Israeli Therapy Uses Adult Stem Cells to Treat Parkinson’s Disease
Israel Line – Monday, March 28, 2005
Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics has developed a novel stem cell therapy to treat Parkinson’s Disease – using a patient’s own bone marrow stem cells to produce the missing chemical that enables restoration of motor movement, ISRAEL21C reported. The process – which successfully alleviated symptoms of Parkinson’s in rats – will be tested on monkeys next year, with human clinical trials scheduled for the following year.
The Tel Aviv-based BrainStorm uses adult stem cells to repair neurological damage. Developed at Tel Aviv University, the company’s propriety technology – NurOwn – has been proven capable of generating neuron-like cells derived from human bone marrow. The cells produce dopamine which can them be implanted into the PD patients. . . .
. . . “The breakthrough here is that, first of all, our source material is bone marrow. Second, they showed not only neuronal markers and electro-physical functions, but the in-vitro expression and release of dopamine,” BrainStorm’s President and CEO, Dr Yaffa Beck said.