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 The therapy, AST OPC-1, is the first product derived from human
embryos to be tested on humans.
Its success is a key step toward proving that embryonic stem cell
research could cure diseases such as cancer, Parkinson's and serious
health conditions such immune deficiencies, stroke and spinal
injuries.
Data showed that the severity of the spinal injury was reduced in
the first patient and two other patients were able to resume their
rehabilitation programs soon after being injected with the stem
cells.
The early study tested the benefits of a smaller dose of 2 million
stem cells that are tuned to develop into nerves.
Asterias bought OPC-1 in 2013 from the erstwhile stem cell research
leader Geron Corp, which decided to focus on developing cancer
drugs.
Geron chose to abandon its stem cell therapy in 2011 after such
research got embroiled in the abortion debate, prompting many
biotech companies to stay quiet about their research.
Monday's announcement was the first about the therapy in more than
two years.
In an early-stage study conducted by Geron, the therapy showed
potential in repairing spinal injury in four of the five patients
tested, without any adverse events.
Asterias is looking to show recovery of mobility in four out of
every 10 patients treated with OPC-1, compared with two out of 10
achieving the same level of improvement without any treatment, Chief
Executive Pedro Lichtinger told Reuters in early August.
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Asterias expects to release complete safety data from the first half
of the study later in the year.
Lichtinger said he was confident the data would be positive but was
not expecting miracles.
"It is important to know that we do not expect patients to get up
and play basketball," he said. "But we do expect the patients to
have significant improvements in mobility."
(Reporting by Vidya L Nathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj
Kalluvila)
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