News & Media

The Chaperones and Charlatans of Stem Cell Therapies
October 30, 2023 – Orange County Business Journal

AIVITA CEO Dr. Hans Keirstead published an editorial for the Orange County Business Journal. In the feature, Dr. Keirstead provides readers and would-be medical tourists with important guidance on how to identify dubious stem cell treatments which may be less safe or effective than advertised.

Regenerative Medicine Companies Explore Diverse Approaches
April 4, 2023 – GEN – Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News interviews AIVITA CEO Dr. Hans Keirstead who shares his background in stem cell research and updates from AIVITA’s platform vaccine program.

Mission Plasticos Provides Free Reconstructive Surgery
October 28, 2022 – CBS2 News

CBS News Los Angeles segment on Mission Plasticos’ Dr. Ariel Ourian providing free reconstructive surgery for those in need. Mission Plasticos is a non-profit organization chaired by AIVITA CEO Dr. Hans Keirstead, dedicated to improving lives through reconstructive plastic surgery in the United States and worldwide.

Spinal Cord Injury to Cancer to COVID?
April 14, 2021 – by TechNation

On this week’s Tech Nation, Moira speaks with former UC Irvine professor, Dr. Hans Keirstead, the chairman and CEO of AIVITA Biomedical. They’re talking about adult stem cells, in your body right now, and work in treating spinal cord injury, and in ovarian cancer, melanoma, the skin cancer, glioblastoma … and even in a vaccine for COVID-19, this one designed to be affordable for everyone, everywhere.

Biotech startup raises $25M for cancer, COVID-19 vaccines
January 13, 2021 – by MedCity News

Vaccines developed by Aivita Biomedical use a patient’s own blood to attack cancer and Covid-19. But the company also offers a consumer skin-care product that it plans to begin selling more widely.

Developing Personalized Vaccines to Fight Glioblastoma
October 2020 – by the STEM CELL Channel – UC San Diego Stem Cell Program

Principal Investigator of AIVITA’s Phase 2 clinical trial for GBM Dr. Daniela Bota discusses the trial and treatment on the STEM CELL Channel, hosted by the UC San Diego Stem Cell Program.

Quashing Brain Cancer
May 2020 – by DDN News

According to the National Cancer Institute, there will be 23,890 new cases and 18,020 deaths from brain cancer, primarily from glioblastoma, also known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). DDN News reports on AIVITA’s glioblastoma trial.

BioTechniques Talking Tech News Podcast
October 2, 2019 – by BioTechniques

AIVITA Biomedical CEO Dr. Hans Keirstead speaks with BioTechniques Digital Editor and Talking Tech News podcast host Tristan Free about stem cells in cancer research.

AIVITA CEO Dr. Hans Keirstead Speaks as One of Seven Wonderers at Calgary Beakerhead Festival
September 2019 – by Central Mountain Air Magazine

AIVITA Biomedical CEO Dr. Hans Keirstead received the honor of being one of seven storytellers in the Seven Wonderers event at the annual Beakerhead Festival in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Seven scientists shared personal stories celebrating life.

Companies Continue to Take Aim at Glioblastoma, a Cancer Highlighted by the Death of Sen. John McCain
August 27,  2018 – by BioSpace

Earlier this month AIVITA Biomedical initiated its first clinical site for the ROOT OF CANCER Phase II trial in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. BioSpace reports on glioblastoma treatments in devleopment.

FDA Approves Phase 2 Trial Testing AIVITA’s Vaccine for Aggressive Brain Cancer
July 3,  2018 – by Immuno-Oncology News

AIVITA Biomedical is launching a Phase 2 trial to assess the safety and effectiveness of its cell-based immunotherapy for the treatment of an aggressive form of brain cancer, called glioblastoma multiforme.

AIVITA Advances Phase 2 Clinical Trial for Ovarian Cancer Vaccine
June 29,  2018 – by Ovarian Cancer News Today

AIVITA Biomedical has begun to randomize patients for a Phase 2 clinical trial assessing its cell-based immunotherapy for the treatment of newly-diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer.

