F.D.A. Approves Stem Cell Therapy to Reduce Facial Wrinkles

Stem cell research is hot, no matter which way you look at it and there are a number of companies who market stem cell products to help with the anti-aging process and this appears to be the first one approved by the FDA, which is an actual treatment and not just a cream or lotion type of application.  As of today the web site states it is still under construction for the laViv product from Fibrocell Science and you can go to the main website here. 

Stem cell research is hot, no matter which way you look at it and there are a number of companies who market stem cell products to help with the anti-aging process and this appears to be the first one approved by the FDA, which is an actual treatment and not just a cream or lotion type of application.  As of today the web site states it is still under construction for the laViv product from Fibrocell Science and you can go to the main website here. 

A sample of skin cells is taken and sent to the laboratory where a culture is created which takes 11 to 22 weeks, so the process requires patience from the patient.  When the cultures are completed, they are sent back to the doctor who injects them into the areas around the face where wrinkles appear, smile lines, etc.  The projected cost is to be around $1000 to $2000 for the cell bank and between $300 to $500 for each treatment.  As you can read below this has been a long journey here as funding has been an issue in the past for the development of the product.  BD 

Blood stem cells, as from a bone marrow transplant, are used to treat serious cancers. Therapies using other types of stem cells, mostly still experimental, are envisioned to help repair damaged organs and to treat scourges like diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.

But cell therapy can also have its more trivial applications, like smoothing wrinkles. The Food and Drug Administration late Tuesday approved a therapy that uses a person’s own skin cells to help improve the appearance of the smile lines that can extend from the bottom of the nose to the sides of the mouth.

The treatment, called laViv, was developed by Fibrocell Science of Exton, Pa. It involves taking a sample of skin cells called fibroblasts, which make collagen, from behind the person’s ear. The sample is sent to the company’s laboratory, where the fibroblasts are multiplied in cell culture, a process that takes 11 to 22 weeks.

Lack of funding has hindered development of the treatment. The company pursuing it, once known as Isolagen, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009, but emerged a few months later as FibroCell.

F.D.A. Approves Cell Therapy for Wrinkles – NYTimes.com