New details of a stem cell clinical trial for severe blood cancers have just been announced by biotechnology company ExCellThera. ExCellThera is a large company that specialises in bioengineering solutions to expand blood stem cells before transplantation.
The trial involved 25 patients who have severe blood cancer, with the final patient receiving their transfusion last week at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital in Montreal. Early results suggest that stem cells expanded using ECT-001 were effective and safe to use.
This research project was led by Dr. Sandra Cohen, a haematologist at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital. Dr. Cohen said that the research team was encouraged by the positive results that have been produced so far.
The researchers found that the majority of the 25 patients responded well to the stem cell transplant. There was a reduction in post-procedure complications including fever and graft-vs-host disease. The positive results could mean that patients would not have to stay in hospital as long after a stem cell transplant and could also avoid some nasty complications.
The patients involved in the trial will be observed for three years to ensure there are no unexpected complications at a later date.
ECT-100 is used to expand blood cells from umbilical cord blood — greatly increasing the number of stem cells that are available for the procedure. This is advantageous because many umbilical cord blood samples are quite small.
Umbilical cord blood stem cells have been proven to be tolerated better by patients when compared to other types of stem cells from adult donors. The main hurdle preventing doctors from using umbilical cord blood stem cells more often is the small sample size. ECT-100 overcomes that problem.
Dr. Guy Sauvageau, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of ExCellThera was very excited by the results, saying. “This is the best possible news for our work with ECT-001. Results from this trial are impressive and will enhance our knowledge about the cell types being expanded in these cultures, including immune cells that may have contributed to these remarkable outcomes. This will help us reach our goal of clinical approval for ECT-001 for the benefit of patients.”
Source: Final patient receives treatment in stem cell clinical trial for severe blood cancers
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