Lately, we’ve shared news about our work with several species of exotic animals. VetStem has worked with a number of exotic animal organizations around the U.S. to provide stem cell therapy to sick and injured animals. You may remember our recent blogs about elephants and aquatic animals.

We’ve also discussed our work with bears, including Francis and Brody. Francis is a sun bear from the San Diego Zoo that received VetStem Cell Therapy for arthritis in several joints. Brody, a juvenile black bear in Florida, received VetStem Cell Therapy in conjunction with surgery for a condition that is similar to hip dysplasia in dogs. In addition to degenerative and congenital diseases, VetStem Cell Therapy has been used to treat traumatic injuries such as a sea turtle who was injured by a propeller as well as viral diseases as discussed in our blog about elephants.

Recently, VetStem Chief Development Officer, Dr. Anne Hale, visited The Preserve in Texas to discuss the use of stem cells in some of their older elephants and giraffes. According to their website, “The Preserve is dedicated to expanding elephant education, knowledge, and conservation. These efforts have brought about numerous professional accolades and recognition. We’re committed to doing our part to help save elephants from extinction.”

Dr. Hale stated, “I was honored to meet The Preserve family and look forward to supporting their efforts to keep these wonderful animals healthy and happy.”

At VetStem, we recognize our duty to these exotic and endangered animals. We take our job very seriously when it comes to the research and development of innovative regenerative medicine treatments for animals and diseases that have minimal treatment options. For those who may be interested in having an exotic animal treated or contributing to the exotic animal cell therapy program, we encourage you to reach out to VetStem personnel.

Today is Take Your Dog To Work Day and as most of you know, VetStem has this one down! In fact, every day is Take Your Dog To Work Day at VetStem! We are fortunate to work in a dog friendly office where on any given day, there may be multiple dogs roaming the halls.

We of course love it but there are more benefits beyond all the extra puppy snuggles. According to one study, there is a potential correlation between bringing your dog to work and a reduction in stress levels. Scientists found that people who took their dogs to work reported lower stress throughout the day than employees without pets or those who had pets but didn’t take them to work.

Another study found that 90 percent of employees in pet friendly workplaces feel highly connected to their company’s mission, fully engaged with their work, and willing to recommend their employer to others. Additionally, more than three times as many employees at pet friendly workplaces report a positive working relationship with their boss and co-workers and are more likely to stay with a company long term. Learn more here.

All of that being said, not every work environment can accommodate dogs. So if you’re not able to bring your dog to work, we invite you to live vicariously through us and enjoy these pictures of dogs at the VetStem office:

Last week, The International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management (IVAPM) hosted the first Pain Management Forum in Denver, CO. VetStem team members Kristi Hauta, Dr. Amber Vibert, and Dr. Anne Hale attended the conference to provide education on all things regenerative medicine, and to learn more about the most current research in pain and pain management. VetStem also proudly sponsored a dry lab with a long-time VetStem user and current president of the IVAPM, Dr. Douglas Stramel.

The IVAPM seeks to “advocate for best practices in the treatment of animals in pain.” The IVAPM was originally known as the Companion Animal Pain Management Consortium and was co-founded in 2001 by long-time VetStem client and collaborator, Dr. Jamie Gaynor. The Academy provides educational resources including a program to become a Certified Veterinary Pain Practitioner (CVPP) as well as online resources for veterinary professionals and animal owners. The IVAPM outreach in the veterinary community also consists of research funding and scholarships to help promote the welfare of animals around the world.

What we found at this intimate conference was a passionate group of people who work tirelessly to provide evidence-based education for veterinary professionals and pet owners so we can become more skilled in recognizing, understanding, and alleviating animal pain. We were privileged to have lectures provided by several experts in this field including multiple members of the IVAPM board of directors.

VetStem’s mission to improve the quality of life of animals and humans starts with understanding, treating, and preventing pain through regenerative medicine. Only through open communication of ideas, research, and collaboration with our colleagues throughout the world can we achieve this goal. Attending the Pain Management Forum and connecting with IVAPM members certainly brought these goals further into fruition.

If you think your pet may be in pain, you can use these online resources to help you learn more: Animal Owners – IVAPM, The Feline Grimace Scale, The Horse Grimace Scale, and Canine and Feline Pain Scales. But as always, your veterinarian is your best resource to assess your pet’s condition. To find out if regenerative medicine can help, click here.

As leaders in the field of regenerative veterinary medicine, we are proud to announce that we have reached a new stem cell processing milestone. VetStem has processed over 15,000 patient samples resulting in over 35,000 stem cell treatments for animals across the United States and Canada. Over 2,200 veterinarians have utilized VetStem Cell Therapy processing services for their patients.

The majority of these treatments have been for orthopedic conditions such as osteoarthritis as well as injured tendons and ligaments in dogs, cats, and horses. We have also provided cell therapy services for patients with alternate conditions such as renal disease, inflammatory bowel disease, gingivostomatitis, spinal conditions, and more as part of our clinical research programs.

