ESPECIAL EPISODE 61: DAVEN PATEL, CEO & DR. ANAND SRIVASTAVA, CHAIRMAN AND COFOUNDER AT GLOBAL INSTITUTE OF STEM CELL THERAPY AND RESEARCH (GIOSTAR)

Mr. Deven Patel, the CEO, President and Cofounder of Global Institute of Stem Cell Therapy and Research (GIOSTAR) with headquarter in San Diego, California, U.S.A. GIOSTAR was formed with the vision to provide affordable stem cell based therapies to the masses around the world suffering from degenerative or genetic diseases and unable to afford today’s high cost of the treatment. Mr. Patel has served as the CEO, President and Board of Directors in highly comprehensive industries such as Healthcare, Stem Cell Research, Architectural, General Construction, Alternative Energy and Multifaceted Internet industries. Mr. Patel has served as the President of Federation of India Associations San Diego (FIA-SD) Mr. Patel has also served in key positions of several public and private organizations such as GIOSTAR Foundation, Asian and Pacific American Coalition (APAC), Asian Business Association, Cambridge Companies, Reality Changers, Global Organization of People of Indian Origin. He has also served as Vice President of newly formed San Diego United Lion’s Club. Mr. Patel has served as the founding President of Asian and Pacific American Coalition (APAC) representing San Diego API communities from nine Asian countries and spearheaded its efforts in 2011 at San Diego City Hall to create the new 9th City Council District in City of San Diego to be an Asian Pacific American influenced district, first time in the history of San Diego through the redistricting process.

Dr. Anand Srivastava has been associated with leading universities and research institutions of USA. In affiliation with University of California San Diego Medical College (UCSD), University of California Irvine Medical College (UCI), Salk Research Institute, San Diego, Burnham Institute For Medical Research, San Diego, University of California Los Angeles Medical College (UCLA), USA has helped develop several research programs and has an extensive research experience in the field of stem cell which is documented by several publications in revered scientific journals. Dr. Anand Srivastava’s success has its root in his unique background of expertise in Stem cell biology, protein biochemistry, molecular biology, immunology, in utero transplantation of stem cell, tissue targeting, gene therapy and clinical research. There are many scientists who can work in a narrowly defined field but few have broad and multidisciplinary experience to carry out clinical research in a field as challenging as Stem cell biology, cancer and gene therapy field. Dr. Anand Srivastava’s wide- spectrum expertise is rare in clinical research and perfectly crafted to fit ideally with the GIOSTAR projects for stem cell transplant, cancer and gene therapy research.

Episode’s transcript

Julio Martinez: 0:00

Welcome to the Latin MedTech Leaders podcast, a conversation with MedTech leaders who have succeeded or plan to succeed in Latin America. Please subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform. Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast. Amazon Music is teacher Tune in iHeart Radio, Pandora or Deser . Today our guest is Dr. Anand Shiva , uh, Ms . PhD, chairman and co-founder of California based Global Institute of Stem Cell Therapy and Research Geo Star headquarters headquarter in San Diego, California. United States. Ustar is world is the worst leading stem cell therapy and Research Institute involved with stem cell therapy and research work for over 20 years. Dr. Shiva or Dr. Anan is world of re known authority in the field of stem cell biology, cancer, and gene therapy . Dr. Annon has helped developed several research programs and has a , an extensive research experience in the field of stem cells with , uh, which is documented by several publications in revered scientific journals. We also have today Mr. Devin Patel, president, CEO and Co-founder of Geo Star , Dr. Annon . Devon , it's great to have you here in the show. Welcome.

Dr. Anand Srivastava: 1:25

Thank you, Julio , and this is honor to be here with you today.

