This was the early method of performing a lobotomy. And just 50 years ago, they were carried out not only on severely mentally ill people, but also on moody teenagers, or housewives who’d lost their enthusiasm for domestic work. Seriously. Over 40,000 Americans were lobotomized, often with catastrophic results.

Thankfully, they’re a thing of the past. But it made me think about how medicine has changed over the years and what practices were once acceptable. Just a few hundred years ago, for example, you wouldn’t have questioned the “doctor” for putting leeches on you any more than you do today for prescribing an antibiotic.

What other common medical practices will be outdated in the years to come – and more importantly what will replace them? As someone who follows the health care sector, I believe I have the answer to the next big thing in health care: Immunotherapy and regenerative medicine…

How Immunotherapy is Changing the Playing Field

Immunotherapy has been around for decades in the forms of vaccines, allergy shots, etc. It involves introducing something into the body to create an immune response. For example, when you receive a flu shot, you’re essentially training your body’s immune system to respond to specific infectious agents.

And then there are more serious diseases – like cancer.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen new cancer medicines receive approval, with even more in development.

With greater technology and intensive ongoing research, we may one day look back at chemotherapy (the equivalent of carpet-bombing your body in order to kill cancer) as barbaric as we do lobotomies.

And with regard to immunotherapy drugs, the body’s immune system specifically targets the cancer, typically resulting in fewer side effects than chemotherapy.

Several well-known cancer drugs already employ this technique – for example, Genentech’s Avastin and Herceptin and Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) and ImClone’s (now Eli-Lilly) joint-partnership with Erbitux. All three have become blockbuster drugs for these companies.

Three Small-Cap Firms That Could Cash in on Immunotherapy

But there are also many small-cap health care companies engaged in immunotherapy research, which stand to make piles of money for shareholders if they develop a successful drug. Here are some names to look into…

• Dendreon Corp. (Nasdaq: DNDN): Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men and is the second-highest cause of cancer deaths. Dendreon’s leading drug candidate for prostate cancer, Provenge, could be approved in 2010.
• Cel-Sci Corp. (AMEX: CVM): The company’s Multikine drug, which treats head and neck cancer has completed Phase II trials and its scientists are currently working on an H1N1 flu drug, too.
• Northwest Biotherapeutics (OTC BB: NWBO): The firm has several drugs in various phases of clinical trials for brain, prostate and lung cancers, including DCVax-Brain, DCVax-Prostate and DCVax-LB for non-small cell lung cancer. It also has DCVax-Direct, which treats ovarian, head and neck cancer.

Three “Regenerators” for Your Health Care Sector Watchlist

In addition to immunotherapy drugs, the field of regenerative medicine is also flourishing and holds some excellent growth potential, as we’re still in the early stages of understanding the power of stem and other regenerative cells. Here are a few names to kick off your research…

• Cytori Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CYTX): The company already has a product approved in Europe (Celution 800/CRS) and Asia (Celution 900/MB) for breast reconstruction following a partial mastectomy. The firm is currently running clinical trials in several cardiac areas, too.
• StemCells Inc. (Nasdaq: STEM): The company currently has clinical trials in progress for drugs that treat diseases of the central nervous system and liver.
• Geron (Nasdaq: GERN): It’s involved in both immunotherapy research for cancer and stem cell investigation in spinal cord injuries.

Keep in mind that most of these stocks are very small, so their trading can be volatile. In addition, they may need to raise funds to aid research and development, so do your due diligence.

However, I’m confident that over the coming years, firms like these will be at the forefront of new, more effective and safer ways to treat some of the world’s worst diseases.

Hoping your longs go up and your shorts go down,

Marc Lichtenfeld

Source: How to Profit from Immunotherapy & Regenerative Medicine

This from Today’s Financial News:

We’ve already taken double-digit gains on Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTM),  Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS), and Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN).

But these stocks are by no means done with their upward momentum.

Biotech companies continue to be a great investment – and these three are some of the best out there.

As the market takes another hit and these stocks artificially deflate, I recommend that TFN investors should again pick up shares.

And I’ve found another company that I believe is on the verge of a breakout.

But first, what’s so great about the three companies I selected in November? Let’s review…
Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTM) develops products for the repair or regeneration of human tissue. It’s proprietary Tissue Repair Cell (TRC) technology involves autologous, mixed-cell products containing stem and early progenitor cells to treat cardiac and vascular tissue regeneration.

