FDA Slams Stem Cell Company, Celltex Therapeutics, for Violations

Four months ago, a bioethics professor at the University of Minnesota asked the FDA to investigate a stem cell company called Celltex Therapeutics, which has ties to a controversial stem cell company in South Korea called RNL BIO, over concerns about patient-client safety, the quality of scientific research supporting their proposed business model and whether both will conform to relevant federal and state laws and regulations. The letter from Leigh Turner came amid a confusing dust-up surrounding the employment status of one former Celltex executive, which triggered scrutiny of the relationship between Celltex and RNL. On his blog and in his letter to the FDA, Turner had also written that the two companies planned to bank and administer stem cells, citing various reports as well as an agreement in which RNL was called BioLife Stem Cell at the time.