Julio Martinez: 1:29

Thank you. I appreciate that. All right , guys, let's get started with the conversation. Um, let's talk first about your involvement with Latin America. How is your journey to the region in a personal professional level? How is it that you guys got to know Latin America ? How is it you guys got involved with all these , uh, countries, this vast region of over 600 million people, that very few people really, really know about <laugh>,

Daven Patel: 2:10

You know, and , um, this is one of the most beautiful continent and beautiful people with a tremendous culture and the history that rest of the world really don't understand Tremendous , uh, uh, natural resources, you know, tremendous , uh, uh, uh, spiritual , uh, background that this whole culture has to offer that we're not understanding or we're not taking it seriously . And the people are the most beautiful people, very talented, very smart, very capable, very entrepreneurial. And that is , in our experience, we traveled around the whole little America, starting from Central America, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Columbia , Brazil, Chile, all the way there. And every culture, every country you go has a very unique and a special culture. And the beauty is we've been always invited by very important people of that part of the world. Like for Panama, we were invited by the father of the nation , uh, uh, to help the Panama work on this field for many, many years ago. Same with Mexico. You know, we were invited by one of the top , um, you know , uh, political leaders of the Mexico, Columbia . We were invited by one of the oldest , um, foundation that was almost 104 or 5-year-old. And that whole foundation purpose to exist was to provide free at most advanced clinical treatments to the people of Columbia. Okay. Uh, Chile, I was there and I was shocked. It was the most expensive , uh, you know, country. I would say We were more expensive than Los Angeles. And I , I was shocked. <laugh> .

Julio Martinez: 4:00

Well , Chile is the Switzerland of Latin America. Yeah ,

Daven Patel: 4:03

Yeah . So , I mean, it's just amazing. Every country we go, we even went to some small countries. I'm forgetting the names, but everywhere we went , the food, the people , the ambience. I mean, culture is phenomenal. I love it.

Julio Martinez: 4:17

Awesome. Anna . I'm sorry, <laugh> . Devin . I'm so happy to hear that. So, Dr . Anna , what's your take in Latin of Latin America? What's your journey to the

Dr. Anand Srivastava: 4:25

Region? So Devvin really experienced so nicely . The is here that , you know, we , uh, we born in India. We are from India. Okay. And , uh, if you see, and of course then I was told that from to Mexico, and even in California , uh, it's so vibrant culture and , uh, vibrant. When I say the vibrant culture is not , uh, only one word, okay? The , the culture of happiness, culture of how to, how to really receive your guests, how to live in multicultural society, how to accept the other thoughts. So, and people are so big hearted. Then once you go, you feel that, you feel that big point is point is not that people are good. You go and you feel that yes, they , they're so welcoming. So some , sometimes I always talk to them whenever I go to like Columbia Costa or Mexico, you know , uh, and we have our , uh, facilities in Mexico and other places. So whenever I go, I , I say them , um, why we need treatment here. Once you come here, you automatically get <laugh> .

Julio Martinez: 5:44

You don't wanna go back . <laugh> , you don't wanna go back to the states . Yes, agree . Yeah . So ,

Dr. Anand Srivastava: 5:51

So , and , and , and , uh, we're fortunate that we're in San California because , uh, once you go to Mexico or you be in the San Diego , California, basically, you don't feel a lot of difference in the culture . You know, both are very multicultural society, very accepting society, and very vibrant. That's what I find , and that's what , uh, attracts me. And being Indian, we , we are very much habitual of living in all multicultural India. You know, every 20 miles the language changes , and every 50 miles the culture changes . So we're like very much fond of , of facing all this , uh, cultural . Now , it's not shock , but I'm just telling you. So you feel like wearing home also?

Julio Martinez: 6:39

Yes. Yes. That's a great point. I think , uh, Latin America is closer to the Middle East, to Asia, to India, particularly , um, than to the US culture. The Anglo-Saxon, yeah .

