ROCKVILLE, Md., March 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Neuralstem, Inc. today provided a financial and business update for the year ended December 31, 2009.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061221/DCTH007LOGO )
“2009 was a pivotal year for Neuralstem as we made the transition into a clinical stage company,” Neuralstem CEO and President, Richard Garr, stated. “The U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved the company’s clinical trial to treat ALS (Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease) in September. The trial was approved by the Emory University Institutional Review Board in December, 2009, and the first patient dosed in January 2010.”
Mr. Garr continued, “The company has also recently taken significant steps to strengthen our balance sheet. We have raised sufficient new capital to fund our research efforts through the first quarter 2011, and eliminated a large percent of certain long-term liabilities related to derivative accounting issues in warrants, which were exercised in the first quarter of 2010. “
Business Highlights for 2009 and the Subsequent Weeks:
Results of Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2009:
About Neuralstem, Inc.
Neuralstem’s patented technology enables, for the first time, the ability to produce neural stem cells of the human brain and spinal cord in commercial quantities, and the ability to control the differentiation of these cells into mature, physiologically relevant human neurons and glia. The Company is targeting major central nervous system diseases including: Ischemic Spastic Paraplegia, Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury, Huntington’s disease and ALS. Neuralstem’s IND is under review with the FDA for ALS. ALS is a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain, leading to the degeneration and death of the motor neurons in the spinal cord that control muscle movement. ALS affects roughly 30,000 people in the U.S., with about 7,000 new diagnoses per year. Pre-clinical work has shown Neuralstem’s cells to extend the life of rats with ALS (as reported the journal TRANSPLANTATION, in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University researchers), and also reversed paralysis in rats with Ischemic Spastic Paraplegia, (as reported in NEUROSCIENCE on June 29, 2007, in collaboration with researchers at University of California San Diego).
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Information
This news release may contain forward-looking statements made pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements in this press release regarding potential applications of Neuralstem’s technologies constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks inherent in the development and commercialization of potential products, uncertainty of clinical trial results or regulatory approvals or clearances, need for future capital, dependence upon collaborators and maintenance of our intellectual property rights. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward- looking statements. Additional information on potential factors that could affect our results and other risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in Neuralstem’s periodic reports, including the annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009.
CONTACT: Richard Garr, President, +1-301-366-4960, or John Conron, Chief
Financial Officer, +1-301-633-7709, or Meg McElroy, Shareholder Relations,
+1-301-366-4960, all of Neuralstem, Inc.; or Deanne Eagle of Planet
Communications, Media, +1-917-837-5866, for Neuralstem, Inc.
Web site: http://www.neuralstem.com/
