StemCells has reported that it will soon initiate, along with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Children’s Hospital, a phase I clinical trial to evaluate the therapeutic potential of StemCells’ proprietary HuCNS-SC product candidate (purified human neural stem cells) to treat Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease (PMD).
Reportedly, in the trial, patients with a fatal form of PMD will be transplanted with the company’s HuCNS-SC cells to evaluate safety and to explore the ability of the cells to myelinate the patients’ nerve axons.
Martin McGlynn, president and CEO of StemCells, said: “There is a compelling rationale for this trial, and it is a critical first step towards potentially helping seriously ill children who today have no treatment options, as this trial may provide proof-of-concept regarding the extent of myelination in these patients following transplantation of HuCNS-SC cells.”