Dr. Anand Srivastava: 6:52

Western, you can say like western countries. So yeah,

Julio Martinez: 6:55

Western. Exactly. Agree. Agree. Well, we, we all came from the Spanish. The Spanish have good lives . I mean, these people are so happy, always drinking, hoarding and all that. Anyway, guys, let's talk about business <laugh>. Let's, let's , uh, talk about trends in Latin America. What major trends you see happening from the political, socioeconomic, or , uh, disease standpoint that are , uh, relevant to our discussion about stem cell research and treatments? Uh , today

Daven Patel: 7:25

In , in Latin America, I see a lot of doctors, because we travel a lot in Latin America . And the trend is that they do wanna bring more advanced sciences to their people. And the best part in, especially the regenerative medicine, where we call it stem cell science, they wanna bring that to their people as fast as possible. And we're being on the top of this field, being the pioneer of the stem cell field , being the pioneer , started this field of stem cell science 20 years ago in the top University of Southern California University , California , San Diego Institute , Burnham Institute , UCUC , all these university . And our mission also geos mission is very simple . This is most elite, expensive and advanced science of mankind, and we wanna make it available to the masses. Now, how do you make it available? Most expansive science to the masses, you know? So what we do, we work with the governments and that governments of different countries help us access to the masses and help us bring the cost down . And also sometime finance the cost . So then affordability of this , most advanced science becomes very cheap. And that's what our goal is, to make it available to the masses.

Julio Martinez: 8:39

Very good . So , Joan , any

Dr. Anand Srivastava: 8:41

Comments ? I very much , uh, agree with Deon , but one , one point is here that what you told , like , uh, the socioeconomical situation and why the Latin America or , or , uh, is , is most important place right now. Okay. So we have to understand one thing very clearly that now world before I , I think before eighties, you know, 1980s, the world was very contrast, you know, developed world and developing world . Yes, that was the category of the entire globe. So after coming, this informant , technology now and developer is already developed world , okay? Now, this Latin America, which is most of the time we say it is developing countries, okay ? Yes . So because of basic , uh, information, technology, now the information and , uh, all the science and technology, everything is flowing very smoothly all around the globe. The people in the Latin America, particularly as I told that very intelligent, very vibrant, very enthusiastic. And not only this, they have very strong point, and that, that we have to really understand that point. They are also having the essence of the life, how to really lead a life, even if you are rich, poor , or even if you're deprived with the things, but they understand the happiness is the most important point for the life , not the money. Yes, money's important. So with the flow of this inform technology now, because they have all this intelligence, the enthusiast fight for the progress, utilizing the technology and science in information to bring the uplifting of the society. So, so I'll tell the government and the people both are seeing this opportunity after it is very well. And the young generation in the Latin America, which who are very computer savvy , and now the cell phone is very important. Everybody has that cell phone , you know, so thousands, thousands of millions of ideas are coming every day because they are exposed to very multicultural society, having the inflow of information for blacked country, applying their thought process and intelligence to bring everyday something very extraordinary and new. And governments are also very supportive because they understand this is very important to , to help entire globe . So western western countries are also helping to bring this technology to , uh, Latin America. So this young generation who was very vibrant and ready to fight for good goodness and uplifting the , their lifestyle. So that's what I see the socioeconomical and cultural , uh, heritage and positiveness of the Latin America to face the challenge of the new modern world. And I think they're ch face , uh, they're , they're meeting the challenge very well.

Julio Martinez: 12:10

Yes, yes. That's a , that's a great point, Dr. Ann . Latin America, in my opinion, I'm 50 years old, and I was born in Columbia , born and raised in Columbia , and I've seen the, the progress of the region, I mean, dramatic progress. And now for the first time in the history of the region, you have four OECD countries. This is, I mean, really big. The first one was Chile, then Mexico, then Colombia , now Costa Rica a couple weeks ago. And you know, the OECD is a club of, of wealthy countries around the world with the best policies to develop society. I mean, from the socioeconomic, political , uh, et cetera , uh, standpoint. So, and also you have the trade, the , these trade packs , uh, with different countries around the world. Uh, the free trade agreement with the us , the free trade agreement with the Europe , with Europe, with Korea, with Japan, you have the Pacific Alliance, the, the trade block of Mexico, Colombia , Chile, and, and Peru. Now Panama, Costa Rica wanna join . So it's really, the region is really, is maturing. That's what I wanna say. Anyway, guys. So let's talk about, about what you guys are doing in Latin America. Let's first talk about the grant and the science. What's really going on in this field of, of , of stem cell research? Where are the trends and , and , and how Latin America is playing a major role in, in , in the field in general, and in what you, particularly as a company are doing?

