SAN DIEGO, CA, Sep 28, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Medistem Inc. (pinksheets:MEDS) announced today that its Chief Executive Officer, Thomas Ichim, will be giving an academic lecture at the Providence Multiple Sclerosis Center, in Portland, Oregon on Sept 28th, entitled “Stem Cell Transplants for Multiple Sclerosis: Time to Focus on the Mesenchymals?”
“We have previously published promising results in the area of adult stem cell therapy for treatment of multiple sclerosis,” said Dr. Sergey Sablin, Vice President of Medistem. “The Endometrial Regenerative Cell product is conceptually appealing for treatment of this condition given that these stem cells have the triad of abilities to: a) modulate the immune system and thus potentially inhibit the autoimmune attack; b) differentiate into neuronal cells and thus possibly repair the damage that has been done; and c) produce growth/trophic factors, which would enhance the natural ability of the nervous tissue to heal itself. Some of these data have already been published in the peer-reviewed paper describing the first use of ERC in humans in the Journal of Translational Medicine (link to publication http://www.translational-medicine.com/content/pdf/1479-5876-7-15.pdf ).”
Multiple sclerosis is a condition affecting more than 400,000 patients in North America and 2.4 million worldwide. The Providence Multiple Sclerosis Center is a premier facility in Oregon and Southwest Washington for treating this patient population. Dr. Stanley Cohan, Director of the Center, has been involved in developing numerous drugs for multiple sclerosis including Interferon Beta-1a (Avonex) and Natalizumab (Tysabri), which are currently used by MS patients world-wide.
“Currently, Medistem is exploring more aggressive investigations in applying the ERC stem cell in the field of multiple sclerosis. We are very interested in learning from the experts at the Providence Multiple Sclerosis Center clinical aspects of developing protocols for this condition,” said Thomas Ichim, CEO of Medistem.
Medistem’s lead product, the Endometrial Regenerative Cell (ERC), is a type of mesenchymal stem cell that has recently been cleared by the FDA to begin a dose escalating Phase I clinical trial in patients with critical limb ischemia. The company is currently investigating other conditions in which these cells may be therapeutically beneficial.