- Shares of StemCells (STEM +22.9%) jump on heavy volume in response to its announcement of positive interim results from the Phase 1/2 clinical trial of its HuCNS-SC human neural stem cell platform in dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), albeit on a small group of seven patients.
- The platform showed a 65% reduction in the rate of geographic atrophy (GA) in the study eye compared to the expected natural history of the disease and a 70% reduction in the rate of GA compared to the control eye. GA is the progressive loss of two retinal tissue layers (photoreceptors and retinal pigmented epithelium) that cause vision loss in dry AMD.
- The company expects to initiate a Phase 2 proof-of-concept study later this year.