors,” said Paul. “Stemson’s unique combination of novel technologies to bioengineer hair follicles not only has the potential to help millions of people suffering from hair loss, but can more broadly advance the capabilities for cell therapy development across the industry. I look forward to working with the team and supporting their journey.”
Paul Laikind, PhD, was CEO of ViaCyte from 2012 until 2020, where he lead the development of the first stem cell-derived cell therapies designed to replace pancreatic beta cells for the treatment of Type 1 Diabetes. Paul led the company from the preclinical stage through the introduction of two product candidates into clinical trials before retiring at the end of 2020. A third product that Viacyte developed in collaboration with CRISPR Tx recently also entered clinical development.
Dr. Laikind served as Chief Business Officer and Senior Vice President of the Sanford Burnham Medical Research Institute from 2009 – 2011, focusing on enhancing the translational capabilities of the institute. From 1999 - 2009, Paul was cofounder and CEO of Metabasis Therapeutics, which concentrated on therapeutics development for metabolic and liver diseases. He took Metabasis from founding through IPO, and from preclinical to clinical stage development, with five products in the clinic. From 1986 – 1999, Paul cofounded and served as Vice President of Corporate Development at Gensia Pharmaceuticals where they developed small molecule therapies for the treatment of cardiovascular, neurological and inflammatory diseases. During that time, he cofounded and served as an advisor to Viagene from 1988 – 1994, the first commercially focused gene therapy company developing proprietary gene delivery technology to treat HIV, cancer and inherited disorders. Gensia, Viagene and Metabasis each completed successful initial public offerings and were eventually acquired for combined proceeds of over $3.5 billion.
Throughout his career, Dr. Laikind has played a leadership role in the evolving biotechnology industry. He serves or has served on the board of industry organizations including BIO, BIOCOM, CONNECT, and Alliance for Regenerative Medicine.
Paul earned his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of California, San Diego, and is a veteran of the US Navy.
“We are very lucky to have Paul join us. The next stage of Stemson’s development is to advance our first product toward human clinical trials,” stated Geoff Hamilton, cofounder and CEO of Stemson Therapeutics. “Paul’s tremendous business leadership experience and industry relationships, as well as his involvement developing similar technologies to Stemson’s while at ViaCyte, will help us guide the company toward that goal.
Interesting!

It’s safe to assume those experienced industry veterans that joined the company as board directors recently had access to the current state of their tech and pre clinical results and if it didn’t look promising and getting closer to clinical trials stage they prob wouldn’t have joined it.

Also, it’s good that they are bringing to their board of directors the expertise they need to fulfill the steps to launch this things, obviously
 

werefckd

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Dude is going to be of crucial help to Geoff and the whole company, really

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Raccooner

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Interesting!

It’s safe to assume those experienced industry veterans that joined the company as board directors recently had access to the current state of their tech and pre clinical results and if it didn’t look promising and getting closer to clinical trials stage they prob wouldn’t have joined it.

Also, it’s good that they are bringing to their board of directors the expertise they need to fulfill the steps to launch this things, obviously
Assuming that things are looking up for Stemson regarding preclinical results, why are they then keeping it a secret from us? Wouldn't one think if the new preclinical results looked promising they would give a press release bragging that we did it, we've grown hairs on our mini pigs? All they report on now for news is we've hired new people to our board. I've tried reaching out to them a handful of times, even calling the top bigwigs, not one of them returned my calls. Not even the communications director is replying to me anymore. I've tried getting in touch with CEO Geoff Hamilton, Alexey Terskikh PhD, and Dr. Richard Chafoo. It is no doubt great they are hiring some of the best people in the biotech industry to develop their technology, who have successfully developed biotech solutions but until I hear from someone they are getting a degree of results from their mini pigs, I am not holding my breath that we're at the gates of the promised land. You know, what is so proprietary that they cannot just say to me yes, we've gotten somewhere with our experiments in pigs? If they would come forward with this information to me I'd have a lot more confidence in them. Maybe perhaps they are being overwhelmed with inquiries from interested people that they have no time to deal with people wanting information? I am very excited for this company and a fan no doubt but wish I could get a grip of what's really going on, surely we all here want to know this.
 
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froggy7

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Assuming that things are looking up for Stemson regarding preclinical results, why are they then keeping it a secret from us? Wouldn't one think if the new preclinical results looked promising they would give a press release bragging that we did it, we've grown hairs on our mini pigs? All they report on now for news is we've hired new people to our board. I've tried reaching out to them a handful of times, even calling the top bigwigs, not one of them returned my calls. Not even the communications director is replying to me anymore. I've tried getting in touch with CEO Geoff Hamilton, Alexey Terskikh PhD, and Dr. Richard Chafoo. It is no doubt great they are hiring some of the best people in the biotech industry to develop their technology, who have successfully developed biotech solutions but until I hear from someone they are getting a degree of results from their mini pigs, I am not holding my breath that we're at the gates of the promised land. You know, what is so proprietary that they cannot just say to me yes, we've gotten somewhere with our experiments in pigs? If they would come forward with this information to me I'd have a lot more confidence in them. Maybe perhaps they are being overwhelmed with inquiries from interested people that they have no time to deal with people wanting information? I am very excited for this company and a fan no doubt but wish I could get a grip of what's really going on, surely we all here want to know this.
Hamilton doesn't give a sh*t on accidental guys like you or me, it's normal he doesn't answer calls, I don't know what you expected?
 