Dr. Anand Srivastava: 13:53

Uh, first we have to understand , uh, what is the stem cell science and why it is so important for the human being. And for that, we have to understand very well , uh, first that what is the medical science overall ? And you see , the pandemic of COVID-19 really , uh, told everybody that we , in fact , in the field of science today , even the small virus can such a big help for humanity . And , uh, so , uh, not , not nobody should be in the confusion once we are talking about the medical science . So in fact, the fact of the matter, the medical science can treat only the foreign three times talking the word treat treatment , uh, only the foreign infection like bacteria virus , not virus , bacteria and microorganism viruses , we cannot treat as , you know . And , uh, and of course this surgery is very good if somebody is going under , uh, trauma or some accident or bone broken or something. So the me , if you can treat something mechanically by cutting and testing , uh, you can do very well because surgical instruments are very, very good and doctors are also very good. So what is happening like only bacteria, virus , uh, bacteria and , and , uh, microorganism for an infection, not the virus, sorry. And the trauma means with the surgery, these are the only things you can treat. But all other things, which is comes under, which comes under metabolic diseases , uh, which is not happening because of any kind of foreign infection or trauma, you cannot treat. You just can manage it. And those really cover almost 70% of the entire human diseases .

Julio Martinez: 15:50

Wow. This is fascinating. I've never heard this

Dr. Anand Srivastava: 15:52

Before. How many diseases is getting caused by bacteria or microorganism? Very few. And how many things you can correct by surgery? Okay , you can do heart , heart , uh, bypass surgery or maybe some liver transplant and all these things . Okay , that's all. But now, metabolic disease, it is not happening. And viruses you cannot treat even , even if it's foreign infection. So what are the metabolic disease? Your body has some kind of malfunction. It is not because of any trauma or foreign infection. And that malfunction is start expressing, and then a person gets the disease, like Alzheimer, brain , brain function is going down. Alzheimer, Parkinson, neuromuscular disease , uh, uh, lung is having problem, liver is having by aging , uh, here is falling and then is going down. Hyper cholesterol, diabetes, arthritis , you name it. Now you see why I told 70% disease are metabolic, and you cannot treat it. You just can manage it. So if somebody has diabetes, what , what he has to do every day , he has to tell , take pills. Somebody has hyper cholesterol , he has to take pills every single day. Somebody has thyroid, he has to take pills every day . Treatment means once you take the medicine, you get recovered and you become same as you was before the disease. Like any bacterial infection, suppose somebody has pneumonia, he gets the antibiotic, and after , uh, clearance of the bacteria, he becomes the same as he was before.

Julio Martinez: 17:26

Exactly . And we have a specific biomarker where we can say he's clear of that

Dr. Anand Srivastava: 17:32

Bacteria . Yeah . And he doesn't need to take any more medicine

Julio Martinez: 17:35

Any more . Exactly. Yeah .

