The focus of the Drake Biomedical Institute has changed in that we have come to realize that the field of stem cell therapy is proceeding toward being a service to patients, rather than delivery of a product. Consequently, the Institute intends to now focus not so much on where one can find a stem cell product, but rather where can a patient find stem cell services.
What happens with many diseases and injuries, viral attacks and so forth is that the normal repair function becomes overrun and unable to deal with the bodily breakdown. Repair stem cells that are normally released into the blood in small quantities by the bone marrow, to find their way here and there to tissues needing repair, are too few to handle large bodily catastrophes. But when these stem cells and precursor cells can be harvested from the blood (or elsewhere in the body) and then grown up in large batches, one then has a tool for repairing more massive bodily problems.
While the whole field can be said to still be in its infancy, what is really needed is instrumentation and equipment to process stem cells, to collect them, categorize them, separate them, grow them up in big batches, and label them with nano-particles or otherwise. It is the instrumentation and medical equipment that is lacking. Once this is refined with new developments, then stem cell therapy will become a service not a product. The patient will be able visit a local physician, have a blood sample removed, and then return in a day or two for re-infusion of a mega dose of repair stem cells.
It is discouraging to see that while stem cell treatments are available internationally, their cost remains high, typically $10,000-$50,000 per treatment. This cost is sure to come down as machinery and technology can deliver the equipment needed to use this new science.
Naturally, those countries that can perform this service at a reasonable cost will be the ones that the patients will travel to. It is hoped that the USA will be able to compete with other countries in this regard. One hopes it will not always be too expensive to obtain this treatment in the US relative to other places.
