Monthly Archives: February 2012

To: HEALTH AND MEDICAL EDITORS 7,000 Different Rare Diseases and Disorders Comprise 65 Page RARE List(TM), 95% of the Medical Conditions Included on RARE List(TM) Have No FDA Approved Treatments DANA POINT, Calif., Feb. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The R.A.R.E. Project (http://RAREproject.org), a leading patient advocacy organization representing the rare disease community, today issued the RARE List(TM), a stunning 65 page alphabetical listing of roughly 7,000 known rare diseases and disorders. The rare diseases and disorders that comprise the RARE List(TM) impact 30 million Americans (or 10% of the U.S. population) and an estimated 350 million people worldwide. The RARE List(TM) was released by the R.A.R.E. Project as part of month long public awareness campaign leading up to World Rare Disease Day on February 29, 2012. In 1983, the U.S. Orphan Drug Act legislation was passed in an attempt to encourage pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs for rare diseases that have a small market. However, during its first 25 years in existence, only 326 drugs were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for all 7,000 rare disease and disorders on the RARE List(TM). Today, a shocking 95 percent of the medical conditions on the RARE List(TM) do … Continue reading →

NEW YORK & PETACH TIKVAH, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. (OTCBB: BCLI.OB - News), a leading developer of adult stem cell technologies and therapeutics, announced today that the prestigious Experimental Neurology Journal, published an article indicating that preclinical studies using cells that underwent treatment with Brainstorm’s NurOwn™ technology show promise in an animal model of Huntington’s disease. The article was published by leading scientists including Professor Melamed and Professor Offen of the Tel Aviv University. In these studies, bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells secreting neurotrophic factors (MSC-NTF), from patients with Huntington’s disease, were transplanted into the animal model of this disease and showed therapeutic improvement. “The findings from this study demonstrate that stem cells derived from patients with a neurodegenerative disease, which are processed using BrainStorm’s NurOwn™ technology, may alleviate neurotoxic signs, in a similar way to cells derived from healthy donors. This is an important development for the company, as it confirms that autologous transplantation may be beneficial for such additional therapeutic indications,” said Dr. Adrian Harel, BrainStorm’s CEO. "These findings provide support once again that BrainStorm’s MSC-NTF secreting cells have the potential to become a platform that in the future will provide treatment for various neuro-degenerative … Continue reading →

By Maureen Salamon HealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Treating stroke patients with stem cells taken from their own bone marrow appears to safely help them regain some of their lost abilities, two small new studies suggest. Indian researchers observed mixed results in the extent of stroke patients' improvements, with one study showing marked gains in daily activities, such as feeding, dressing and movement, and the other study noting these improvements to be statistically insignificant. But patients seemed to safely tolerate the treatments in both experiments with no ill effects, study authors said. "The results are encouraging to know but we need a larger, randomized study for more definitive conclusions," said Dr. Rohit Bhatia, a professor of neurology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, and author of one of the studies. "Many questions -- like timing of transplantation, type of cells, mode of transplantation, dosage [and] long-term safety -- need answers before it can be taken from bench to bedside." The studies are scheduled to be presented Wednesday and Thursday at the American Stroke Association's annual meeting in New Orleans. Stem cells -- unspecialized cells from bone marrow, umbilical cord blood or human … Continue reading →

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Treating stroke patients with stem cells taken from their own bone marrow appears to safely help them regain some of their lost abilities, two small new studies suggest. Indian researchers observed mixed results in the extent of stroke patients' improvements, with one study showing marked gains in daily activities, such as feeding, dressing and movement, and the other study noting these improvements to be statistically insignificant. But patients seemed to safely tolerate the treatments in both experiments with no ill effects, study authors said. "The results are encouraging to know but we need a larger, randomized study for more definitive conclusions," said Dr. Rohit Bhatia, a professor of neurology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, and author of one of the studies. "Many questions -- like timing of transplantation, type of cells, mode of transplantation, dosage [and] long-term safety -- need answers before it can be taken from bench to bedside." The studies are scheduled to be presented Wednesday and Thursday at the American Stroke Association's annual meeting in New Orleans. Stem cells -- unspecialized cells from bone marrow, umbilical cord blood or human embryos that can change into … Continue reading →