ReNeuron Group plc provided an update on progress with the PISCES clinical trial of its ReN001 stem cell therapy for disabled stroke patients. In this open label, dose-ranging Phase I safety study, taking place in Scotland, ReNeuron's ReN001 stem cell therapy is being administered in ascending doses to a total of 12 stroke patients who have been left disabled by an ischaemic stroke, the most common form of the condition. The company reported that the independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) for the study has reviewed the three month follow-up data on the penultimate dose cohort and has cleared the study to proceed to dosing of the final dose cohort of three patients.

Subsequently, and as planned, the first patient in this final dose cohort has been treated with ReN001 and discharged from hospital. The PISCES study continues to run to plan, with no cell-related adverse events reported in any of the patients treated to date. Subject to DSMB approval and as previously announced, the remaining two patients are scheduled to be treated in March of this year.

Last year, interim data from the first five patients treated in the PISCES study were presented by the Glasgow clinical team, with sustained reductions in neurological impairment and spasticity observed in all five patients compared with their stable pre-treatment baseline performance. Further and longer term data from the PISCES study are expected to be presented in scientific conference later this year.