Each year I make a list of predictions for the stem cell and regenerative medicine field for the coming new year. Later in this post I list my top 20 stem cell predictions for 2017. In looking at my past predictions I realized this will now be my 7th year doing stem cell/regenerative medicine yearly predictions.
You can see below links to these predictions for past years, which sometimes seems rather far removed from today and in other cases strike me as strangely apropos of our times.
What will 2017 bring? Below are my top 20 predictions in no particular order except starting with a few hopeful visions for the coming year.
- Positive news from Asterias on trial for stem cell-based therapy for spinal cord injury.
- Upbeat news from ViaCyte on stem cell-based therapy trial for diabetes.
- More positive news from the old Ocata now under Astellas umbrella on trial use of stem cell-derived RPE for Macular Degeneration.
- Good news on the 4dukt stem cell front on trials for one or more major diseases. At least one and probably more positive developments here.
- Fake news hits stem cell arena. Stem cell clinics use fake news. For instance, this might be a media mouthpiece for one or more stem cell clinics actively using fake news-like approaches to promote them.
- More clarity on clinics: data. More academic publications on the practices and outcomes of stem cell clinics are published, bringing greater clarity to what is going on with actual data.
- More lawsuits against stem cell clinics. There has been a lot of buzz on this behind the scenes already and cases popping up in 2016. This is going to grow in 2017.
- Concrete clinic harms. We learn more about additional examples of patient who feel they’ve been harmed by American stem cell clinics including in particular alleged clinic-caused blindness.
- Some other federal agency besides the FDA makes news on stem cells. This may not be until 2018, but we’ll see.
- At least one FDA guidance is finalized. The FDA finalizes at least one of its four recent stem cell-related guidances, but probably not all four.
- More than one warning letter. The FDA issues more than one warning letter to stem cell clinics in this year. Will it still be a drop in the bucket or some kind of decisive action? The FDA may have more difficulty taking action within the Trump context and much will depend on who is the new Commissioner.
- Japan IPSC trial starts. Great news as at least one IPSC trial begins in Japan. Maybe two.
- Cures yields regen med IND. The FDA takes at least one accelerated stem cell-related IND action traceable to the Cures Act related to a promising new stem cell/regenerative medicine therapy. Hopefully no direct to consumer businesses try to tap in.
- Athersys, Cytori, and Mesoblast have some ups & downs amongst them.
- Prop 71 2.0. CIRM and/or Prop 71 supporters start more openly talking about a new round of CIRM funding. This may include mention of Trump as problematic for the stem cell field and the continuing need for California to take the lead.
- Trump somewhat, but not entirely limits ES cell funding. The Trump administration probably does not outright ban federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, but there may be some effort to limit it in some way such as not supporting generation of new lines perhaps à la Bush.
- Fetal tissue research restriction effort. The Trump administration and/or the GOP attempt to restrict human fetal tissue research.
- CRISPR of human embryos is blocked or limited in some way in the U.S. (e.g. FDA is not permitted to review applications related to this area as was the case with the rider on spending bill for 2016).
- Trump creates something like Bush’s President’s Council on Bioethics. It’s packed with conservatives including someone tied to the Witherspoon Institute. Deja vu all over again.
- Florida acts on clinics. The state of Florida takes some action on stem cell clinics, which are out of control there. Things are a mess clinic wise here in California too, but I’m not so sure the state will do anything helpful to deal with it.
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