Stem Cells reports results of Neuralstem ALS Phase I trial

Mar 29 2012

Neuralstem, Inc. (NYSE Amex: CUR) announced that safety results from the first 12 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) to receive its stem cells were reported online in the peer-reviewed publication, Stem Cells, on March 13th. "Lumbar Intraspinal Injection of Neural Stem Cells in Patients with ALS: Results of a Phase I Trial in 12 Patients" reports that one patient has shown improvement in his clinical status, even though researchers caution that the study was not designed to show efficacy. Additionally, there was no evidence of accelerated disease progression due to the intervention in any of the 12 patients, who were followed from 6-18 months after they were transplanted with the cells. All of the patients, who received transplants in the lumbar (lower back) region, tolerated the treatment without any long-term complications related to either the surgery or the cells.

The 12 patients, part of the ongoing Phase I trial to evaluate the safety of Neuralstem's stem cells and transplantation procedure in patients with ALS, were the first in the world to receive intraspinal stem cell injections. Results from these patients were also were reported at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting last September.

Based on a positive safety assessment, the trial has now been approved by the FDA to progress to transplanting ALS patients in the cervical (upper back) region of the spine, where the goal is to protect the motor neurons which affect respiratory function, and possibly prolong life. The fourteenth patient was transplanted earlier this month. All patients were treated at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.

"For these first 12 patients, we have met the objective of the Phase I trial, demonstrating safety for both the procedure of intraspinal injection and the presence of the neural stem cells in the spinal cords of ALS patients," said Jonathan Glass, MD, lead author of the publication. "We are encouraged by these results and have now advanced our trial to injections into the cervical spinal cord, targeting the motor neurons that control respiratory function." Dr. Glass is Professor of Neurology and Pathology at Emory University School of Medicine, as well as the Director of the Emory ALS Center.

"This important peer-reviewed publication reinforces our belief that we have demonstrated a safe, reproducible and robust route of administration into the spine for these spinal cord neural stem cells," said Eva Feldman, MD, PhD, Director of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute and Director of Research of the ALS Clinic at the University of Michigan Health System. "The publication covers data up to 18 months out from the original surgery. However, we must be cautious in interpreting this data, as this trial was neither designed nor statistically powered to study efficacy." Dr. Feldman is senior author on the study, principal investigator (PI) of the ALS trial and serves as a consultant to Neuralstem as part of her University of Michigan activities.

"As this article points out, our experience in the lumbar spinal cord has been overwhelmingly positive," commented Karl Johe, PhD, study author and Neuralstem Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer. "We have already transplanted two patients in the cervical spinal cord, where we believe we can affect patients' lives the most by improving their breathing. We are in active discussions with the FDA to increase the number of cells and the number of injections as well."

"We wish to thank the teams at Michigan and Emory for the tireless efforts required to refine this breakthrough method of administration of our neural stem cells. We'd also like to thank the patients and families involved in the trial," said Richard Garr, Neuralstem CEO and President. "The progress we have made to date is both substantial, and a true team effort."