Shinya Yamanaka of Gladstone, UCSF wins Nobel Prize

Shinya Yamanaka, the Japanese scientist who reprogrammed mature mouse cells so they could be manipulated to become any type of cell, was named the 2012 winner of the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine. Yamanaka works part time at the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco.

StemCells plans to sell more stock, shares fall

After announcing that the first group of spinal cord injury patients in an early-stage trial received its transplanted neural stem cells, StemCells Inc. said Thursday that it sell more common stock and warrants.
Newark-based StemCells (NASDAQ: STEM) said it would use the money for working capital and operations, including product development. The company did not say how many shares and warrants would be issued but said it is under a current shelf registration.

What Geron's stem cells exit means. (It ain't good)

Geron Corp.’s dismantling of its stem cell research on Monday puts the pressure on companies trying to discover or develop drugs by tapping into the cells that make us what we are.
Geron may have been trying to do too much too soon, but the real issue is that human embryonic stem cell drug development clearly was costing too much money for a publicly held company (NASDAQ: GERN).
That’s a shame in many ways. After all, Menlo Park-based Geron was in stem cells before stem cells were cool from a commercial point of view — not that they are more hip now. By being one of the first to harness embryonic stem cells as a potential treatment, it blazed a trail, enduring a Food and Drug Administration hold on its trial in acute spinal cord injuries.

Stem cell pioneer Geron to focus on cancer, cut 66 jobs

Pioneering stem cell drug developer Geron Corp. said it will axe 66 jobs, halt its stem cell R&D programs and seek buyers for those assets.
The Menlo Park company (NASDAQ: GERN) said it will concentrate on cancer treatments that could produce milestone events over the next 20 months. While researchers stress the promise of stem cells, treatments using embryonic stem cells could be several years in the future.

IPierian wants closer ties to 'father' of induced pluripotent stem cells Yamanaka

UC system, BioTime in stem-cell deal

California controller: Suspend process of selecting chair of stem cell agency

Stem cell agency, BioTime strike deal

BioTime Inc. will make five clinical-grade human embryonic stem cell lines available to California researchers, according to a deal between the Alameda company and California’s stem cell research funding agency, that could smooth the translation of stem cell science into actual therapies.