Clinical
Trial of
Bone Marrow-Derived Endothelial Progenitor Cells for
Cardiac Repair: Positive Initial Data
The global health and eco**mic impact of cardiovascular disease, specifically heart attacks, is tremendous. Patient prog**sis following a major heart attack, including progressive heart failure, repeat heart attacks, arrhythmias, and mortality, depends on the damage sustained to the heart. Cellular therapies that aim to
Repair damaged heart muscle have the potential to positively impact post-infarct
Clinical outcomes.
One of the most comprehensive phase II
Clinical trials of
Bone marrow cell therapy for
Cardiac Repair in the U.S. has shown positive initial data, specifically that intracoronary transplantation of a large number of
Bone Marrow-Derived Endothelial Progenitor Cells is beneficial to patient outcome. The study, led by Dr. Arshed Quyyumi of Emory University School of Medicine, in collaboration with
NeoStem Inc., a cellular therapeutics company, treated 161 heart attack patients from 60 sites with autologous
Bone marrow cells. The
Cells were extracted from the patients’ own
Bone marrow,
Endothelial progenitors were specifically targeted and selected, and this subset of
Cells was injected into the patients’ compromised hearts in order to ameliorate recovery.
The initial results of the
Trial show that patients who received higher doses of transplanted
Cells (up to 40 million), showed the greatest improvement in
Cardiac function and the greatest reduction in mortality, serious adverse events and major adverse
Cardiac events, up to 12 months following treatment. While it is too soon to draw conclusions regarding the mechanisms responsible for these improvements, researchers believe that the ability of
Endothelial Progenitor Cells to stimulate vascular healing and subsequent restoration of blood flow may play a role. Overall, the rigor of this study and the positive initial data are encouraging both as indicators of
Clinical relevance and as a model for assessing cell therapeutics.
Emory:
*In landmark study of cell therapy for heart attack, more cells make a difference
NeoStem:*
NeoStem An**unces Initial Positive Data from Phase 2 PreSERVE AMI Clinical Trial
