An Interview with David Greene, R3 Stem Cell Founder and CEO: ‘Our Centers Change Lives Everyday’

R3 Stem Cell, a national leader in stem cell therapy marketing and education, offers regenerative stem cell therapies to those who suffer from chronic pain. R3’s sole purpose is to repair, regenerate, and restore damaged body tissues. The company has over 35 nationwide Centers.

R3 was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in Scottsdale, AZ.

David Greene, R3 Stem Cell Founder and CEO, spoke exclusively to The Silicon Review. Below is an excerpt.

Q. Explain your services in brief.

R3 Stem Cell’s Centers provide patients with safe and effective regenerative therapies. These procedures help patients around the globe achieve pain relief, increased functional abilities, and typically avoid the need for potentially risky surgeries.

Besides, R3 assists practices with patient marketing and education, IRB-approved research protocols, and provider training. The services help practices achieve successful regenerative campaigns from start to finish.

Q. Currently, there is no technology available to generate large quantities of stem cells in culture. How do you overcome this challenge?

While this is true for embryonic stem cells, those are not used in clinical patient care. They will be in the research phase for a long time. However, when it comes to mesenchymal stem cell culturing, labs can achieve large quantities of stem cells effectively and safely.

In the United States, biologics culturing is irrelevant. The FDA does not allow this, so none of the R3 Centers in the US work with cultured stem cells. Internationally though, culturing is fine to perform and use. R3’s Centers can offer patients treatments with 30 million mesenchymal stem cells up to 200 million cells. The culturing is safe and performed at labs that exceed FDA quality assurance standards and cGMP compliance.

Q. Several types of research need to be done on cell therapy that would establish that it can be used as a form of treatment line. Tell us about your efforts in the research segment.

This question needs clarification. Worldwide, stem cell therapy is frequently used as a form of treatment for many medical conditions. However, in the US, the FDA requires a clinical trial to approve a drug for any particular condition.

Clinical trials cost between $30 and $100 million to perform and typically take three to seven years to complete. While R3 Stem Cell performs IRB approved research studies which enroll patients regularly, they are not FDA approved clinical trials. Those are starting next year at numerous sites in the US at the lab level.

Q. What are the different stages of stem cell therapy development?

When it comes to stem cell therapies, it is best to break them down into the different types of stem cells.

Right now, regenerative therapies with adult stem cells have been developed to the point of being clinically available. Granted, the commercial usage of the stem cell therapies has gotten ahead of FDA approval, as they want to see larger studies. But this is very common with new technology.

Adult stem cells include either mesenchymal or hematopoietic stem cells that come from one of the following sources: Bone Marrow, Adipose (fat) Tissue, or Post Natal source such as Umbilical Cord, Amniotic Fluid, or Placenta. While in clinical use, there are many studies on-going looking at specific applications and the best dosing to achieve the best outcomes.

When it comes to embryonic stem cells, they remain stuck in the research phase. It is not known if they will ever breakthrough into clinical use mainstream. So much time, energy, and resources have been put into embryonic stem cell research for decades, and they are still not ready for clinical use. There are safety issues, rejection issues and whether or not they ever become ready for patients is a true question.

Q. What is a safety test conducted to move forward with stem cell therapy?

Safety of the stem cell biologics is our foremost priority. Therefore, we only use biologics that come from FDA Regulated labs that are cGMP compliant. This ensures the lab has the appropriate policies and procedures in place, along with biologic safety testing, and qualified personnel to process tissue for patient use.

Not only does the lab adhere to FDA Regulations, but they also use Clean Room technology that adheres to cGMP standards. The biologics are processed with minimal reagents and stay in a quarantine freezer for a couple of weeks while all the disease testing is completed. Should anything turn up positive, the entire donor material is discarded.

As a result of the high-quality assurance standards both domestically and internationally, R3’s Centers have never experienced a significant adverse event.

Q. How do you market your services?

R3 Stem Cell bases its patient marketing on education. To make thoughtful decisions regarding their healthcare, patients need accurate education that they can understand. R3 has published a helpful Consumer Guide to regenerative therapies along with an Eight Episode Stem Cell Master Class for patients. These go through many FAQ’s and the Master Class has over a dozen interviews with actual patients.

Another marketing technique used by R3 Stem Cell is patient testimonials. With thousands of patients having gone through treatment, we have many testimonials from patients who have benefited from regenerative therapies and share their experiences.

Q. Do you have any new services ready to be launched?

R3 Stem Cell is continuing to open new international centers and also affiliate with more clinics in the US routinely. The training workshops for providers have expanded to include both East and West Coast locations recently.

Q. What are your trajectories for the next five years?

Inside the US, R3 continues to expand its footprint by affiliating with Centers of Excellence nationwide. As an industry leader, practices appreciate the quality of R3’s marketing, biologics, and training that is offered. So the US footprint will continue to steadily expand for R3 Stem Cell.

Outside of the US, the possibilities are endless with an amazing trajectory. R3 Stem Cell brings the same first-rate patient experience and quality biologics when it opens a clinic internationally. So many countries have not been introduced to stem cell therapy, and they can truly benefit from the safe and effective options that R3 offers. Currently, R3 maintains several clinics in Mexico and Pakistan, with several additional countries in the works.

Because of its high volume, R3’s treatments are very cost-effective for patients around the world. This is critical, as many patients in underserved countries cannot afford to pay what they would in the US. With its economy of scale, R3 adjusts to accommodate those needs!

David Greene: The Leader at the Helm of R3 Stem Cell

David Greene, MD, MBA, is the Founder and CEO of R3 Stem Cell. Ten years ago, Dr. Greene left clinical practice to pursue opportunities on the business side of medicine. US Lead Network was founded in 2010, which assists healthcare practices nationwide achieve patient acquisition online. He subsequently wrote a book, “The Ultimate Guide to Healthcare Digital Marketing”, which is now in its Second Edition.

In 2012, Dr. Greene founded R3 Stem Cell while attending the WP Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. Initially begun as a Marketing Class project, he decided the company could help thousands of individuals worldwide achieve an improved quality of life with safe, effective regenerative therapies. After eight years, 15,000 stem cell procedures, and over 40 Centers of Excellence worldwide, the company is well on its way to achieving the goal.

“As a result of the high-quality assurance standards both domestically and internationally, our centers have never experienced a significant adverse event.”