PYM15 Oct 2009 11:53
Could hit 50p now...... 2nd stage successful
LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - British gene therapy specialist Oxford BioMedica said on Thursday patients had responded well to the second dose of its experimental Parkinson's disease drug, ProSavin, news that sent its shares sharply higher.
The firm released fresh data from its Phase I/II clinical trials with ProSavin, which had already produced encouraging initial results in July.
Thursday's data showed that all patients treated at the second dose level with ProSavin had shown further improvement in motor function after completing a six-month assessment.
The maximum improvement was 53 percent and the average was 34 percent relative to patients' pre-treatment motor function, the company said.
ProSavin, which is administered directly to the striatum in the brain, delivers three genes required to convert cells that normally do not produce dopamine into cells that do.