Second Patient with Parkinson's Disease Treated in Phase I Clinical Trial

International Stem Cell Corporation Announces Second Patient with Parkinson's Disease Treated in Phase I Clinical Trial

International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO), a California-based clinical stage biotechnology company developing stem cell-based therapies and biomedical products, today announced the treatment of the second patient in the Australian trial for Parkinson`s Disease. The patient was injected with 30,000,000 ISC-hpNSC® cells and is currently recovering.

The surgery was performed on Sunday, December 4, at the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH), the same site as the first treatment. The operation was successfully performed without complications by the team of the RMH neurosurgeons.

"We are very encouraged by how the clinical trial is moving ahead," commented Russell Kern, PhD, executive vice president and chief scientific officer of ISCO. "The second operation was delayed by a supply chain disruption of equipment critical to the operation, but we have managed to fix the issue and bring the clinical trial back on track. In addition, we have identified patients to be enrolled in the trial and are working to get them treated in 2017."

About the clinical study
The Phase I clinical study is a dose escalation safety and preliminary efficacy study of ISC-hpNSC®, intracranially transplanted into patients with moderate to severe Parkinson`s disease. The open-label, single center, uncontrolled clinical trial will evaluate three different dose regimens of 30,000,000 to 70,000,000 neural cells. A total of 12 participants with moderate to severe Parkinson`s disease will be treated. Following transplantation, the patients will be monitored for 12 months at specified intervals, to evaluate the safety and biologic activity of ISC-hpNSC®. PET scan will be performed at baseline, as part of the screening assessment, and at 6 and 12 months after surgical intervention. Clinical responses compared to baseline after the administration of ISC-hpNSC® will be evaluated using various neurological assessments such as Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Hoehn and Yahr and other rating scales.

About Parkinson`s disease
Parkinson`s disease (PD) is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system mainly affecting the motor system. The motor symptoms of Parkinson`s disease result from the death of dopamine-generating cells in the substantia nigra, a region of the midbrain. Early in the course of the disease, the most obvious symptoms are movement-related; these symptoms include shaking, rigidity, slowness of movement and difficulty with walking and gait. Later, thinking and behavioral problems may arise, with dementia commonly occurring in the advanced stages of the disease, and depression is the most common psychiatric symptom. Parkinson`s disease is more common in older people, with most cases occurring after the age of 50.

Currently, medications typically used in the treatment of Parkinson`s, L-DOPA and dopamine agonists, improve the early symptoms of the disease. As the disease progresses and dopaminergic neurons continue to be lost, the drugs eventually become ineffective while at the same time frequently producing a complication marked by involuntary writhing movements. In 2013 PD resulted in about 103,000 deaths globally, up from 44,000 deaths in 1990.

About ISC-hpNSC®
International Stem Cell Corporation`s proprietary ISC-hpNSC® consists of a highly pure population of neural stem cells derived from human parthenogenetic stem cells. ISC-hpNSC® is a suspension of clinical grade cells manufactured under cGMP conditions that have undergone stringent quality control measures and are clear of any microbial and viral contaminants. Preclinical studies in rodents and non-human primates have shown improvement in Parkinson`s disease symptoms and increase in brain dopamine levels following the intracranial administration of ISC-hpNSC®. ISC-hpNSC® provides neurotrophic support and cell replacement to the dying dopaminergic neurons of the recipient PD brain. Additionally, ISC-hpNSC® is safe, well tolerated and does not cause adverse events such as dyskinesia, systemic toxicity or tumors in preclinical models. International Stem Cell Corporation believes that ISC-hpNSC® may have broad therapeutic applications for many neurological diseases affecting the brain, the spinal cord and the eye.

Source : yahoo.com