StemCells (STEM) Begins Recruitment for HuCNS-SC Phase I

November 23, 2009 9:30 AM EST

StemCells, Inc. (NASDAQ: STEM) announced today that it has commenced patient recruitment for a Phase I clinical trial designed to test the safety and preliminary efficacy of its HuCNS-SC purified human neural stem cells in Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease (PMD), a neurological disorder that primarily afflicts children. The study is being conducted at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Children's Hospital, one of the leading medical centers in the United States for neonatology, pediatric neurology and neurosurgery.

PMD results from a defective gene and is characterized by a lack of myelin, a substance that surrounds and insulates nerve cells' communications fibers. These fibers function much like electrical wires, and without sufficient myelination are unable to properly transmit nerve impulses, leading to the loss of neurological function and eventually death in the most severe forms of PMD. Currently, there are no effective treatment options for patients with PMD.

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