Disgraced stem-cell entrepreneur under fresh investigation

Davide Vannoni is barred from offering a controversial stem-cell therapy in Italy but may be continuing his work abroad.

Public prosecutors in Turin, Italy, are investigating whether disgraced stem-cell entrepreneur Davide Vannoni — convicted on criminal charges last year for administering unproven stem-cell therapies in Italy — is offering his treatments again, this time in eastern Europe.

In March 2015, Vannoni was convicted on charges of conspiracy and fraud related to his treatments, which had been declared dangerous by the Italian Health Authority (AIFA). His case was a cause célèbre among Italian scientists, who fought for many years to stop him administering stem cells to patients through his Stamina Foundation (see Nature 518, 455; 2015).

Vannoni was sentenced to 22 months in prison, but the sentence was suspended in a plea bargain drawn up by prosecutor Raffaele Guariniello, who said that the terms required Vannoni to refrain from organizing further therapies — either in Italy or abroad. Soon after the plea bargain, patient groups on social media posted comments that the stem-cell treatment was available once more, in Georgia. And in late October, a patient came...