Asia Digest: China’s LendChain secures fresh funds; S Korea’s SFC backs AIVITA
June 12,  2018 – by Deal Street Asia

Deal Street Asia reports on the close of AIVITA’s recent Series B financing round and backing by S. Korea’s SFC.

AIVITA Biomedical Raises $15 Million Series B
June 11,  2018 – by Orange County Business Journal

Eighteen-month-old Aivita Biomedical is in pretty good shape for a newly formed company…

Dr. Hans Keirstead Speaks at Exponential Medicine 2017
November 7,  2017 – by Singularity University

Dr. Hans Keirstead speaks at Exponential Medicine 2017 providing an overview of the stem cell sector and highlighting recent advancements by AIVITA Biomedical.

Cutting Edge Ingredients
September  2017 – by MedEsthetics Magazine

MedEsthetics Magazine covers the latest exciting new skincare products and ingredients, including the PROVOQUETM line of skincare products.

First Paralyzed Human Regains His Upper Body Movement After Being Treated With Stem Cells
July 4, 2017 – by The Power of Ideas, Ideapod Blog

Acute spinal cord injury patient in Asterias Biotherapeutics’ SCiStar trial regains upper body movement after being treated with doses of AST-OPC1 cells.

Cosmeceuticals 2017
May/June 2017Wendy Lewis, PRIME International Journal of Aesthetic and Anti-Aging Medicine

Wendy Lewis takes a deep dive into the professional skin care market and what’s driving new launches and consumer demands.

Looking GOOD!
May/June 2017Nora Burba Trulsson and Lauren Swanson, Modern Luxury Scottsdale

Modern Luxury Scottsdale speaks with local philanthropist Vicki Vaughn to discuss her must-haves for staying gorgeous inside and out, including PROVOQUE® Eye Complex.

Diabetes Cure: Could You Eventually Stop Pills and Insulin
May 17, 2017 – David Nazar, PBS

Millions of people suffer from diabetes. Until now the treatment has been pills or insulin. However, scientists have made a phenomenal new discovery using stem cells to eventually cure diabetes. PBS reporter David Nazar discusses clinical trials with renowned expert Dr. Hans Keirstead.

Can new supplements, serum repair skin from the inside and outside?
April 03, 2017Meg Farris, WWLTV

WWLTV New Orleans speaks with dermatologist Dr. Mary Lupo about the latest in skin care and the regimen she employs at her practice, which includes the use of PROVOQUE® following laser treatment.

Human stem cells successfully restore the skin stem cell niche, rejuvenate skin
February 10, 2017Healio

Healio reports on a CME (continuing medical education) presentation given by AIVITA Chief Science Officer Dr. Gabriel Nistor at the 2017 South Beach Symposium. In his talk, Dr. Nistor highlighted new findings concerning the use of skin stem cell factors for skin rejuvenation.