While most know that we primarily work with domestic animals, we also work with multiple exotic animal organizations and their programs to provide stem cell therapy for several exotic species. To date, nearly 200 exotic animals have been treated. Those animals include elephants, cheetahs, rhinos, several species of bears, giraffes, penguins, dolphins and more.

We are very proud to be leaders in this field of cutting-edge medicine. And we look forward to what the future holds! That being said, we wouldn’t be where we are without all of YOU, our pet owners and veterinary clients, who have trusted VetStem to handle your pets’ and patients’ stem cells over the past nearly two decades. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

March 23^rd was National Puppy Day. To help you celebrate, we thought we would share how puppies can benefit from VetStem Cell Therapy. That’s right, stem cell therapy is not just for older or injured dogs, it can help puppies too!

VetStem StemInsure: The Stem Cell Insurance

VetStem offers a service called StemInsure. Similar to storing your baby’s stem cells at birth, the canine StemInsure provides peace of mind with banked stem cells that can be used later in life should your dog require them. Hence why we like to think of it as stem cell “insurance.” While many owners take advantage of this service for their young, healthy dogs, older dogs have benefitted from StemInsure as well.

What is the StemInsure Process?

The StemInsure process is similar to our standard stem cell process where we extract stem cells out of a small amount of fat from your furry friend. This small sample of cells can be stored for the lifetime of your dog and can be used to culture, or grow, therapeutic stem cell doses should your dog become sick or injured later in life. While many dogs can benefit from StemInsure, this process is ideal for large breed puppies and other breeds that are considered high risk for developing orthopedic diseases as they age.

Benefits of StemInsure

StemInsure comes with several advantages. First, the fat tissue can be collected in conjunction with an already scheduled, routine procedure such as a spay or neuter. While performing the routine procedure, your veterinarian will simply collect a small amount of fat from your dog and send it to our laboratory to be processed. If your dog requires stem cell therapy in the future, he/she won’t need to go through an additional fat collection procedure.

Another benefit of StemInsure is the price. The StemInsure process costs considerably less than our standard process. Because there are no therapeutic doses being sent for immediate treatment, the stem cell processing is much less intensive. Additionally, StemInsure cell banking is a bit cheaper than standard stem cell banking.

To find a VetStem credentialed veterinarian near you, click here.

The VetStem sales and marketing team spent several days last week at a veterinary conference in Las Vegas. The annual Western Veterinary Conference is one of the biggest veterinary industry shows in the nation and VetStem has exhibited at this show for over 15 years.  

We always enjoy getting out in front of our community and meeting both current and potential future clients. These veterinary shows allow us to educate veterinarians and veterinary technicians about VetStem Cell Therapy and how they can implement this therapeutic modality in their practice. Many veterinarians show interest in our clinical research programs, as these conditions tend to have limited treatment options.  

We also love being around our industry colleagues. Veterinary exhibit halls are a great place to look for new ideas and ways in which we can expand VetStem’s product offerings. Plus, there are always several pets roaming the exhibit hall, including our very own Ben! Ben loves meeting new faces in the VetStem booth.  

This year, we did an overhaul of our booth design and offerings. Check out some fun pictures below. 

Recently, our very own Dr. Bob Harman was featured on a local podcast. In it, Dr. Harman discusses how VetStem Cell Therapy works and what our overall mission is. He briefly discusses our human stem cell company, Personalized Stem Cells, and the recently concluded clinical trial for knee osteoarthritis. He also talks a bit about the pet community and how education about lesser-known veterinary procedures, such as stem cell therapy, is so important. Click here to listen to the podcast. We think you’ll enjoy it!

Well, here we are again, at the end of yet another year. This will be our last blog of 2021 since the following two Fridays are a holiday. As we typically do at the end of the year, we wanted to share some highlights from our year. So, without further ado, here is VetStem’s 2021 Year in Review.

• We started out 2021 with a bang! In January, we announced that we successfully negotiated multiple royalty-bearing patent licensing deals. This means we came to an agreement with several human and veterinary companies to license our patented technology to them for use in their own business model. Read the story here.
  

• Shortly thereafter, our human stem cell company, Personalized Stem Cells (PSC), announced that all the data from their first FDA approved stem cell clinical trial for knee osteoarthritis was collected and submitted to the FDA for review. Later, we announced results of the clinical trial and they were very promising! Keep in mind, Personalized Stem Cells was formed based on VetStem’s 15+ years of stem cell data for veterinary patients.
  

• Our human company had more big news when the first patients were treated in the FDA approved COVID-19 stem cell clinical trial that PSC developed and licensed to Sorrento Therapeutics. Just three months later, PSC announced that enrollment was complete for the COVID-19 clinical trial and the preliminary safety and efficacy data was incredibly strong. The development and licensing of this clinical trial was a huge deal for us (both VetStem and PSC) as it brought in revenue and opened the door for potential new stem cell applications.
  

