Hope v Hype
Not All Stem Cells Are Created Equal
When it comes to stem cells, not all are created equal. Though it’s true that stem cells have a remarkable ability to regenerate and repair damaged cells in our bodies, there are limitations and variations on potential; depending on the type of cell and the culture process. In a crowded marketplace of hopeful promise and unverified hype, it’s important to know why some of the claims fall short while others give a clearer sign of things to come.
Why Hope
The stem cells we use and the stem cell culture process we follow at Hope Biosciences is really what sets us apart. We don’t bank anything other than pure Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs), and what we bank isn’t simply thawed and used for treatments. We realized when we first began envisioning what the future of medicine was going to look like, that we needed to put our trust in a type of stem cell that could yield results across a myriad of disease indications. Stem cells sourced from blood, named Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs), have great potential to address blood related diseases such as Leukemia, but don’t have much of a role to play when it comes to Neurological and muscular disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Multiple Sclerosis the way that MSCs do. So, for us, the choice was clear.
But we didn’t just stop there. In order to get the most out of the treatment potential, we had to put our trust in fresh cells. By creating a Master Cell Bank, from 1 single tablespoon of fat, we created a process that afforded our clients access to hundreds of millions of fresh cells; one we could recreate several hundred times from that bank. This is the difference between therapy from fresh cells as opposed to frozen. The cells we use for clinical trial treatments are never frozen.
Trees for the Forest
With all the clutter surrounding the industry, it’s difficult to mute some of the noise and hear the messages of true hope. The general public has been presented with potential for stem cell therapy as a cure all for every issue imaginable with one single treatment or scared into thinking that the process is dangerous enough to cause genetic mutations. Ordinarily, when there are such polar extremes in opinion, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
Hope Bio has taken every step forward only after verifying safety above every measure, and we have never promised outlandish or unverifiable results from our product. We have been engaged in several FDA cleared clinical trials in hopes of proving long term success through repeat treatments because we believe in our cells and believe in our scientific process. We don’t claim to cure your pain with one single dose, but we also promise that you won’t grow a second head.
Evolution Through Innovation
The path to where we are now as an industry has been long and somewhat winding. In the early days of stem cell research and development, there were many ethical concerns surrounding the science and sourcing of cells. But today, we have been able to transcend beyond those concerns and focus instead on doing the actual work for people who are looking for more effective solutions to the debilitating diseases disrupting their lives. We are working today to prove that athletes who suffer brain injury can recover, or that Alzheimer’s patients won’t have to live in fear, or that there are better options for treating Rheumatoid Arthritis. With Hope, that’s the promise; no hype.
* Written by Nader Lotfi - Edited by Isabella Serimontrikul