StemCells, which develops cell-based therapeutics and tools for use in stem cell-based research and drug discovery, has announced that Health Canada has authorised it to expand its Phase I/II clinical trial for chronic spinal cord injury, which is currently being researched at Zurich, into Canada.
According to a company press release, the trial is being performed to evaluate the safety and preliminary efficacy of the company’s proprietary HuCNS-SC product candidate. Upon the authorisation from Health Canada, StemCells is working to open one or more trial sites in Canada and begin screening patients.
The trial is open to patients in Europe and North America with a complete or incomplete injury classified according to the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale.
Stephen Huhn, Vice President and Head of the CNS Program at StemCells said, “One of the patients in our trial is a Canadian and he endured some challenging logistics to get to and from Switzerland. The addition of sites located in North America will significantly ease the burden on Canada- and US-based patients and their families who may wish to participate in our trial.”
