(Alliance News) - ReNeuron Group PLC on Monday said a trial of its CTX stem cell therapy candidate in stroke patients, which produced positive data, has been published in a peer reviewed journal.
Shares in ReNeuron, which has its headquarters in Bridgend, were up 3.5% at 150.00 pence in London in morning trade.
Data from Pisces II, a phase 2a trial of patients with significant disability as a result of a stroke, has been published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, & Psychiatry.
Pisces II was an open-label, single arm study of 23 patients with moderate to severe disability following an ischaemic stroke - the most common type of stroke, where a blood clot blocks blood flow to the brain.
Each patient was treated with one dose of 20 million CTX cells and "clinically meaningful improvements in disability scales were measured out to 12 months post-implantation".
The study found the most improvements in a group of 14 subjects who had residual movement of the affected arm. On the Modified Rankin Scale, which measures disability and dependence, 39% of the group had responded at six months after treatment, meaning they had improved by at least one point on the scale, while 50% responded at 12 months after treatment.
ReNeuron noted that: "A one-point improvement in mRS is proven to be clinically meaningful for patients, both in terms of quality of life and healthcare resources needed to care for them. For example, improving from mRS 3 to 2 means that a person with a stroke regains their ability to live independently; perhaps returning home from a care facility, or enabling a spouse or carer to return to work."
A larger study, Pisces III, is currently taking place. Pisces III is randomised and placebo-controlled and is intended "to show a significant difference in the proportion of patients with at least a one-point improvement on mRS in a group receiving CTX stem cells compared to a group receiving a sham-surgery procedure".
ReNeuron Chief Executive Olav Hellebo said: "We are delighted to see the positive results of the Pisces II clinical trial of our CTX cell therapy candidate for stroke disability published in this highly regarded peer-reviewed journal."
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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