Re: NEWS ARTICLE: Nerve regrowth trials

[Guest guest]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the update. Yes, we will get closer and closer until they finally

hit the cure. I am encouraged... Thank the good Lord for the giving of His

wisdom. Take care.

God Bless

Yolanda

NEWS ARTICLE: Nerve regrowth trials

Oxford BioMedica Says It Will Start Nerve Repair

Therapy Trials Within a Year

British gene therapy company Oxford BioMedica said on

Monday it was on track to start clinical trials next

year of a novel therapy designed to restore nerve

function after spinal cord injuries.

It said early pre-clinical work in mice showed that

its Innurex product induced a high level of nerve

regrowth, indicating its potential to be a

first-in-class product for nerve repair.

Innurex uses a viral vector to carry the RAR B2 gene

to nerve cells at the injury site, causing them to

grow and forge new nerve connections.

Prof. Alan Kingsman, chief executive, said in a

statement that proof of principle had been established

in less than two years and the product was now " on

course for clinical development within the next 12

months " .

He told Reuters Health it would be administered to

patients who had just been injured after an accident

rather than to patients who had long been paralysed,

because old scars at the injury site may impede nerve

repair.

Kingsman said nerve regrowth in the animal experiments

was " an order of magnitude greater " with Innurex

compared with the results of other groups using other

nerve repair mechanisms.

The company acquired exclusive rights to the RAR B2

gene from King's College London where the initial

observation that this gene could programme nerve cells

to regrow in vitro was made.

Professor Malcolm Maden, head of the King's programme,

said: " The combination of the RAR B2 gene and the very

efficient LentiVector delivery system has produced a

high level of axon regrowth. There is every chance

that this is enough for restoration of function to

damaged nerves and the company should have functional

data shortly " .

The company, whose shares rose 5% after the

announcement, said the pre-clinical data were being

presented at a conference in California and would be

sent for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.