BrainStorm expands R&D program into stroke

BrainStorm, which focuses on treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, has previously demonstrated that its bone marrow stem cell technology can successfully differentiate adult stem cells into astrocyte-like cells with the capacity to produce and secrete a large variety of neurotrophic factors.

Preclinical studies have shown that transplanting the astrocyte-like cells into animal models of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, resulted in a significant therapeutic improvement.

“We believe that our technology can play an important role in combating the effects of stroke, which is the most common life-threatening neurological disease,” said BrainStorm’s COO & principal executive officer, Yoram Drucker. “Addressing this major unmet medical need represents a further leveraging of our core technology, which has already shown much promise with successful preclinical studies in animal models with Parkinson’s.”

The first efficacy animal studies in the new stroke indication are expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2006. The expansion into stroke could represent the first of a number of new indications as, although BrainStorm’s initial focus is on Parkinson’s disease, its technology has promise for treating several other diseases, including multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Huntington’s disease.