Stemedica Cell Technologies Inc., a leader in adult allogeneic stem cell manufacturing, research and development, announced  that its specially formulated ischemic adult allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells have been successfully used to treat the first patient in an ischemic stroke study conducted at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). A total of 35 patients will be enrolled in the clinical trial entitled: “A Phase I/II, Multi-Centre, Open-Label Study to Assess the Safety, Tolerability and Preliminary Efficacy of a Single Intravenous Dose of Allogeneic Mesenchymal Bone Marrow Cells to Subjects with Ischemic Stroke.”

The goal of this study, led by principle investigator Michael Levy, MD, PhD, FACS, chief of paediatric neurosurgery at Children's Hospital San Diego (CHSD) and professor of neurological surgery at UCSD, is to determine tolerance and therapeutic outcomes for intravenously-delivered adult allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells and to hopefully pave the way for a new therapeutic category of treatment for ischemic stroke. When asked about the first patient in the study, Dr Levy said, “The treatment went smoothly; no side effects were observed and the patient was released from the hospital the next day.”

“This clinical trial marks a significant achievement in the treatment of debilitating ischemia-related pathologies including ischemic stroke,” said Nikolai Tankovich, MD, PhD, president and chief medical officer of Stemedica. “We believe these specially designed mesenchymal stem cells are able to tolerate, survive and repair ischemic tissues caused by an infarction of the brain, heart, kidney, retina and other organs. In addition, these mesenchymal stem cells are capable of up regulating an array of important genes that are essential for the synthesis of critical proteins involved in recovery.”

Lev Verkh, PhD, Stemedica’s chief regulatory and clinical development officer, commented: “Many years of research and hard work by the Stemedica team culminated today in the treatment of the first patient using our uniquely designed stem cells to be effective under ischemic condition. We are proud to be the first company to initiate a study such as this under a clinical protocol approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).”

Dr Verkh continued, “Patients in this study have significant functional or neurologic impairment that confines them to a wheelchair or requires home nursing care or assistance with the general activities of daily living and have received the ischemic stroke diagnosis at least six months prior to enrollment in this study.”

More than 800,000 Americans suffer a stroke annually and according to the American Heart Association, stroke is the fourth leading cause of death - costing an estimated $73.7 billion in 2010 for stroke-related medical costs and disability.

Stemedica Cell Technologies, Inc. is a specialty bio-pharmaceutical company that is committed to the manufacturing and development of best-in-class allogeneic adult stem cells and stem cell factors for use by approved research institutions and hospitals for pre-clinical and clinical (human) trials.