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Brain stem cells trials successful

The world’s first clinical trial of brain stem cells to treat strokes has been deemed safe enough to continue on to further testing. The test subjects showed no adverse effects, an independent assessment concluded.

The trial is being led by Professor Keith Muir from Glasgow University, and three people have so far received very small doses of the stem cells in order to test the safety of the treatment.

Professor Muir told BBC News: “We need to be assured of safety before we can progress to trying to test the effects of this therapy. Because this is the first time this type of cell therapy has been used in humans, it's vitally important that we determine that it's safe to proceed - so at the present time we have the clearance to proceed to the next higher dose of cells.”

Over the next year, nine more people will be given progressively higher doses of the therapy, to continue to test its safety, before larger trials can evaluate its effectiveness as a treatment.

The trials are being carried out with Reneuron Group plc. Michael Hunt, its chief executive, said: “The earliest a treatment could be widely available if everything goes very well is five years. It is very much a case of so far, so good. It is still at a very early stage but we draw great comfort from these results.”

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