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Israel's BrainStorm says stem cell drug benefits most patients in ALS trial

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Category: Health, Science & Technology

Via: the-irascible-harry-krishner • 10 years ago • 9 comments

Israel's BrainStorm says stem cell drug benefits most patients in ALS trial

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israel's BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics said final results from a clinical trial of its adult stem cell treatment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) were positive, with most patients showing a slowing in the disease's progression.

According to the ALS Association, 5,600 people in the United States are diagnosed each year with the neurodegenerative disease, which has severely disabled British physicist Stephen Hawking.

A single dose of the stem cell treatment called NurOwn was administered in a mid-stage phase 2a trial in 14 patients with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.

"Nearly all subjects in this study experienced clinical benefit from treatment with NurOwn," the company said on Monday.

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Professor Expert

seeder Krishna 10 years ago

Of the 12 patients with three or more months of follow-up, 92 percent experienced an improvement in disease progression. NurOwn slowed the progression of ALS using two different parameters and had a strong effect on the rate of decline in lung function, BrainStorm said.
In October the U.S. Food and Drug Administration designated NurOwn as a "fast-track" product to treat ALS.

Professor Expert

seeder Krishna 10 years ago

Shares in the company, which is also developing stem cell treatments for multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease, have nearly doubled in the past two sessions on Nasdaq in anticipation of the trial's results. The stock has nearly tripled in the past year, closing at $7.50 on Friday.

Yikes!

Just checked-- symbol is BCLI. Down a bit today in a market that was quite negative in general-- closed today at $5.75 . At this point buying a stock like this is not really investing-- its gambling. Looks risky...

Do I take a little nibble tomorrow? Stay tuned!

Freshman Silent

Petey Coober 10 years ago

Maybe they'll renickname the disease after Hawking & give Lou Gehrig a rest .

Professor Expert

Perrie Halpern R.A. 10 years ago

I have been following this story, as I have been personally affected by the loss of my beloved uncle Herman to ALS. This would be the first truly effective treatment ever for the disease, if it works in large populations of patients.

ALS is known as an orphan disease, since not enough people die of it in a given year, yet the numbers of people being affected have more than doubled from 1/100,000 to 2.5/100,000 for unknown reasons, with the average life span after dxed is 2.5 years.

Sophomore Quiet

Dowser 10 years ago

This is the first good news that I've read about ALS treatments!

I lost a very dear friend to ALS, many years ago. I think of him often, and only hope they can find a cure someday!

Sophomore Quiet

Dowser 10 years ago

There appears to be a "cluster" of ALS patients in extreme western KY, and no one knows why... Environmental factors? Genetic factors? No one can venture an educated guess. But, I am so sorry to learn of your loss, and only hope that one day, there will be a cure for this horrible ailment!