• In case you forgot, in late 2020, we launched a contract cell manufacturing business, Performance Cell Manufacturing (PCM). PCM did so well that the decision was made to separate VetStem and PCM, which allowed for a renewed core focus solely on the veterinary side of things.
  

• In August, the VetStem Sales and Marketing team attended our first in-person veterinary conference since February of 2020. The VETgirl conference was a fun, small show in Chicago. It was great to get in front of our colleagues again!
  

• The next month, in early September, we were back in Las Vegas for the annual Western Veterinary Conference (WVC). This is one of the biggest shows in the industry and we always enjoy meeting our current and potential future clients at this show.
  

• Just a few short weeks later, we were in Phoenix, AZ for the annual American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) conference. We love this show because we get to talk all about cats. This year, VetStem was a bronze sponsor and our CEO, Dr. Harman, delivered an informative lecture about the various uses of VetStem Cell Therapy in cats. (As you may know, there are some exciting uses for VetStem Cell Therapy in felines. You can read about them here.)
  

• And to cap off the year, we were excited to announce that we were granted a new stem cell patent that covers treating veterinary and human patients with an adipose-derived stem cell preparation. This specific patent is key in that it broadens the coverage to any disease in any mammal that is treated using VetStem’s methods of preparing the adipose stem cell preparation.

So, there you have it. Another year in the books. It was an exciting year for us and, as always, we couldn’t do what we do without the support of our veterinary and pet owner clients. We hope that you and your loved ones have a wonderful holiday season, and we look forward to seeing you back here in 2022!

VetStem is happy to announce that we were recently issued a new patent that covers treating veterinary and human patients with an adipose-derived stem cell preparation. From the beginning, VetStem CEO, Dr. Bob Harman, has invested heavily in patent protection of the technology we are developing. He believes it is a crucial way to strengthen the company’s intellectual property in the rapidly developing field of regenerative medicine.

Though we have a large portfolio of patents, this specific patent is key in that it broadens the coverage to any disease in any mammal that is treated using VetStem’s methods of preparing the adipose stem cell preparation. The preparation methods include processing using mechanical, enzymatic, and/or ultrasonic energy. The disease coverage is broad including inflammatory diseases or disorders, cardiovascular diseases, nervous system diseases, tumors, demyelinating diseases, digestive system diseases, endocrine system diseases, reproductive system diseases, hemic and lymphatic diseases, immunological diseases, mental disorders, musculoskeletal diseases, neuromuscular diseases, metabolic diseases, skin and connective tissue diseases, urological diseases, and wounds.

In an effort to build mutually beneficial relationships with other regenerative medicine companies, we have successfully negotiated royalty-bearing licenses with multiple human and veterinary stem cell companies. One of these companies is our own human stem cell company, Personalized Stem Cells (PSC). PSC licenses our patent portfolio for use in their own stem cell clinical trials.

VetStem was the first company to provide adipose-derived stem cell services to veterinarians in the United States and Canada and has provided those services for over 20,000 animal patients. We strive to stay at the forefront of this ever-developing field and continue to research new uses for which stem cells may be beneficial. A few of our current clinical research programs include feline renal disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and canine back pain. If you think your pet may benefit from VetStem Cell Therapy, speak to your veterinarian or contact us to find a VetStem provider near you.

July 15th is National I Love Horses Day. To show our love of horses, we thought we’d share some of the VetStem employee horses in this week’s blog.

As most of you know, VetStem Cell Therapy was used in horses first, followed by dogs and later, cats. The first ever VetStem patient was a racehorse that was treated for a tendon injury that would have normally been career-ending. Since then, over 6,000 horses have had their stem cells processed at VetStem.

Horses most commonly receive stem cell treatment for tendon and ligament injuries, as well as joint issues. But some have received VetStem Cell Therapy for other conditions such as exercise induced pulmonary hemorrhage and uveitis under our clinical development department. But that’s enough from us. Now meet some of our employees’ horses!

Libby is owned by our Safety and Technical Services Veterinarian, Dr. Amber Vibert. According to Dr. Vibert, Libby is the trifecta- she’s got brains, brawn, and beauty. Libby has only been with Dr. Vibert for just over a month. You may remember last week’s blog about Dr. Vibert’s horse Valor, who unfortunately had to be put down earlier this year. Dr. Vibert describes Valor as the sweetest boy, especially with children.

Cheddar and Joey are owned by our customer service manager, Veronika Graydon. See what Veronika has to say about her beloved horses: Chester aka Cheddar is my daughter’s retired Criollo polo pony from Uruguay. He is a sweet 27-year-old soul who I think is truly grateful for his now very easy life. Joey is my 14-year-old Friesian Percheron mare who I have had since she was born. She has no idea that she is a giant horse (no concept of personal space) and will do anything I ask of her with a willing spirit. They are BFFs and provide me with daily comic relief.