As you may know, VetStem has worked with multiple exotic animal organizations to provide stem cell therapy to several exotic species including elephants, bears, numerous aquatic animals, and big cats, just to name a few. These animals have been treated for everything from orthopedic conditions to viral diseases to organ failure to traumatic injuries and more. Given our great deal of experience, it’s no wonder that VetStem CEO, Dr. Bob Harman, was recently invited to participate in the first of its kind stem cell workshop supporting wildlife conservation.

The Stem Cell Technology for Genetic Rescue Workshop was held on September 17-20, 2023, in La Jolla, California. The workshop brought together 45 global leaders in stem cell science to share their experience and expertise and to discuss how stem cell technology can further wildlife conservation efforts. Not only did Dr. Harman bring real life experiences to the discussion, VetStem was also a sponsor of the workshop.

At VetStem, 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. Maintaining the health and well-being of endangered exotic animals is particularly crucial and has become a community effort.

While our primary goal is to bring relief to the animals that need it, there is potential that stored stem cells may aid in wildlife conservation efforts down the line. VetStem has the ability to cryopreserve stem cells and currently has a bank of stem cells from over 40 different exotic animal species. We are happy to contribute to the mission and will continue our own research to develop potentially life-saving stem cell treatments for these animals.

Nickie has always been an animal lover so when she found her home without a dog, she went in search of a new companion to join her family. She soon found Casey, an 8-week-old Rough Collie, and this adorable ball of fluff joined their family.

Unfortunately, the joy of the puppy days was short lived. At just four months old, Casey began to not eat regularly. Nickie diligently tried every recommendation her veterinarian made and not only did Casey’s appetite not improve, but he began to have frequent bouts of diarrhea and vomiting. She tried a variety of commercial, homemade, and prescription diets with no relief. In conjunction with the diets, Casey’s veterinarian prescribed numerous medications, including a steroid called prednisone.

After a variety of diagnostics including X-rays, bloodwork, ultrasound, and biopsies of his GI tract, Casey was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). As indicated by the name, the intestines of a pet with IBD are chronically inflamed, resulting in symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, inappetence, and weight loss. Currently, the primary treatments are medical management via diet and steroids +/- additional supportive medications.

Casey continued his regimen of 7 different medications and a prescription diet with minimal control of his symptoms for nearly 3 years until routine bloodwork revealed that his liver enzymes were elevated. He had another ultrasound with biopsies of his liver that revealed the steroids were damaging his liver. He still struggled with frequent watery diarrhea, vomiting, and weight loss as well as hair loss and red, inflamed skin. Nickie was distraught and questioned if the time had come to let Casey go.

At this time, Casey’s veterinarian suggested trying VetStem Cell Therapy. VetStem, a veterinary regenerative medicine company located in California, is currently researching the use of stem cells for the treatment of IBD. Stem cells have demonstrated the ability to down-regulate inflammation, modulate the immune system, and repair damaged tissue. Additionally, multiple clinical studies have demonstrated that stem cells can improve the symptoms of IBD.

Nickie and her husband were skeptical at first, wondering if this was snake oil or just another dead end in Casey’s treatment. After discussion and research, they decided to pursue stem cell treatment as a last resort. Casey had fat collected from his abdomen in a minimally invasive anesthetic procedure. The fat was aseptically packaged and shipped to the VetStem processing laboratory. Lab technicians processed the fat to isolate and concentrate the stem and regenerative cells contained therein. Therapeutic doses were then prepared for treatment.

Over the course of 10 months, Casey received 5 separate intravenous doses of his own stem cells. According to his owner, his symptoms have improved greatly and Nickie feels like she is finally getting to meet the real Casey. He now interacts with his family and even plays with them. He has made a best friend at the park that he loves to play with and takes long naps on the porch in the sun. He rolls over for belly rubs, which he had not done in the first 3 years of his life. 

Today, Casey eats well and is off all but one of his medications, including being completely off steroids. He has occasional IBD flare ups but nothing to the degree he experienced previously. He has grown back a full, thick Collie coat and loves to “talk” to Nickie and announce all the goings-on in his neighborhood. Nickie says that she has the wonderful problem that Casey is now slightly overweight, something she never thought she would see! Nickie says that without the excellent care of her veterinary team and VetStem Cell Therapy, Casey would not be here today.

Veterinary stem cell therapy, though not new, has gained significant traction in the last 10 years. Through ongoing research and treatment data, we continuously learn more about the many functions of stem cells and what diseases can be treated. VetStem has a variety of research programs, including the IBD program, to collect data and better understand how we can help pets. There is still much left to learn, and it is important to note that each animal responds differently to treatment.

If you think your pet may benefit from VetStem Cell Therapy, speak to your veterinarian or contact us to receive a list of VetStem providers near you.

Though we are a veterinary stem cell company, we always keep up with regenerative medicine news and breakthroughs in human medicine. As a leader in government compliant stem cell therapy treatments, we were not surprised to learn that in February, Medicare announced that it will recoup all the money it paid physicians, going back two years, for dubious birth tissue injections. Without any evidence of efficacy, birth tissue and exosome products were marketed by orthopedic and chiropractic clinics to their patients for indications such as longevity, pain, chronic inflammation, autoimmune disease, and Lyme disease, as well as numerous other chronic degenerative diseases.

