Brainstorm's cell therapy succeeds in ALS mid-stage study

[July 19, 2016]  (Reuters) - Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics Inc said its experimental cell therapy was safe and well tolerated in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurological disorder, in a mid-stage study.

The New Jersey-based company's shares were up 7 percent at $3.21 in premarket trading on Monday.

ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, is an invariably fatal neurological disorder that affects the nerve cells responsible for controlling voluntary muscles.

The drug, NurOwn, also showed a clinically meaningful benefit in terms of disease progression compared with a placebo, the drug developer said on Monday.

About 6,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with ALS every year and as many as 20,000 Americans have the disease at any given time, according to the ALS Association.

(Reporting by Dipika Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey)

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