  1. Robert O. Dillman, Gabriel I. Nistor & Hans S. Keirstead (2023) Autologous dendritic cells loaded with antigens from self-renewing autologous tumor cells as patient-specific therapeutic cancer vaccines, Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2023.2198467
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  4. Gabriel I. Nistor, Robert O. Dillman, Rockelle M. Robles, James L. Langford, Aleksandra J. Poole, Muchlis A. U. Sofro, Yetty M. Nency, Jonny Jonny, Martina L. Yana, Mahammad Karyana, Endang S. Lestari, Ria Triwardhani, Mujahidah Mujahidah, Retty K. Sari, Nur A. Soetojo, Djoko Wibisono, Daniel Tjen, Taruna Ikrar, Gregory Sarkissian, Haryono Winarta, Terawan A. Putranto & Hans S. Keirstead (2022) A personal COVID-19 dendritic cell vaccine made at point-of-care: Feasibility, safety, and antigen-specific cellular immune responses, Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2022.2100189
  5. Robert O Dillman, Gabriel I Nistor, Aleksandra J Poole, A Novel Vaccine for The Novel Corona Virus. Am J Biomed Sci & Res. 2020 – 11(3). AJBSR.MS.ID.001631. DOI: 10.34297/AJBSR.2020.11.001631
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  7. Nistor GI, Dillman RO. Cytokine network analysis of immune responses before and after therapeutic vaccine immunotherapies in a randomized trial in patients with metastatic melanoma. J Transl Med 18:176, 2020.
  8. Dillman RO, McClure SE. Cancer registry survival data for metrics of continuous quality improvement and quality assurance. Clin Oncology Res 2020;3:4-10.
  9. Dillman RO, Nistor GI, Poole AJ. Genomic, proteomic, and immunologic associations with a durable complete remission of measurable metastatic melanoma induced by a patient-specific dendritic cell vaccine. Hum Vaccin Immunother Nov 15:1-14, 2019.
  10. Dillman RO, Hsieh C. Survival comparison between melanoma patients treated with patient-specific dendritic cell vaccines and other immunotherapies based on extent of disease at the time of treatment. Biomedicines Tumor Immunol Immunother 7(4), 80, 2019.
  11. Dillman RO. The resurgence of interest in anti-cancer dendritic cell vaccines. Am J Biomed Sci & Res. 5(3), 2019.
  12. Dillman RO, Nistor GI, McLelland BT, Hsieh C, Poole AJ, Cornforth AN, Keirstead H. Preliminary observations on soluble programmed death protein-1 (sPD1) as a prognostic and predictive biomarker in patients with metastatic melanoma treated with patient-specific autologous vaccines. Oncotarget 10:5359-5371, 2019.
  13. Dillman RO, Cornforth AN, McClay EF, Depriest C. Patient-specific dendritic cell vaccines with autologous tumor antigens in 72 patients with metastatic melanoma. Melanoma Manag May 31;6(2):MMT20, 2019.
  14. Dillman RO, Hsieh C, Nistor GI. A clinical odyssey: cancer stem cells as the antigen source for autologous cancer vaccines. Adv Stem Cell Res 1(1):1-13, 2019.
  15. Dillman RO. Commentary: Randomized phase II trial of autologous dendritic cell vaccines versus autologous tumor cell vaccines in metastatic melanoma: 5-year follow up and additional analyses. J Vaccinology 1(1):1-4, 2019.
  16. Dillman RO, Depriest C. Dendritic cell vaccines presenting autologous tumor antigens from self-renewing cancer cells in metastatic renal cell cancer. J Exploratory Res Pharmacol 3:93-101, 2018.
  17. McLelland BT, Lin B, Mathur A, Aramant RB, Thomas BB, Nistor G, Keirstead HS, Seiler MJ. Transplanted hESC-Derived Retina Organoid Sheets Differentiate, Integrate, and Improve Visual Function in Retinal Degenerate Rats. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2018 May 1;59(6):2586-2603.
  18. Dillman RO, Cornforth AN, McClay EF, Amatruda TT, Depriest C. Randomized phase II trial of autologous dendritic cell vaccines versus autologous tumor cell vaccines in patients with metastatic melanoma: 5-year follow up and additional analyses. J Immunother Cancer 6:19, 2018.
  19. Dillman RO. An update on the relevance of vaccine research for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. Melanoma Manag 4(4):203-215, 2017.
  20. Dillman RO. Is there a role for therapeutic cancer vaccines in the age of checkpoint inhibitors? Hum Vaccin Immunother. 13(3):528-532, 2017.
  21. Dillman RO, Dennis-Beron S. Melanoma vaccines and viral-based immunotherapies: a special focus issue from Melanoma Management. Melanoma Manag. 2016 Dec;3(4):245-246.
  22. Dillman RO, Cornforth AN, Nistor GI. Dendritic cell vaccines for melanoma: past, present, and future. Melanoma Manag 3(4):273-289, 2016.