MARLBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (“ACT”; OTCBB: ACTC), a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, announced today that the Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), an independent group of medical experts closely monitoring the Company’s three ongoing clinical trials, have recently authorized the Company to move forward with enrollment and treatment of additional patients with Stargardt’s disease (SMD). In the U.S. SMD trial, ACT will screen and enroll patients for the second cohort, who, in keeping with trial protocol, will be injected with 100,000 retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells - as compared with the 50,000 cell dose used in the patients of the first cohort. The Company has also been approved to treat the final two patients to round out the initial dosing arm in its European trial. The use of pluripotent stem cells to derive RPE cells, and the use of the resulting RPE cells for treating a wide range of macular degenerative disorders, are covered by a robust patent portfolio owned by ACT, including a number of issued broad patents in key world markets.
