Offering therapies that harness the body’s regenerative capabilities to bring patients hope and options: R3 Stem Cell

Regenerative medicine offers a lot of promise. This branch of medicine could significantly decrease the reliance on transplantations. From a distance, regenerative medicine sounds something right out of science fiction, but this interdisciplinary field that applies engineering and life science principles to promote regeneration is legitimate and can potentially restore diseased and injured tissues and whole organs too. R3 Stem Cell is a leader in this space.

R3 Stem Cell was founded in 2012 by David Greene, MD, MBA, as a business school project. As

Dr. Greene’s professors at Arizona State University Business School raved about the prospects of the regenerative medicine business, he decided that the new technology could help thousands. So, R3 Stem Cell was born. Today, it has over 45 centers worldwide as a result of continual annual growth.

Dr. Greene understands that the key to growth when it comes to new technology is patient and provider education. Hence, the primary focus of R3 Stem Cell has been to help promote accurate educational material on regenerative medicine, so that patients can make informed decisions on their healthcare and providers can learn how to provide the procedures properly. We recently interviewed Dr. Greene to know more about R3 Stem Cell and regenerative medicine.

Here are the excerpts from the interview:

Q. Existing pain management therapies have been great for suppressing pain, but R3 Stem Cell is working on a fix. How are you doing this?

Most traditional medical treatments around the world are “band aids.” A classic example of this is when steroid injections are used for arthritis. They may provide relief for a couple weeks, but that’s it. Stem cell and exosome therapies approach tissue damage from arthritis, organ failure, autoimmune disease, neurologic issues, autism, CP and more from a completely opposite approach. This is done through tissue regeneration and repair to actually work on the root of the problem. So, the procedures work tremendously well at this from several different mechanisms:

• Cell-to-cell interactions
• Reducing inflammation
• Modulating the immune system
• Promoting new blood flow
• Reducing cell death

While stem cell therapy is not a cure for any of the conditions we treat, the technology is very safe and improves patient lives by actually repairing damage and restoring missing cells. Results often are long lasting!

Q. How has your journey been so far?

As with any new technology that is disruptive, it has been a bumpy road that has focused on education. Helping consumers and providers understand the biologics, what they can and cannot do and what to expect has helped tremendously. Unfortunately, there are a lot of unscrupulous “players” in the industry who just look to exploit patients with suboptimal treatments while not truly caring about patient outcomes. R3 cares mostly about great outcomes and safety. With 16,000 procedures worldwide over the past decade and no significant adverse events, we are the world’s leader in regenerative therapies. Our patient satisfaction is 85% year over year, and 30% of our patient base is from referrals. The combination of great outcomes, safety, first rate patient experience and very fair pricing has propelled us to where we are now.

Q. Usually, high-profile athletes garner all the attention when it comes to regenerative medicine. Can middle-age and elderly folks benefit from this too?

There are three demographics of individuals who can benefit from regenerative therapies. High-level athletes are definitely one of them, and of course, they generate attention because the public wants to know all about their injuries and treatment. Stem cell therapy is not a performance enhancing drug, so most sports organizations are accepting of the technology.

The second demographic is younger individuals suffering from a chronic disease like diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, etc. But by far, the largest demographic using regenerative medicine is older individuals dealing with chronic medical conditions.

When you look at R3 Centers’ worldwide, the average age is 65. We have treated patients as old as 102! So, middle-age and elderly folks make up the vast majority of patients, and the results have been outstanding.

Q. How does R3 Stem Cell stand apart from other regenerative therapy providers?

Most providers offering regenerative therapies simply do not take the time to understand what they are putting into patients and how to best perform the procedures. This is unfortunate, especially, when providers are asking patients to pay a considerable amount.

R3 Stem Cell provides doctors with the most important asset available with new technology – KNOWLEDGE. Our in-person and online training instills providers with accurate information to lean on when it comes to offering regenerative therapies.

In addition, R3 performs extensive marketing for patient acquisition, along with providing the best stem cell and exosome biologics available for amazing pricing. The comprehensive offering helps R3 stand apart from any other regenerative products and services company.

Q. What does the future hold for stem cell treatments?

Existing mesenchymal stem cell therapies are working well for mitigating and improving many diseases. However, the future will allow biological cures for disease as research will eventually permit safe usage of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in humans. This technology takes a patient’s own specialized cells and reverts them back to being pluripotent stem cells. It is not ready yet for use in humans due to safety issues, but the technology will eventually be perfected.

The Leader Upfront

Dr. David Greene, Founder and CEO, is a residency and fellowship trained orthopedic surgeon who retired from practice and shifted his focus to the business side of medicine. He started a healthcare internet marketing company, US Lead Network, that helps medical and dental practices acquire patients on the web in a pay for performance manner. The company is now using AI for marketing, which is lowering cost per lead substantially.

He has written two books on Healthcare Internet Marketing that are available for purchase on Amazon. He lectures frequently around the world on Regenerative Medicine Technology, and is currently a PhD student in stem cell biology. His passion for helping people around the world with regenerative therapies has propelled R3 Stem Cell to be the world leader in this new technology!

“With 16,000 procedures worldwide over the past decade and no significant adverse events, we are the world’s leader in regenerative therapies.”