Stem Cell Study Starts in PMD (STEM)
StemCells Inc (NASD: STEM) has announced this morning that it and collaborator UCSF have initiated the enrollment of patients in the first ever clinical study of neural stem cells as a potential treatment in Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease (PMD), a neurological disorder that primarily afflicts children.
The company noted that the nature of this study is important on its own, but equally important is the fact that the findings from this trial may help also lead to potential stem cell treatments of other myelination disorders including multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy.
The two have begun patient recruitment for a Phase I clinical trial designed to test the safety and preliminary efficacy of its HuCNS-SC® purified human neural stem cells. Also noted was that the study is being conducted at the University of California, San Francisco Children’s Hospital.
PMD results from a defective gene and is characterized by a lack of myelin, a substance that surrounds and insulates nerve cells’ communications fibers, which then makes the body unable to properly transmit nerve impulses. This leads to the loss of neurological function and eventually death in the most severe forms of PMD, and there are currently no effective treatment options for patients with PMD.
So far there is still a lukewarm reception. Shares are up 1%, but this is only a $1.00 stock. Starting trials is still a far cry from having positive trial results.
JON C. OGG
NOVEMBER 23, 2009
