Top Ten Events in the Regenerative Medicine Industry in 2007 (according to Jon Rowley, and in no particular order):

• Embyronic stem cells were primed for human trials. Both Advanced Cell Technology and Geron are gearing up for INDs in early 2008.
• Tigenix completed “successful” Phase III trial for cartilage regeneration and entered registration phase. They also formed a joint venture with Cognate Bioservices for US-based manufacturing.
• Adult-derived cell therapy products entered Phase III trials. Osiris and Aastrom started Phase III trials with their allogenic and autologous stem cell products, respectively, and Intercytex launched a Phase III trial with their human dermal fibroblast product.
• Organogenesis claimed they are the “first profitable regenerative medicine company“.
• JNJ solidified commitment to cell-based therapies with major equity stake in Novocell that complemented their earlier stake in tissue engineering company Tengion.
• Stem Cell tourism emerged as an industry and the scientific community came out against it. You can even find videos on Youtube of stem cell “success” stories
• Chris Mason proclaimed the emergence of RegenMed 2.0 (someone needs to be paying attention to this type of stuff!).
• Cytori, Aldagen, and Athersys join Osiris, Baxter and Miltenyi in clinical trials using cells for cardiac regeneration.
• Stem Cells Inc evaluated the acquisition of Progenitor Cell Therapy (a contract manufacturer of cellular therapies) to potentially expand their business model.  Stem Cells also had their first human data in 2007, which is an important hurdle for them to get past with fetal cells.
• and last but not least – The Regeneration Station launched – sorry for the shameless plug : )

This post is far from complete – please leave a note in the comment section for what you think should be added to complete this list.

Happy Holidays from The Regeneration Station!