I know its long but it is worth a listen to. Here is the email that I received from Dr. Lasala.
Dear patients and Friends,
TCA Cellular Therapy (TCA CT) is trying to obtain federal or state funding for its research protocols. So far our efforts to achieve this goal have been unsuccessful and we had to rely in private capital and donations. Many of you as patients know firsthand the effect of adult stem cell therapies in severe diseases. The company was founded by a group of doctors and a world renowned cellular biologist who moved to the United States in 2006 to become the scientific director of TCA Cellular Therapy.
In less than three years the company obtained 5 FDA approvals to perform Stem Cells clinical trials in patients with 1) Heart attacks, 2) Severe coronary disease, 3) Damaged hearts undergoing by-pass surgery,4) Severe PAD (Very poor circulation in the legs). These research protocols have completed phase I and are currently in phase II. We anticipate a Phase III protocol for limb ischemia to start during the first quarter of 2010.
Although multiple institutions are developing new trials with embryonic stem cells, TCA CT is performing five adult stem cell trials to treat cardiovascular diseases.
TCA CT has more cardiovascular research protocols than any academic institution in this country.
Two clinical protocols to treat Spinal Cord Injuries and ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) are awaiting FDA approval to start Phase I.
As I mentioned, the process to obtain funding for research is very difficult and politicized. The government prefer to fund universities for the political advantage that they provide instead of private companies. Although it is well known that private enterprise moves faster and more efficiently than universities. I was advised that a way to overcome this problem is to make the company very popular so that politicians seeking re-election would support what the public supports.
A strategy from our PR department was to put the company in YouTube, so we did. We uploaded a short video. The more viewers looking at the video, the greater the chance the video will show among the first 10 or 20. This seems very difficult at first glance, since these popular videos have around 500,000 viewers. I personal believe it is not that hard. The power of the internet with email is exponential. If each of you watch the video and then send the link to your contacts, hundreds of more people are going to watch it. This folks may help by increasing the number of viewers, becoming patients or referring patients to our protocols.
Thank you very much supporting the company and the patients who would benefit for these treatments.
Gabriel Lasala, MD
President
TCA Cellular Therapy
101 E. Fairway Drive, Ste 514
Covington, LA 70433
(985) 867-4860