Dr. Anand Srivastava: 17:35

But in metabolic disease, he was just maintaining. So when I was critically thinking this and then decide , oh my God, I I was totally shocked to know this , uh, I analyze and I thought , look , what , what is this? And we talk as such a issues about medical science and this, and unfortunately that is proven by this covid-19 , uh, pandemic, that where we really stand. So now come on, the istan cell science . So what , what kind of diseases or metabolic diseases a person may face? There are two kinds of only one, your organs are losing function or degenerating or damaged. And second, your organ may be over functional, like cancer. Okay? What happens in cancer, cancer, like cells start growing unlimited, and you , that forms the cancer. So only two kind. So most of , most of the time, body goes under or degeneration with the aging, or organs get damaged because of some kind of problem, malfunction of the body. I say <laugh> , okay ? I use this term malfunction. So when the , and we know that our body, entire body is made of stem cell because the stem cell is the master cell of the body . So each , when , so entire body is made of stem cell. And what is the body? Body is the combination of the ordinance . It means each and every single organ is made of stem cell. So that , that's the start of entire , entire point for me, 20 years back when I was , uh, working at University of California San Diego Medical School. And , uh, so this idea came in my mind, and when stem cell is the master cell and into every single organ is made of stem cell, is it possible to really take out the stem cells in lab and , uh, culture and somehow to see whether you can repair , uh, the damaged organ or degenerating organs? And that's the story starts . So that's the beauty of the stem cells.

Julio Martinez: 19:48

Okay. So at that time, nobody else was thinking in this

Dr. Anand Srivastava: 19:52

Very few direction . Very few , very few, very few , uh, that time, you know, in nineties, the gene therapy was the very , uh, dominant. And if you remember, in nineties , uh, everybody was all the scientists, and they spent millions of dollars to sequence the human gene. And the idea and and idea was the sequencing of the human gene, that once we know the correct sequence of the entire human gene, then you can go and , uh, change the defective gene with the correct gene so you can really treat the person. So that's what the human genome program in nineties. And, and it's still going on , uh, gene therapy and it's very good program. And I was also doing the gene therapy. I , I was not in the field of stem cell signs . And in fact, I saw in 1999 that you can change the pancreatic gene with the correct gene . So that may , uh, and , and that shows the route to help and treat the diabetes of using gene therapy. And that time I was in Japan , uh, working at Japan under the , uh, invitation by Prime Minister of Japan, who gave me the award in the science . So saying that , uh, but gene therapy is very, very complex and , uh, you need a lot of training. The clinicians need , needs a lot of training and other things. And I realized I published , uh, very strong papers in the field of gene therapy as well. And this today Pfizer vaccine MAD and or AstraZeneca , all this , uh, gene based vaccine , uh, which they are making, I published , uh, the same technology in 2005 from us , university of California, San Diego Medical School, exactly. Doing this and showing that how you can do the inserted gene to develop the immunity for a foreign infection. And that was published in top general card vaccine in 2000 5, 15, 16 years back. And that's the technology today, this Pfizer. And mad I everybody .

Julio Martinez: 21:50

Huh ? Really? Wow. Fascinating. <laugh> . Wow . Alright . Anyway , so let , let's, let's resume probably talking about, about , um, the , the clinics in Latin America. Let's go back to medical tourism and all that, please. Yeah.

Daven Patel: 22:07

So basically best way to expand in Latin America first is through medical tourism. Because medical tourism allow those countries to create a lot of revenues for their people, you know, and that's the best way because investors are familiar with the tourism, but now we're adding a medical tourism on top of it, which expand their economies and allow them to generate a lot of revenue and tax dollars for the country. So that's the one first and easier and faster way to do that. And secondly, also because you said there are 600 million people in Latin America and they're looking for cures for many conditions. And if we can do those clinical trials in those particular jurisdictions in Latin America, first of all, it's cheaper. Yes. It may be faster to Yes . More patients. Yeah . Governments are pretty much open to do this because you're being gsr , being a , you know, US-based organization being a leader in the field of stem cell science for 20 years, they really very, they're very much open to allow us to do those clinical trials. And best part of regenerative medicine, especially stem cells, if you know the science, like us being the pioneer in the leader in the field, you can really do the fast track clinical trial. And the best part is there's not much side effects . So you're not hurting people. That's the concern in Latin America , that westerners are using them as a Guinea pigs , and that's not the case. That part is because of stem cell science , which is not hurting people and not a lot of many side effects or very little or none . So the clinical trials can go very fast . And then those products can be available at a very affordable rate. Goal is see the , when you have , uh, this , uh, pharma mindset you were talking about, you know, selling it too high. But you really have to understand in the business point of view, when you do, when you have a 600 million people , you have to talk about bringing the price down and make it affordable to everybody that will bring more money than making your price high. And the best part is by bringing it price down if you make it affordable to the people. So you're helping everybody of every strata off that economy, you know, and you are not leaving anybody behind. That's the best part. And no side effects .

