Rockville, Md.-based medical device company Neuralstem recently received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to advance its trial to treat patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in the cervical as well as the lumbar spine, according to a Neuralstem news release.
Patients had been receiving the company's injections of neural stem cells in the lumbar spine, and the positive results prompted the FDA to approve the injections for the cervical spine as well during the trial. The company hopes to slow, stabilize or reverse functional deficits to the central nervous system related to ALS.
Thus far, 12 patients have been treated in the trial with no signs of major complications or evidence of accelerating the disease following the injections.
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Thus far, 12 patients have been treated in the trial with no signs of major complications or evidence of accelerating the disease following the injections.
Related Articles on Spine Surgery:
Frazier Rehab Institute, University of Louisville Receive $2.2M Grant to Study Spinal Cord Injuries
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A New Hope for Treating Spinal Cord Injury: 5 Points on InVivo Therapeutics' Technology