ICMS Strategic Alliance in Mexico

Adult Stem Cell Societies Align for Patient Safety

Two leading regenerative medine organizations, SOMMER and the ICMS, have entered into a strategic alliance to bring greater transparency and oversight to adult stem cell clinics in Mexico.

JUNE 6, 2011. PORTLAND, OR/TIJUANA, MEXICO – The Sociedad Mexicana de Medicina Regenerativa (SOMMER) and the International Cellular Medicine Society (ICMS) announced a groundbreaking strategic alliance today. The two groups are partnering to bring greater transparency, increased peer oversight and new standards to clinics practicing autologous, adult stem cell medicine in Mexico.

The total number of clinics offering stem cell medicine in Mexico is not currently known, though estimates range from 20 to over 100. While this affords patients the ability to access new and innovative therapies, both SOMMER and the ICMS are concerned that this continued proliferation of clinics without oversight and regulation poses a significant potential danger to patients. “This alliance,” said Dr. Juan Jose Parcero Valdes, President of SOMMER, “allows the two societies to work together collaboratively to establish the highest possible standards for the practice of adult stem cell medicine in Mexico.”

The goal of this strategic alliance will be to work together, with regulatory and governmental agencies, to apply and adapt the ICMS Standards for the Practice of Stem Cell Medicine to Mexico. “Patient safety is our top priority,” said David Audley, Executive Director of the ICMS. “By working together, SOMMER and the ICMS will provide a way for patients and regulators, to identify clinics whose practices are based on good patient care. Clinics can show their commitment to patient safety by embracing these standards and opening up their treatments to transparency and peer oversight." The newly formed alliance will work to identify clinics providing stem cell treatments in Mexico and seek their participation in the ICMS Accreditation Program. This rigorous 18 to 24 month process reviews and evaluates clinics’ entire practice, including an assessment of informed consent procedures, patient candidacy guidelines, clinical and lab processes, and treatment protocols.

“It is nearly impossible for patients to know which clinics are safe and which clinics provide good patient care,” said Dr. Javier Lopez, Director of the Regenerative Medicine Institute (RMI), Mexico, and a member of both SOMMER and the ICMS. RMI is currently the only clinic in Northern Mexico participating in the ICMS accreditation process. “Patients need to know who they can trust, which treatments are legal and which doctors are licensed. This alliance, and work that the two societies will advance, is critical for the future of stem cell medicine in Mexico, and the world.”

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About the SOCIEDAD MEXICANA de MEDICINE REGENERATIVA

The Sociedad Mexicana de Medicina Regenerativa, A.C. (SOMMER), is a group of dedicated medical professionals which has the mission to further the knowledge, the study, and the practice of Regenerative Medicine and related specialties for the benefit of its members and the general public. SOMMER is committed to furthering the scope of scientific function and capacity for assistance of its members, as well as promoting their academic and cultural improvement through the fostering of scientific knowledge and procuring cultural, humanistic, technical, and scientific exchange with similar societies. SOMMER is dedicated to promoting a forum of expression, as well as facilitating meeting and consultation between members, procuring an environment of democracy, humanism, social justice and freedom of conscience.

The members of the society hold as their first goal and commitment an adherence to the principles of the Helsinki declaration adopted by the World Medical Association (WMA) on ethical principles for medical research on humans, and resolve to not participate in any study or treatment that does not comply with the criteria of being autologous, minimally invasive and without cell culturing or expansion.

SOMMER does not seek profit. The society’s assets are made up from the dues paid by its members and donations or subsidies that it may receive. Its purpose is to maintain, when financially possible, libraries, laboratories and educational centers for study, practice and the general use of its members, as well as to promote scientific, technical and humanistic research in order to achieve a higher level of professional preparation and participation on a national and international level that will lead to the integral development of regenerative and general medicine.

About the INTERNATIONAL CELLULAR MEDICINE SOCIETY

The ICMS is a physician guided international 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of adult stem cell medicine through patient safety through the collection of patient outcomes from· cell based medical treatments, physician education through the production of global guidelines for the practice of cell based medicine and the accreditation of clinics providing stem cell therapies. The Society maintains two websites,www.cellmedicinesociety.org and www.stemcellwatch.com, a patient focused portal.



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