the 6 W’s: Who, what, where, when, why and what of it

Stocks took-off in a jet propelled run last week … Euro news will determine if the plane continues to climb or if market passengers should prepare for a hard landing. According to technical GPS, the direction for higher prices is queued up.  in the past year, the NASDAQ has had 4 bullish MACD crossovers when the indicator is below zero … every single time, the index moved significantly higher in a hurry.

 I still don’t see the markets’ momentum affecting (with any drama/momentum) the RegMed universe …  as  residiual affects have not yet planted … but, my bell weathers are blooming (under winter sunlight); Athersys (ATHX) is responding with a $0.54<+32.53%> increase to $2.20; while NeoStem (AMEX: NBS) is starting to blossom UP $0.045 <+8.20%> to $0.595, Osiris (OSIR) is UP +$0.20 <+4.120> to $4.96, Cytori (CYTX) sloggs-on UP $0.02 <+0.76%> to $2.66 and Aastrom is UP $0.05 <+2.22%> to $2.17 (most, flat-lined for these turbulent times) while others continue to flat-line UP incrementally  $0.02 – $0.08.  

The key to measurement of true universe momentum will be the pricing movement beyond the $1.00 (NASDAQ/AMEX) mark for … a few below the minimum pricing to stay listed into the new year … I DO BELIEVE  … it will happen … KOOL and NBS … into January!

Mid-Day: the NASDAQ is UP +46.80 (+1.78%) to 2,673.73. the Dow is UP +143.19 (+1.19%) to 12,162.61.

Mid-Day Movers: Aastrom (ASTM), Athersys (ATHX), BioTime (AMEX: BTX), Cytori (CYTX),Dendreon (DNDN), ImmunoCellular (OTC BB: IMUC), NeoStem (AMEX: NBS), Osiris (OSIR), Pluristem (PSTI), StemCells (STEM), Tengion (TNGN) and ThermoGenesis (KOOL)

What’s new in the regenerative medicine/stem cell market:

Drug eases GVHD symptoms in patients who had stem cell transplant: Daily, low-dose injections of interleukin-2 eased symptoms of graft-versus-host disease, or GVHD, in cancer patients who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, according to a study published in the new England Journal of Medicine. Of 23 patients given the drug for 8 weeks, 12 showed improvement, according to the study.

Researchers develop iPS cells from Pompe disease cells:  Taiwanese researchers have developed induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, from the skin cells of patients with Pompe disease. the researchers tested drugs on the iPS cells and were able to pinpoint marker genes whose expression correlates with the effect of drug treatment. the findings could aid in early diagnosis, drug testing and disease marker identification.

Researchers use nanofiber scaffold to grow trachea for transplant:  Swedish researchers used a nanofiber scaffold from Nanofiber Solutions to grow a synthetic trachea for transplant. the researchers used the patient’s own stem cells to grow the organ in the lab. the procedure is the world’s second successful synthetic trachea transplant, according to Harvard Bioscience.

Court says bone marrow donors can be compensated: The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that bone marrow donors can be compensated for their donations because bone marrow cells, which are obtained from a donor’s blood, can be considered as blood parts and not organ parts. Because of the ruling, bone marrow donations can now be exempted from the ban set forth by the 1984 National Organ Transplant Act, which prohibits compensation for donated organs and donated organ parts. the move is expected to spur a significant increase in the number of bone marrow donors in theU.S.

Researchers grow partial pituitary gland using stem cells: Japanese researchers used embryonic stem cells to grow partial pituitary glands, then transplanted the tissue in the kidneys of mice without pituitary glands. the transplanted tissue returned hormone levels to normal, according to the study published in Nature. the initiative is part of a worldwide effort to grow complete organs in a lab setting using stem cells.

Researchers attain functional muscle regeneration in mice:  Researchers from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and CellThera have successfully regenerated functional muscle tissue in mice by growing stem-cell-like human muscle cells on biopolymer microthreads, which were found to help accelerate the process of tissue generation. Findings suggest that “fibrin microthreads alone have tremendous potential for reducing fibrosis and remodeling large muscle injuries,”

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