The company launched Phase II IMPACT-DCM clinical trials for the evaluation its Cardiac Repair Cells (CRCs) in the treatment of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) or congestive heart failure. DCM is a contributing factor in at least 250,000 deaths each year.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave Aastrom’s CRCs the Orphan Drug Designation. That means expedited FDA review, a reduction of filing fees, possible tax credits, and the right to seven years of marketing exclusivity once the product receives FDA approval.

I recommend you buy shares of Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTM) under $0.85.

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) has developed an INTERCEPT Blood System to find and inactivate blood-borne pathogens in donated blood components to be used in transfusions.

The INTERCEPT red blood cell system uses the small molecule S-303 to bond with the nucleic acids of pathogens and prevent their replication. A pH change is required to allow the bonding and thereby blocking the DNA and RNA to prevent replication.

This would destroy transfusion-transmitted infections from viruses, bacteria, and parasites.

For platelets and plasma, the same result is achieved by using the molecule amotosalen HCI and ultraviolet A light instead of a pH change to block the replication of pathogens.

This technology could truly revolutionize blood component donation.

The system is currently being used on both platelets and plasma collected in Europe and the Middle East.

The company is preparing for European Phase III clinical trials and will be working with the German Red Cross to commercialize their INTERCEPT system for red blood cells. And it’s initiated Phase I clinical trials for the same system in the U.S.

I recommend you buy shares of Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) at or under $2.

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) has seen a nice jump in stock price of late and it’s no wonder.

DNA at the end of chromosomes is called the telomere. It has been suggested that the manipulation of the telomere could do everything from stopping the aging process in cells to treating and containing cancer.

It’s telomerase activity that stabilizes cancer cells and allows them replicate indefinitely.

The researchers at Geron believe they can instruct a patient’s immune system via autologous dendritic cells how to identify and attack cancer cells while sparing other, non-threatening cells. (Dendritic cells are the antigen-presenting leukocytes that initiate the primary immune response.)

They achieve this by introducing telomerase characteristics specific to cancer cells. An immune response then occurs when cells are found with those telomerase characteristics.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) entered an agreement with Geron for the exclusive research, development and commercialization of the company’s vaccines targeting telomerase. In December of 2007, Merck initiated a clinical trial of the Geron-created vaccine GRNVAC1.

And that’s not all this company has up its sleeve…

Geron is collaborating with the University of Oxford on a variation to GRNVAC1 called (unoriginally) GRNVAC2.

Here, instead of isolating dendritic cells in each patient, the researchers are attempting to produce them from human embryonic stem cells.

This could act to prevent an immune response against an antigen by instructing the immune system to tolerate it.

On the therapy side of things, Geron’s drug GRN13L seeks to inhibit telomerase activity, thereby destabilizing and causing the death of the cancer cells.

In early December, an interim analysis of GRN163L Phase I clinical trials for the treatment of patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma showed promising results.

This malignancy of plasma cells typically arises in the bone marrow and goes on to impact tissues and organs.

For two patients in the study, the bulk tumor fraction of bone marrow decreased by 78% and 48% respectively.

In addition, activity from the telomerase in the myeloma stem cell-containing fraction of the patients’ bone marrow dropped by 33% and 63%, respectively.

Geron is also working on treatments for heart disease, spinal cord injury, osteoarthristis and more. Check out their website for more details.

I recommend you buy shares of Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) at or under $6.

But there is another biotech stock I believe to have big potential…

Cytori Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTX) develops, makes and markets regenerative therapy from adipose tissue (fat tissue).

Adipose tissue has been found an extremely good source for adult stem and regenerative cells.

Cytori is working on using this technology in the treatment of conditions such as cardiovascular disease and gastrointestinal disorders, and in reconstructive surgery and radiation-induced tissue injuries.

Its Celution 800 System product for reconstructive surgery has hit record sales in Europe.

The Celution 900 System cryopreserves a patient’s own stem and regenerative cells is being marketed worldwide.

These systems process the patient’s cells at their bedside, as they are needed.

The company’s StemSource cell banking is very popular in Japan. And interest is picking up everywhere.

Banking one’s cells for future needs could soon become common practice.

To read a more thorough breakdown of what the company has in the works, go to its website.

I recommend you buy shares of Cytori Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTX) at or under $5.

Source: Four biotechs set to soar