New dawn for NeuroScientific with stem cell acquisition
Stem cell therapies have long promised to press the body's reset button - potentially reversing injuries and damage from disease, regenerating tissue and reshaping modern medicine. For ASX-listed NeuroScientific Biopharmaceuticals, that promise starts now thanks to its $5.1 million acquisition of unlisted Perth-based stem cell therapy company Isopogen.
The deal will hand NeuroScientific the keys to Isopogen's patented 'StemSmart' technology, which innovatively prepares a specific type of stem cell, mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), for use as an intravenous infusion. MSC are universal donor cells, meaning that there is no need for matching between a donor and recipient. They are effectively an 'off-the shelf' cell therapy.
Over the past 20 years, haematology medical scientist Dr Marian Sturm, NeuroScientific's incoming chief scientific officer, pioneered the development of MSCs in her former role as facility director of Royal Perth Hospital's Cell and Tissue Therapies centre.
The cells have so far been used in many patients, including as a last-line treatment for critically ill patients suffering severe immune complications from bone marrow transplantation and in kidney and lung transplant rejection, through early phase clinical trials and studies and on compassionate grounds, with promising results.
The MSC technology has also been employed to treat patients with severe Crohn's disease, an inflammatory autoimmune condition that affects the gut. The disease can develop into very difficult-to-manage and treat forms, including refractory Crohn's, in which patients experience persistent uncontrolled flare-ups, and fistulising Crohn's, in which patients develop an open wound from a gut flare-up out to the skin.
'NSB's acquisition of Isopogen will allow our StemSmart technology to be progressed for the benefit of vulnerable patients with limited treatment options.'
NeuroScientific Biopharmaceuticals incoming chairman Robert McKenzie
In a phase two trial targeting refractory Crohn's disease, a condition that no longer responds to standard treatments, of 18 patients treated with StemSmart MSC, 78 per cent of patients experienced clinical improvement and 44 per cent achieved full remission. That level of efficacy is considered impressive in the MSC field, particularly for refractory Crohn's.
With the global market for refractory Crohn's treatment alone estimated to be worth about US$7.5 billion, it's no wonder StemSmart's new owner quickly hailed the system as a potential game-changer.
StemSmart technology offers a step up from traditional MSC manufacturing in that the cells are grown in a special media, becoming activated in the process. The platform technology was developed at Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) and manufactured using RPH's processes.
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