Haseltine’s “buzzwords” apply to both humans and pets. Haseltine, Ph.D., when he coined the term during a conference at Lake Como, to describe “interventions that restore to normal function that which is damaged by disease, injured by trauma, or worn by time.” Today, Dr. The term regenerative medicine was brought into popular culture in 1999 by William A. The first cell therapy treatments, in the 1930s, were intended to slow the aging process. “I spend a lot of time during the consultation to try and set realistic expectations for owners,” he says. Response can range from improved quality of life to dramatic reduction in lameness, discontinued use of current medications for arthritis or decreased dependency on their use. Gassel has been performing stem cell procedures since 2008 and says approximately 75 percent of patients that he has treated for a condition such as osteoarthritis responded to the treatment. “I received a phone update from the owners three years following Bosco’s initial treatment and his owners reported that he is still doing great and running around and acting like the goofy Lab again,” Gassel says.ĭr. They reported that Bosco showed no signs of lameness and was able to run and jump normally. Within two months of his injections, Bosco came off his daily anti-inflammatory medication and his owners were able to gradually increase his activity levels, which Gassel carefully monitored over the next 12, 18, and 24 months. Eight months after the procedure, Bosco was still slow to get up and in pain, so his owners asked Gassel to proceed with intravenous injections of the stem cells. The plan was to do surgery and see how it went before administering the stem cells. “I recommended bilateral arthroscopy and regenerative stem cell therapy.”īosco consequently underwent arthroscopic surgery on both elbows and autogenous fat was collected during the procedure and sent to the VetStem Biopharma laboratory where technicians produced stem cell doses for the dog. Unfortunately, this disease is progressive,” Dr. “Based on CT scans, he was diagnosed with bilateral elbow dysplasia with displaced fragmented medial coronoid processes and secondary osteochondral defects on the humeral condyle. His owners took him to Adam Gassel, DVM, at BluePearl Specialty and Emergency Pet Hospital in Irvine, California. The 8-month-old Labrador Retriever was taking anti-inflammatory medication daily as well as glucosamine-chondroitin supplements, but his level of activity had been reduced to short leash walks. Manufacturing, retail and trade reporter Rachel Uranga can be reached at or (323) 556-8351.Stem cell therapy, often referred to as regenerative medicine, has grown in popularity in veterinary circles as a way to treat many painful issues that affect the wellbeing of dogs, cats, and horses.īosco was having difficulty walking and generally moving about. The company is testing the service in the San Diego area and does not offer it anywhere else, for now.Īn earlier version of the story mischaracterized the commissions Gallant pays to veterinarians. Gallant pays veterinarians a commission and encourages them to perform stem cell therapy, saying they could earn between $200 to $500 per treatment. On its website, Gallant says it’s “devoting millions of dollars to the clinical research of effective stem cell therapies, and advancing the methods of treatment available to pets.”Īccording to the website, veterinarians extract the stem cells when the pooch is spayed or neutered and place them in storage. Gallant Pet banks dogs’ stem cells in a La Jolla lab for a one-time fee of $995. The company is backed by Santa Monica-based Bold Capital Partners, where Hirschhorn is a board member, Slow Ventures and other venture capitalist firms, according to its site. Representatives for the company didn’t immediately responded to requests for comments. The company is headed up by Aaron Hirschhorn, the founder of Santa Monica-based Dog Vacay Inc., an online pet-sitting service that was acquired in 2017 by Seattle-based Rover Inc.
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