Julio Martinez: 24:22

Yeah, agree. Totally agree. Yes. Makes sense. But , um, Devin , let's talk about medical tourism for a second. What's the driver of this medical tourism? And just for the, for the sake of clarity , for the audience, we're talking about medical tourism , uh, in the sense of, of , uh, US or European patients traveling to Latin America to receive stem cell treatments, right? Yes. Okay. So what's the driver? What's happening in the us what's happening in Canada? What's happening in Europe that, that , that , that we've seen this influx of, of patients to Latin America?

Daven Patel: 24:54

So because , uh, FDA is now , uh, cracking down on lot of American clinics and , and same thing in Canada, that they don't want these doctors to practice this un um , uh, uh, treatments that they call it , uh, because these doctors are nothing wrong that they're , they , they're , it's just these doctors don't know the science how to practice this properly. And FDA in America wants them to do full fledge clinical trials. And after only after that testing the efficacy, safety and all that, then you can practice. So what is that, that , that is creating a huge vacuum <laugh> , that there are so many patients , they cannot wait for another five, 10 years for these clinical trials to finish . And , you know, they have a condition now and they want the answer or treatment for that. So that is creating a humongous opportunity for Latin America to come to the step up to the plate. And companies like ours who are very well worse in this science, hardcore research companies , but we have a relationship with the Latin American governments who are allowing our protocols to be practiced , uh, because the safety and efficacy data is very well done. And that is allowing a lot of American patients, Canadian patients, or European patients to come and those treatment now, not five years later . That's the dynamics .

Dr. Anand Srivastava: 26:16

And , and I'll , I would like to add here , one more important thing , particularly when you , us opportunities in Latin America . So we have to understand one more thing again here , the point of the , uh, and the , uh, in function technology and enthusiasm of the government as I told that , uh, science and , uh, particularly stem cell signs because , uh, we have been the , I'm one of the them , the initiator of the system cell science , 20 years back , it , few more people. So we are leading here. And then , uh, once we , uh, go and teach somebody how to do the stem cell science so we can bring the systems cell science very , very much up to the mark in that particular country. Like in India, we we're in India, so , uh, we're invited by Prime Minister of India. So, and establishing these stem cell signs , we, we were invited by , uh, Chinese , uh, government to help their stem cell signs . So , so this way we're not just going do these stem cell signs , but we're also bringing the , uh, level of the science stem cell science or regenerative medicine, you can say, very scientific way to , up to the mark, which can meet and also educate the young and create form to really, to really bring this medical science and treating the people, because this is one of the most holistic, I can say, approach to treat the people as they went told with very least or almost no side effects .

Julio Martinez: 27:52

Side effects. It's , it's a hundred percent safe. Yes. That's what I understand. And , and basically you guys are raising the bar, the standards in Latin America, because one of the problems that are happening in Latin America, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that we have all these clinics, it's a proliferation of US funded clinics and also doctors, local doctors doing stem cell treatments in their little offices. Yeah , yeah . Mom and pop shops doing stem cell treatments. So what's happening here? Why do, do we see this proliferation? Why is it that there's no regulation or anything in , in Latin America, or there's not much education about stem cell in the region?

