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PLX–STROKE for Ischemic Stroke
Pluristem,
through collaborators at the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Biology,
Leipzig, Germany, has completed a proof of principle study to support the
eventual initiation of clinical trials with PLX-STROKE for the indication of
functionally improving the neurological impairments of ischemic stroke.
Stroke
causes 9% of all deaths around the world. The proportion of deaths caused by
stroke is 10–12% in western countries, and 12% of these deaths are in people
less than 65 years of age. However, because of the burgeoning elderly
population in western societies, the estimation is that by 2030 stroke-related
disability in western societies will be ranked as the fourth most important
cause of disability-adjusted life-years.
The Market for PLX-STROKE
Worldwide,
stroke consumes about 2–4% of total health-care costs, and in industrialized
countries stroke accounts for more than 4% of direct health-care costs. The
total costs to the US society have been estimated at approximately $41 billion
using 1997 prices which represents about $100 per head of population per year.
Pluristem’s Proof-of-Concept Trial
Pluristem employed
spontaneously hypertensive male rats, suffering from hypercholesterolemia and
diabetes for their proof-of-concept model. Experimental brain ischemia was
induced via occlusion of the middle cerebral artery, a major artery taking blood
into the brain. This was followed by the intravenous injection of with PLX-STROKE
or saline solution which served as a control. Experimental groups treated with
PLX-STROKE showed a significant reduction in the functional deficiencies caused
by the inducement of the stroke as recorded by walking on a beam. Additionally,
a Modified Neurological Severity Score (mNSS) conducted on animals treated with
PLX-STROKE showed superiority compared to the control group.
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