Raccooner

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Hamilton doesn't give a sh*t on accidental guys like you or me, it's normal he doesn't answer calls, I don't know what you expected
If he doesn't care about individuals, why should he care about finding a cure? It's not good. I yearn for a cure. He probably just does this because it provides him a living and could care less otherwise if a cure is found or not. It would be great if someone like Jeff Donovan was running the company instead of Geoff Hamilton, because Jeff Donovan is passionate about hair loss research, people and loves learning about the subject. It takes a special person to understand this problem or someone who has suffered or suffers from hair loss to address people who are desperate like myself and wanting answers. These companies need leaders, who care for those in need of answers and outreach. Cold corporate stiffs aren't the ideal types of people for this type of matter but are likely good for handling business, organization, raising money, functional management and making good hiring choices. They have their place in their areas of talent. At least that's how I see it. Giving a sh*t about people, even of the least concern to them should still be important for how a company is viewed by the public. If they don't give a sh*t about me, why should they give a sh*t about anyone or hair loss at all if it's just a job of trivial importance to their own personal priorities?
 
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froggy7

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If he doesn't care about individuals, why should he care about finding a cure? It's not good. I yearn for a cure. He probably just does this because it provides him a living and could care less otherwise if a cure is found or not. It would be great if someone like Jeff Donovan was running the company instead of Geoff Hamilton, because Jeff Donovan is passionate about hair loss research, people and loves learning about the subject. It takes a special person to understand this problem or someone who has suffered or suffers from hair loss to address people who are desperate like myself and wanting answers. These companies need leaders, who care for those in need of answers and outreach. Cold corporate stiffs aren't the ideal types of people for this type of matter but are likely good for handling business, organization, raising money, functional management and making good hiring choices. They have their place in their areas of talent. At least that's how I see it. Giving a sh*t about people, even of the least concern to them should still be important for how a company is viewed by the public. If they don't give a sh*t about me, why should they give a sh*t about anyone or hair loss at all if it's just a job of trivial importance to their own personal priorities?
the truth is as you described, we mark sh*t as individuals for anyone
 

Super Metroid

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Assuming that things are looking up for Stemson regarding preclinical results, why are they then keeping it a secret from us? Wouldn't one think if the new preclinical results looked promising they would give a press release bragging that we did it, we've grown hairs on our mini pigs? All they report on now for news is we've hired new people to our board. I've tried reaching out to them a handful of times, even calling the top bigwigs, not one of them returned my calls. Not even the communications director is replying to me anymore. I've tried getting in touch with CEO Geoff Hamilton, Alexey Terskikh PhD, and Dr. Richard Chafoo. It is no doubt great they are hiring some of the best people in the biotech industry to develop their technology, who have successfully developed biotech solutions but until I hear from someone they are getting a degree of results from their mini pigs, I am not holding my breath that we're at the gates of the promised land. You know, what is so proprietary that they cannot just say to me yes, we've gotten somewhere with our experiments in pigs? If they would come forward with this information to me I'd have a lot more confidence in them. Maybe perhaps they are being overwhelmed with inquiries from interested people that they have no time to deal with people wanting information? I am very excited for this company and a fan no doubt but wish I could get a grip of what's really going on, surely we all here want to know this.
First of all, I don't know either, so take it with a grain of salt.

However, this guy is an trained biochemist, but according to his resume, currently concerns himself with more managerial roles , such as chairman, board member, president etc. It makes me believe he is not necessarily that deep in the weeds anymore, but is more the person who oversees it all.

If there would be absolutely no progress to speak of, hiring a guy like this would be like putting the cart before the horse. To me, it makes more sense that there is development and they want him to help steer the ship through trials and everything related. If nothing would be moving forward, it looks more logical to hire deep technical specialists in order to make progress first.
 

Gump

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Assuming that things are looking up for Stemson regarding preclinical results, why are they then keeping it a secret from us? Wouldn't one think if the new preclinical results looked promising they would give a press release bragging that we did it, we've grown hairs on our mini pigs? All they report on now for news is we've hired new people to our board. I've tried reaching out to them a handful of times, even calling the top bigwigs, not one of them returned my calls. Not even the communications director is replying to me anymore. I've tried getting in touch with CEO Geoff Hamilton, Alexey Terskikh PhD, and Dr. Richard Chafoo. It is no doubt great they are hiring some of the best people in the biotech industry to develop their technology, who have successfully developed biotech solutions but until I hear from someone they are getting a degree of results from their mini pigs, I am not holding my breath that we're at the gates of the promised land. You know, what is so proprietary that they cannot just say to me yes, we've gotten somewhere with our experiments in pigs? If they would come forward with this information to me I'd have a lot more confidence in them. Maybe perhaps they are being overwhelmed with inquiries from interested people that they have no time to deal with people wanting information? I am very excited for this company and a fan no doubt but wish I could get a grip of what's really going on, surely we all here want to know this.
I've browsed this forum for years and had an account awhile ago, and it always amazes me how people think companies should just announce any and all progress they make. They don't owe us anything if they're not selling a product yet. All announcements like this do is cause people to go into a frenzy and harass them...and for startups, risks people trying to steal IP. Uber, DoorDash etc didn't go around announcing everything they were going to do - they developed, got funding in private, and moved forward. Stemson is already raising a lot of money so they don't need press for that at the moment.

It'll be years before Stemson shows us anything we should get really excited about - there's absolutely no reason for them to hide progress, but there's also no reason to do it years early when all people will do is want to know when treatments will be available. They want to launch a service and make plenty of money and I'm sure they'll announce things when it makes sense.
 
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