Historic Spinal Cord Stem Cell Treatment Is a Game Changer for Biotech
By Patrick Cox
The Keck Medical Center of USC recently released news about a patient who participated in a clinical trial of stem cells for treatment of complete cervical spinal cord injury...included is video of patient Kris Boesen.
Some theorized that Boesen’s spinal cord hadn’t been completely severed and thought he must have naturally recovered.
This FDA-approved clinical trial required that only patients with catastrophic spinal cord injury could participate. It could have been possible, though, that a single patient was misdiagnosed by the experienced and highly qualified clinical and surgical team.
All 8 patients in the trial show great improvement
Data has now been released about all eight clinical participants with catastrophic spinal cord injury. Boesen wasn’t an anomaly. His results weren’t even the most impressive. All eight attained benefits that are both spectacular and historic.
The first three patients, in fact, only received the same small number of stem cells used in earlier mouse studies. Yet, they have shown some improvement.
The other five quadriplegics received half the therapeutic dose. They have gained enough upper body movement to care for themselves in just three months (the trial’s FDA guidelines allow twelve months).
Read more: http://www.mauldineconomics.com/…/historic-spinal-cord-stem…
TV story: www.fox5atlanta.com/health/fox-medical-team/204002544-story
Read Full Press Release on Stem Cell Trial
About the SCiStar Trial
The SCiStar trial is an open-label, single-arm trial testing three sequential escalating doses of AST-OPC1 administered at up to 20 million AST-OPC1 cells in as many as 35 patients with sub-acute, C-5 to C-7, motor complete (AIS-A or AIS-B) cervical SCI. These individuals have essentially lost all movement below their injury site and experience severe paralysis of the upper and lower limbs. AIS-A patients have lost all motor and sensory function below their injury site, while AIS-B patients have lost all motor function but may retain some minimal sensory function below their injury site. AST-OPC1 is being administered 14 to 30 days post-injury. Patients will be followed by neurological exams and imaging procedures to assess the safety and activity of the product.
The study is being conducted at six centers in the U.S. and the company plans to increase this to 12 to accommodate the expanded patient enrollment...
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