Stem Cells Show More Paralysis Reversal Hope (STEM)
StemCells, Inc. (NASDAQ: STEM) is the talk of the town this morning after it showed published reports of a mice study using human neural stem cells reverse paralysis.
The publication of new preclinical data showed that the company’s proprietary human neural stem cells restored lost motor function in mice with chronic spinal cord injury. This is the first published study to show that human neural stem cells can restore mobility even when administered at time points beyond the acute phase of trauma.
The company suggests that the prospect of treating a much broader population of injured patients is now more than previously demonstrated. The paper was published yesterday in the international peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE, and is available online at http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0012272.
“Human Neural Stem Cells Differentiate and Promote Locomotor Recovery in an Early Chronic Spinal Cord Injury NOD-scid Mouse Model” was the name of the study and was led by Dr. Aileen Anderson of the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine.
StemCells’ human neural stem cells were transplanted into mice 30 days after a spinal cord injury that results in hind limb paralysis. The transplanted mice demonstrated a significant and persistent recovery of walking ability in two separate tests of motor function when compared to control groups.
The company further noted that these results are particularly significant because it is the first time that human neural stem cells have been shown to promote functional recovery in a chronic spinal cord injury setting, which is characterized as a point in time after injury in which inflammation has stabilized and behavioral recovery has reached a plateau. In humans, the chronic phase typically does not set in until several weeks or months following the injury.
In the pre-market trading at 8:00 AM EST, shares are up 18.5% at $1.03 versus a 52-week trading range of $0.84 to $1.79.
JON C. OGG
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