The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Support sought for stem cell therapy

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Thursday, Apr 03, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Support sought for stem cell therapy

Staff Reporter

The therapy can help treat AIDS, cancer

Michael Molnar

Bangalore: It is one of the safest therapeutic methods known, and has proved successful in treating conditions ranging from Down’s Syndrome and autism, to AIDS and cancer, when modern medicine has failed to provide answers or ceased to be effective. Yet, Stem Cell Transplantation (SCT) has not achieved widespread recognition, said E. Michael Molnar, Managing Director of the US-based Bio-Cellular Research Organisation (BCRO), which is one of the world’s largest commercial manufacturers of stem cells.

Speaking at a seminar on foetal stem cell therapy, organised on Wednesday by Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, in association with BCRO (India) and the International Association for Stem Cell Transplantation, USA, Dr. Molnar said that vested interests of the pharmaceutical lobby, and general misconceptions surrounding the procedure have had a role to play in curbing the reach of xeno-stem cell transplantation. There are also other hurdles, he added. “SCT is an individualised therapy and stem cells are not manufactured at a scale like drugs and vaccines, and do not go through the same distribution channels. This can increase the cost of treatment,” he said. “It may not be a ‘wonder drug’ or a ‘wonder cell’, but stem cell transplantation has successfully treated more than five million people worldwide,” Dr. Molnar said, adding that the therapy “needed the support of influential countries.” Stem cell therapy has shown remarkable results in treating AIDS patients when anti-retroviral therapy has ceased to be effective, he said.

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