The first procedure at the Okyanos Heart Institute happened yesterday, inaugurating a new chapter in stem cell therapy in The Bahamas.
Mathew Feshbach, CEO of the institute, told Guardian Business that the Grand Bahama-based cardiac stem cell therapy facility performed its first procedure yesterday, but did not provide specifics regarding the nature of the procedure.
The announcement comes after more than two years of delays while the government reviewed Okyanos' proposal and crafted the recently passed Stem Cell Therapy Bill and Regulations, which will oversee Okyanos and any future stem cell therapy facilities. Okyanos was founded in 2011.
Okyanos raised $8.9 million in March, which according to sources, brought the company's funding to $14 million. In an article posted in Venture Capital Post (VCP) in July, Okyanos explained that it would treat heart patients using "autologous adipose derived regenerative cells (ADRCs) in The Bahamas". Adipose, or fat, is the richest source of regenerative cells in the body; "autologous" simply means that the cells are derived from the same patient undergoing the cell therapy treatment. Okyanos is offering cell therapies based upon the technology of San Diego-based Cytori Therapeutics. The VCP article's author, Ray Xeri, points out that the same technology is being used in Cytori's Phase II clinical trials for heart disease but is otherwise unavailable to patients in the U.S., if and until FDA approval is achieved.
"Thus, the opportunity to serve patients with few other options in the nearby Bahamas became an opportunity for Okyanos and its backers," Xeri said in July.
The multimillion-dollar facility currently employs 17 people and is seeking additional staff as it ramps up operations. Okyanos aims to treat coronary artery disease through cardiac stem cell therapy.
The government tabled the Stem Cell Therapy Bill and Regulations in August, prompting Okyanos to praise the government on "providing a legislative and regulatory jurisdiction so that this very promising standard of care can be brought forward".
The regulations would allow embryonic stem cell therapy only in "exceptional circumstances", stipulating that all embryonic stem cells intended for therapy must be previously derived, and prohibiting the use of all new human embryonic cells.
Under the proposed regulations, three regulatory bodies will be formed to regulate stem cell therapy in the country: the National Stem Cell Ethics Committee, Scientific Committee and Compliance Committee.
Initial application fees for stem cell research stood at $2,500 in the tabled regulations. Approved facilities would be required to pay annual license fees ranging from $15,000 to $50,000.
Okyanos' progress is an encouraging sign for the country's prospects in the burgeoning medical tourism industry, despite The Bahamas' failure to rank on the 2014 Medical Tourism Index.
The international metric, which published its most recent report in September, ranks countries' medical tourism sectors according to country environment, facilities, services and general health of the local medical tourism industry.

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