Dr. Anand Srivastava: 28:32

Uh, I, I will say that , uh, that is not in fact the case because , uh, the , the government really is , uh, in Latin America also very alert and , and good . And they really wanna bring the good science . At the same time they have to make a balance between the uplifting of the science in their country and educating their doctors, because who is doing this as you told the doctors are doing in their clinics? The only, only problem is here that those, these doctors are not well trained in the stem cell science .

Julio Martinez: 29:07

That's true. Yes. Good point. They're

Dr. Anand Srivastava: 29:09

Trained in the medical science in general way . But what I would suggest for , uh, Latin and , and also I , I talked with several places in Latin , Latin American , that anybody who wants to do it, they can go, or any doctors or clinic or hospitals, they can go and get a real training, like for any specialization. Like somebody wants to be neuro neurosurgeon, so they go the neurosurgeon , neurosurgeon , the education or training at least for two years to get that degree . So this way these doctors can get degree in the medicine stem science if they wanna do , and it's a matter of , uh, 16 months or maybe two years . Okay . And they can really understand the science , bring the science up to the level of global level you can say, and also help the patient most proper and very stronger way . So that's the way it should be done .

Julio Martinez: 30:17

Yes, yes. And, and I also see a , an issue here of the speed of the regulators versus the speed of the science. Probably the science is advancing faster than the speed of the regulators. Yeah . So the regulatory agency in a country is not still overseeing all these clinics. I mean, they don't have the resources, they don't have the, the , the understanding of what , what's going on. And seeing , seeing things is so easy to do stem cell treatments. I mean, anybody, pretty much any doctor can do it at , at a , at his office.

Daven Patel: 30:53

Julio , Dr . Aaron , lemme just add one little thing . So Julio, we're trying to do is we go around the world for last 20 years and help those countries to develop their stem cell policy , stem cell transplant program.

Julio Martinez: 31:04

That's great. Program

Daven Patel: 31:05

Stem cell treatment. Yes . Yes . Then when we help them develop that standards, then everybody have to live up to that standard. And the best part is the patient gets the most highest level of care in a most t environment. So that's what we're doing anyways. And that's, we're gonna continue to do that because as you said, technology is moving fast, regulators are not. That's where we come in, help the regulators to develop the policies that are more adaptive and more comprehensive and at the same time, safe way and faster way to bring that science and regulators together. So the pl proliferation of the modern science can happen same time and in a short amount of time, and people get , get the most of the benefit , but the end of the , all about providing the best treatment to your people.

Julio Martinez: 31:55

Excellent. Very good. Um, one quick , um, uh, question here is what countries do you see there are at the forefront of this in Latin America? Uh , Columbia , Brazil. Panama. Yeah .

Daven Patel: 32:10

Columbia , Brazil, Panama, Mexico, Costa Rica, Bahamas, if you wanna add that

Julio Martinez: 32:15

Part , Bahamas? Yes. Yes. Yeah.

Daven Patel: 32:17

And , and now the, the Caribbeans are coming in because we're getting call from Caribbean governments and people for almost last three years or more, four years, I would say. They wanted to be part of it because they want , because they're small countries , small island countries, and they wanna their people , but the best part is they tourism. So they , I mean, sorry, in the , in the tourism business.

Julio Martinez: 32:42

In the tourism business , yes, exactly. I

Daven Patel: 32:44

Medical tourism. So that expands their economies and this is the best way to do it . And that we , I think I'm gonna be gonna , uh, bar and Trinidad and couple of other island governments are ready to move on with us .

Julio Martinez: 32:58

Very, very interesting. You know, a lot of these Caribbean countries, Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, ura , uh, and smaller islands, they travel to Columbia for medical care, cardiovascular cancer, et cetera . And now we have <laugh> US patients, <laugh> coming to these countries to receive way more advanced care with stem cells. So it's kind of a contradictory, but it's , it's fascinating to see the dynamics .

