| Industry | Biotechnology |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1994 |
| Headquarters | Santa Monica, California |
| Key people | Mr. Gary Rabin: Chairman and CEO Robert Lanza, MD: Chief Scientific Officer Robert S. Langer, Sc.D.: Director |
| Products | Stem cell therapies for macular degeneration (human safety trial to start in 2010[1]), heart disease, and blood and cardiovascular disease.[2] |
| Website | www.advancedcell.com |
Advanced Cell Technology, Incorporated (OTCBB: ACTC), is a biotechnology company located in Marlborough, Massachusetts, USA. The company specializes in the development and commercialization of cell therapies for the treatment of a variety of diseases. ACT is primarily developing stem cell-based technologies, both adult and human embryonic, and other methods and treatments in the area of regenerative medicine.[3]
Formed in 1994, the company was led from 2005 to late 2010 by William M. Caldwell IV, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.[4] Upon Mr. Caldwell's death on December 13, 2010, Gary Rabin, a member of ACT's board of directors with experience in investment and capital raising, took over as Chairman and CEO.[5]
ACT's Chief Scientific Officer is Robert Lanza, MD, who is also Adjunct Professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.[6]
On August 23, 2006, the online edition of the science journal Nature published a paper by Dr. Lanza and others stating that his team had found a way to extract embryonic stem cells without destroying the actual embryo, deriving a stem cell line using a process similar to preimplantation genetic diagnosis, in which a single blastomere is extracted from a blastocyst.[7] This technical achievement would potentially enable scientists to work with new lines of embryonic stem cells derived using public funding.
On November 22, 2010, the company announced that it had received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate the first-ever human clinical trial using embryonic stem cells to treat retinal disease [8]
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On November 30, 2010, ACT filed an Investigational New Drug application with the U.S. FDA for the first clinical trial using embryonic stem cells to treat Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration (Dry AMD).[9] Dry AMD is the most common form of macular degeneration and represents a market size of $25–30 Billion in the U.S. and Europe.[10]
ACT is focused on commercializing its Retinal Pigment Epithelium therapy (RPE) for degenerative retinal disease. The company was approved on November 22, 2010 by the U.S. FDA to proceed with a Phase I/II human clinical trial to use its RPE cells to treat Stargardt disease, a form of inherited juvenile macular degeneration.[11]
The company is developing its Hemangioblast platform for the treatment of blood and cardiovascular diseases. This program is in the pre-clinical development phase.[2]
ACT is developing its Myoblast program, a stem cell therapy for the treatment of chronic heart failure, advanced cardiac disease, myocardial infarction, and ischemia. This program has been approved by the FDA for Phase II clinical trials.[2]
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