SYDNEY & AUCKLAND, New Zealand--(BUSINESS WIRE)--81 weeks after treatment all four patients who took part in Living Cell Technologies Limited’s Phase I/IIa clinical study of NTCELL® for Parkinson’s disease show reversal of the progression of Parkinson’s disease as measured by globally accepted and validated Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS).
As the chart shows, after 81 weeks there is a clinically and statistically significant improvement in the patients’ neurological scores from their pre-implant baseline.
Parkinson’s disease progression is measured by a neurological rating scale, UPDRS. The UPDRS score increases by approximately 4 to 5 points each year as Parkinson’s disease progresses.
NTCELL’s ability to decrease UPDRS by an average of 14 points after 81 weeks is clinically significant, representing a 2.8 to 3.5 year reversal of neurological deterioration. In the first patient the improvement is sustained at 130 weeks after NTCELL implant.
All four patients remain well and there are no safety concerns.
This data will be presented at the 20th International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders in Berlin 19-23 June, by the Principal Investigator Dr Barry Snow, entitled “Safety and clinical effects of NTCELL® [immunoprotected (alginate-encapsulated) porcine choroid plexus cells for xenotransplantation] in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD): 81 to 130 weeks follow-up”.
Dr Ken Taylor, CEO of LCT, says the continued positive outcome of the study gives LCT confidence as the company looks forward to the results of the larger Phase IIb study initiated this year.
“This second study aims to confirm the most effective dose of NTCELL, define any placebo component of the response and further identify the initial target Parkinson’s disease patient sub group.
“Our goal, subject to continued satisfactory data, is to obtain provisional consent and launch NTCELL as the first disease modifying treatment for Parkinson’s disease in 2017,” says Dr Taylor.
For further information: www.lctglobal.com
