Dodging the FDA to Use Stem Cells
Joel has been waiting to see appear a way to test emerging biotech that would be faster and cheaper than the hopelessly creaky FDA model. He thought it would come out of China or India. Nope. Colorado. This outfit is offering stem cell therapy for orthopedic damage and has so far bypassed the FDA by saying it is not engaged in interstate trade. This is essentially the Microsoft business model applied to bio. Microsoft releases beta versions of its software to consensual early adopters and waits to see how many computers crash. This outfit is giving its novel biotech a similar limited release into the wild and seems to be reporting the results professionally. The long-term risk assessment, of course, is sobering. So is the comparison to in vitro fertilization.