CALGARY, May 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp. (“SCT”) is pleased to announce that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted U.S. Patent 7,048,934 to the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Stem Cell Therapeutics Inc. The patent, entitled “Combined Regulation of Neural Cell Production”, protects novel methods of treating patients suffering from a variety of central nervous system (CNS) disorders including stroke, brain injury, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Huntington’s disease, and others. The combined regulation method of neural cell production taught in the patent has the potential to be a key technology, required for the successful development of stem cell based approaches for the treatment of many CNS diseases.
“I am greatly encouraged by the issuance of this patent, as it claims the concept of a combined approach to successful regeneration of brain tissue” said Dr. Joseph Tucker, President and CEO of Stem Cell Therapeutics. “The need to both increase the number of neural stem cells and induce their differentiation to appropriate cell types is likely to be a key step in a variety of stem cell based approaches to the treatment of neurological disorders”.
Exploiting the capacity of neural stem cells to regenerate lost or dysfunctional brain tissue is one of the most potent therapeutic strategies currently in clinical development. A significant challenge faced by developers of such clinical approaches is that a substantial expansion in stem cell number needs to occur that is coupled with a directed differentiation of those stem cells to appropriate cell types. In the absence of meeting both requirements, a stem cell based therapy may suffer from reduced effectiveness.
The new patent describes methods to enhance the formation of neuronal or glial precursor cells from neural stem cells. U.S. Patent 7,048,934 is the third patent to issue to Stem Cell Therapeutics from an intellectual property estate that includes more than 35 pending applications filed worldwide.
About Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp.: Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp. is a biotechnology company focused on the development of its technology platform and intellectual property to selectively induce a patient’s own stem cells to proliferate in the brain. SCT’s core technology, which includes its lead therapeutic product NTx(TM)-265, has been demonstrated to increase the number of innate adult stem cells that grow in place when this therapeutic approach is applied to test animals. SCT plans to develop this fundamental technology further for specific disease treatments such as stroke and potentially Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.
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Except for historical information, this press release may contain forward-looking statements, which reflect the Company’s current expectation regarding future events. These forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties, which may cause but are not limited to, changing market conditions, the successful and timely completion of clinical studies, the establishment of corporate alliances, the impact of competitive products and pricing, new product development, uncertainties related to the regulatory approval process and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company’s ongoing quarterly and annual reporting.
Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp.
CONTACT: For further information on Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp., visitwww.stemcellthera.com or contact: Dr. Joseph Tucker, Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp., Phone: (403) 245-5495,info@stemcellthera.com