On December 6^th, 2019, the FDA issued a Public Safety Notification on Exosome Products to inform the public of multiple recent reports of serious adverse events experienced by patients in Nebraska who were treated with unapproved products marketed as containing exosomes. Despite this warning, these clinics continued to deceive patients and practice administering the unapproved cell treatments. 

Our commitment is to always maintain the highest standards for both patients and government regulators. At VetStem and our human company, Personalized Stem Cells, we take pride in our business model of providing elevated quality and safety of our stem cell products for both animal and human patients. It is important to note that our manufacturing facilities are FDA manufacturing compliant and have both FDA tissue establishment registration and a California tissue bank license.

CEO and Founder, Dr. Bob Harman, stated, “We continue to build patient centric cell-based businesses around scientifically and medically validated disease indications and treatments, always in compliance with federal and state guidelines. As the industry continues to mature and more products become approved by the FDA, our strong regulatory team and patent estate builds for the continued success of both companies and supports the reputation of the cell therapy industry.”

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!

It is with immense pride that we announce our human company, Personalized Stem Cells, recently received FDA approval to treat COVID-19 patients in an upcoming clinical trial. Read PSC’s blog below:

Personalized Stem Cells (PSC) recently received FDA approval to treat COVID-19 patients with stem cells in an upcoming clinical trial. In April, we announced that we filed an expedited IND at the request of the White House Coronavirus Task Force to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients. This approval is incredibly significant because patients will be treated with disease-screened, quality tested donor cells as opposed to their own stem cells. This is known as allogeneic stem cell therapy and is different from PSC’s current FDA approved clinical trial in which patients receive their own stem cells (autologous) to treat knee osteoarthritis.

Stem Cell Therapy for COVID-19

PSC has become a leader in the field, recently publishing a landmark peer-reviewed scientific article on the rationale behind using stem cells to treat COVID-19. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have demonstrated the capacity to inhibit lung damage, reduce inflammation, dampen immune responses and aid with alveolar fluid clearance. Additionally, MSCs produce molecules that are antimicrobial and reduce pain. Recently, the application of MSCs in the context of ongoing COVID-19 disease and other viral respiratory illnesses has demonstrated reduced patient mortality and, in some cases, improved long-term pulmonary function.

Based on information out of Israel, China, Spain and the United States, stem cells have shown promising effectiveness in the treatment of the major medical lung issues caused by COVID-19. Israel recently announced 100% recovery in seven COVID-19 patients who were treated with stem cell therapy. Spanish medical investigators reported on an adipose stem cell study in which 13 COVID-19 patients were treated using a protocol very similar to the one just approved for PSC. According to the results, the mortality rate in the treated patients was significantly decreased.

FDA Approved Clinical Trial: CoronaStem 1

The initial clinical trial, named CoronaStem 1, will include 20 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in California. Once complete, PSC hopes to move into a larger Phase 2 clinical study and potentially into FDA Expanded Use programs or Emergency Use Authorization, which could allow for many more patients to be treated.

In order to rapidly ramp up the production of stem cells for use in the clinical trial, PSC collaborated with Calidi Biotherapeutics, a biotechnology company based in San Diego, California. Calidi provided disease-screened, quality stem cell lines to PSC, enabling us to accelerate the stem cell drug manufacturing process. In addition, sister company and CRO, VetStem Biopharma, provided manufacturing and regulatory support to help make FDA approval a reality.

PSC is not currently soliciting patients for inclusion in CoronaStem 1 due to the limited number of hospitals participating in the study. For more information regarding future clinical trials, please contact us here.

Yesterday a global stem cell meeting began in La Jolla with leaders from around the world, “Stem Cells on the Mesa.”  The discussions are centered on stem cell science and the development of new products.  Vet-Stem presented the stem cell story in veterinary medicine to the amazement of many in the audience.  Researchers and business leaders commented that Vet-Stem and veterinary medicine were leaders in translating stem cell science into true clinical treatments.  With over 4000 horses and 4000 dogs treated with stem cells, we are helping the industry see that stem cell therapy really works and is safe! Read the rest of this entry »

• Do they limp?
• Are they less active, sleeping more often, not interested in normal routines?
• Are they reluctant to jump up on the bed or into the car?
• Do they sleep less and circle a lot to get comfortable when lying down?
• Do they have difficulty getting up from a “sit” or a “lie down”?
• Do they have muscle atrophy?
• Stand over your dog looking down on his spine- do you see the front end of your dog well developed while the back end has gotten skinny?
• Do they lick the top of their paws?
• Do they lack stamina on walks? i.e Used to walk a mile every night, now 3 blocks is their limit
• Do you feel and hear crackling and popping in your dog’s joints?

These signs could mean that your dog has arthritis. Your veterinarian can confirm a diagnosis of OA with a good physical examination, a good lameness examination and x-rays. Note I separated out the physical exam from the lameness. The physical exam encompasses the total animal, but the lameness is about their gait, stride, range
of motion, and joint pain tolerance.

Have you discussed options for treating arthritis with your veterinarian?