Critical Knowledge About The Nervous System Uncovered By Rutgers Scientists
Medical News Today Wed, 07 Nov 2007 3:18 AM PST
Uncover the neural communication links involved in myelination, the process of protecting a nerve's axon, and it may become possible to reverse the breakdown of the nervous system's electrical transmissions in such disorders as multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, diabetes and cancers of the nervous system. [click link for full article]

Apitope vaccine stops MS in its tracks
OutSourcing-Pharma.com - London,UK
By Mike Nagle 06/11/2007 - UK biopharmaceutical firm Apitope has developed a vaccine that could halt multiple sclerosis in its relentless march to destroy ...
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Initiation of Enrollment in Pivotal Phase III Clinical Study of ...
Business Wire (press release) - San Francisco,CA,USA
"Previous Phase II studies have demonstrated positive results for laquinimod, and we hope that results from this pivotal Phase III trial will further ...
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WSP Group Buys UK's Process-engineering Group CEL International ...
RTT News - Williamsville,NY,USA
The company reported that the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of laquinimod will also be studied in an additional Phase III pivotal trial in RRMS, ...
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Biogen Idec's first round bids due next week with Pfizer ...
Financial Times - London,England,UK
It also has a pipeline of drugs still in clinical development, including two attractive late-stage MS drugs named daclizumab and BG-12. ...
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FOCUS Stem cell storage launch shows the industry is maturing
Thomson Investment Management News (subscription) - London,UK
... are another 850 ongoing trials to use stem cells to treat conditions like diabetes, Alzheimer's, Muscular Dystrophy, Multiple Sclerosis and stroke. ...
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Wed, 7 Nov, 13:50 GMT
Thomson Investment Management News

FOCUS Stem cell storage launch shows the industry is maturing

LONDON (Thomson IM) - Stem cell technology is set to bring a fundamental change to the way that many common diseases are treated, and yesterday's launch on AIM of Cryo-Save, a stem cell storage company, is a sign that the market is starting to reach maturity.

Stem cell therapy is being tested for big revenue conditions such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and strokes, and the listing shows that the stem cell treatment market is beginning to gain momentum.

This means that companies like Cryo-Save, which is seeing growth rates of 34 pct and predicts its market will double in the next year, will be needed to provide the cells required for treatment.

Marc Waeterschoot, chairman of Cryo-Save, a company that will remove and store a baby's umbilical stem cells for twenty years for about 1,500 eur, underlined that stem cell treatments are fast becoming a reality.

'It's not science fiction anymore, if you can treat heart disease, heart attacks or diabetes it's going to be a huge market,' he said.

'We're looking at curing disease rather than treating disease,' he added, explaining that previously people would have had to take medication on a permanent basis, and that stem cell treatments could change this.

The company estimated that the stem cell storage market could be worth up to 1 bln eur within ten years.

The market recently received a boost when the Spanish royal family said publicly that it had put the stem cells of its newborn child into storage.

Cryo-Save said its IPO was twice oversubscribed, giving it a market capitalisation of 101.17 mln stg, and in early trades yesterday the company's shares rose by almost 20 pence to 228 1/2 pence from the placing price of 210.

Chief executive Rob Koremans said before the launch: 'I believe stem cells are going to fundamentally change the way we look at medicines'.

'When I joined biotech in 1993, many of my friends didn't know what I was doing there,' he added, likening stem cell technology to biotechnology 10 to 15 years ago.

Cryo-Save specialises in stem cells derived from the umbilical cord, which according to some research have the ability to form bone, nerve and heart cells.

Embryonic stem cells have attracted fierce criticism from religious groups because they can be produced by therapeutic cloning, a process which involves transferring the nucleus of one stem cell to another, however Cryo-Save pointed out that most of the ongoing trials do not use this technology.

The UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority granted its first license for the therapeutic cloning of stem cells in 2004, a move which sparked outrage across the religious community.

When the stem cell cloning license was approved, the UK's Catholic Church said in a press statement: 'Therapeutic cloning creates a human life in exactly the same way as 'reproductive' cloning does. The only difference is that the embryo is intended not for birth but for laboratory destruction.'

UK company ReNeuron, that does not use the controversial human embryonic stem cells but uses somatic stem cells derived from the foetus, said last month that it will present positive pre-clinical data for its stem cell line REN005 to treat Huntington's disease, and the company is also developing treatments for conditions such as stroke, diabetes and Parkinson's disease.

Stem cells are widely seen as a possible bet for treatments for a range of debilitating illnesses, from brain diseases to muscle conditions.

There are around 80 medical problems that stem cells are currently used to treat, including leukaemia, but there are another 850 ongoing trials to use stem cells to treat conditions like diabetes, Alzheimer's, Muscular Dystrophy, Multiple Sclerosis and stroke.

Marita Pohlschmidt, director of research at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, said that the organisation was putting around a tenth of its 1.8 mln stg research budget into research on stem cells.

'The charity thinks it is a promising line to pursue, it's very important to invest research money into this question,' she said. However, she added that there was a long way to go until they find out the full potential of stem cell therapy for muscular dystrophy and allied diseases, conditions which affect around 30,000 people in the UK.

ben.deighton@thomson.com

Source:

Thomson Investment Management News

http://www.thomsonimnews.com/story.asp?sectioncode=3&storycode=31472
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Unique Database Mapping 'Expression' Of Genes In The Brain Could Lead To New, Targeted Treatments
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Over-The-Counter Pain Medications May Reduce Risk Of Parkinson's Disease
Over-the-counter pain medications known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may reduce a person's risk of Parkinson's disease, according to a study published in the November 6, 2007, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
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National MS Society : Research Bulletin: MS TRIAL ALERT:
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November 2, 2007

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/site/PageServer?pagename=HOM_RES_research_2007nov2