Daven Patel: 33:25

That's what we're trying to do around the entire Latin America to bring that standard . So anywhere you go, doesn't matter whether it's Columbia , Columbia being the top right now , where you go to Columbia or Brazil or you know, Panama or Caribbean, you'll get the same Hyatt standard because we're there and we're helping those governments, those jurisdictions, to bring science , uh, up to the mark . And, and I think , uh, in next two to three years, I think they'll be able to . Beautiful.

Julio Martinez: 33:55

Alright , guys, we're close to the end of the show. Anything else to add? Dr . Anand ?

Dr. Anand Srivastava: 34:00

I, I would , uh, just , uh, because we're talking about how to really manage the situation, which you are talking that every each here or there , people are doing each stem cells . And so my , my suggestion is that , uh, yes, it is very important science , so it , it must be going like that. But anybody, any doctor or clinic or hospital wants to do that First, a doctor must go for at least one and a half year of the training. Second , uh, that particular doctor who is doing, or their team member or maybe supported by a scientist, that scientist must be having at least, at least three publication in the field of stem cell science . So when you, you , when you talk about the peer review publications in the field of stem cell science , that automatically and three publications means

Julio Martinez: 34:56

That reduces the,

Dr. Anand Srivastava: 34:57

Yeah. So, so that is the best way to , best way to , uh, monitor or enhance . So people , so what is gonna happen? There are good two things are gonna happen. First when they , you put publication, original publication, then the people who wants to do these stem cell signs , they'll be really serious about their job because they are going to work in the lab too , something and then publish it because you are going to deal with the human being second, the doctor who is treating , if he having special , uh, education . So he also , because this is most sophisticated and ultimate science to be being , and this is the present and future both . So why not to make it like that? And it is not a big deal. So this way you can, you can, you can enhance the country science also because if, if suppose X or a young boy or young scientist working in the lab publish three papers in the stem cell science , he can join any clinic. So you are not only bringing upbringing the science , you are bringing the technology, you are giving a lot of job to these scientists.

Julio Martinez: 36:10

Yes,

Dr. Anand Srivastava: 36:11

These scientists are gonna help a lot of hospitals then lot of inflow of the real person . And you can very confidently tell that I'm really helping with the science and, and regulatory agencies also, not then worry too much what , how to really regulate things . Okay, you have three publication show , the real publication doctor is having some training for somewhere, maybe any doctor like, or , or our institution. Are there one or two more institutions like us maybe or some universities. You're done . You don't need to worry about any revolution there .

Daven Patel: 36:49

We're , we're creating first stem cell university five years from now, really majority of diseases will be treated with stem cell . So if you dunno about science, you'll have all those doctors they have to learn, otherwise they'll be left behind. So we're building world's largest and first stem cell university that's coming and then campuses will be spread around the world. So what there,

Julio Martinez: 37:12

That's badly needed. Devin . That's great news. Fascinating. Wow. <laugh> . Yeah. Yeah, because I don't really think there's formal education at this point. Right. Hmm . All right guys, we are , um, close, very close to the end of the show. Uh, any final words of wisdom or anything to any , uh, other life science companies looking to or just exploring to do business in Latin America? What would you say to the CEO of a company that's just starting to explore the region?

Daven Patel: 37:43

First you have to understand the regulations of the country that's there and then work with the regulators directly. Show them what you bringing and how they can meet their regulations or help them bring the regulation to the higher standards. That's the only way, but you have to work with the regulators. That's the best way to enter in any Latin American company .

Julio Martinez: 38:07

Well said. Yeah. Excellent. Excellent. Dr . Anand de Yes. All right , Devin , Dr. Anand , thank you so much. It's been a delightful conversation. I'm sure listeners , uh, got a lot out of it. This is totally a new field, an app coming field, and I'm learning , uh, as we go. I mean, this is fascinating stuff going on in Latin America.

Daven Patel: 38:33

Thank you , Julio . You're one of the best hosts ,

Julio Martinez: 38:35

<laugh> . Thank you . I appreciate that . Bye guys . Bye bye .