ReNeuron says first patient treated using higher dose of stem cell therapy

A stroke patient has been discharged from hospital after being treated with a higher dose of ReNeuron’s (LON:RENE) revolutionary stem cell therapy ReN001, it was revealed today.

The company said the remainder of this dose group, known as a cohort, will be treated by the end of the year as part of the pilot investigation of stem cells in stroke, known as the PISCES study for short.

In all 12 patients will be treated with varying doses of ReN001 as part of this early stage trial being carried out in Scotland at the Institute of Neurological Sciences.

The first dose cohort of three patients was treated without any side-effects or safety issues.

The development of stem cells in order to treat diseases is significant because of their ability to both renew themselves and create new cells of other kinds of tissues. 

So, while bone marrow transplants are already used to treat leukaemia, other stem cell therapies may one day be used to treat a wide range of diseases, including cancer and multiple sclerosis.

Despite this, stem cells have proved a highly controversial issue, mainly in relation to those garnered from embryos. 

However, ReNeuron itself derives stem cell products from non-embryonic human tissue sources.

The company’s main area of activity is its stem cell therapy for disabled stroke patients, which is called ReN001. 

Stroke is the third-largest cause of death and the single largest cause of adult disability in the developed world.

The ReN001 therapy is based around ReNeuron’s lead neural stem cell line, designated CTX by virtue of its origin from the cortex region of the brain. 

The firm’s other stem cell therapies include ReN009, targeted at peripheral arterial disease (PAD), and ReN003, its therapy programme focused on diseases of the retina.

PAD is a chronic, debilitating disease that progressively restricts blood flow in the limbs, causing cramping and chronic pain, and in rare cases it can lead to the loss of a limb. 

During the past year, ReNeuron’s collaborators on its ReN009 programme at the Bristol Heart Institute have presented positive pre-clinical efficacy data.

It is continuing to collaborate with the Schepens Eye Research Institute at Havard Medical School on its ReN003 programme. 

Last December ReNeuron successfully raised £10 million via an oversubscribed share placing which should be sufficient to support current operations into 2012.  

According to Daniel Stewart the current share price of 4.3 pence, down around 30 per cent in the year to date, seriously under-estimates the potential of ReNeuron’s cutting edge technology. 

Setting a 13 pence price target, analyst Vadim Alexandre said recently: “We believe that ReNeuron is materially undervalued given the significant commercial momentum building within the regenerative medicine sector.”