Pluristem Therapeutics works to commercialize cellular biotherapies for the treatment of several degenerative, ischemic and autoimmune conditions. In a release that was largely overlooked last week, Pluristem conveyed the success of recent clinical trials, showing the pronounced effectiveness of its PLacental eXpanded (PLX) cells in treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Pluristem defines its PLX product as mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) that have been expanded using the company’s proprietary PluriX™ 3-D bioreactor. Basically, MSCs are undifferentiated, protoplasmic placental cells.
In the study, mice which were afflicted with IBD were administered PLX cells intrarectally, while a control group was treated with a saline solution. Pluristem’s treatment was shown to greatly reduce colon lesions associated with IBD in both macroscopic and microscopic evaluations, as compared to the control subjects.
Pluristem President and CEO, Zami Aberman stated: “This trial’s favorable results, which demonstrate our PLX cells’ ability to treat Inflammatory Bowel Disease, as well as our previous studies indicating their potential use to help Multiple Sclerosis patients, show the potential for our PLX cells to treat global autoimmune diseases. We believe that the unique capabilities of our PLX cells will lead to cooperative efforts between Pluristem and other significant players in the field of autoimmune diseases to benefit millions of patients.”
He continued, “As a cellular therapy, our PLX cells, that are derived from human placenta, a non-controversial, non-embryonic, adult stem cell source and are stored ready-to-use, could prove to be a readily available therapeutic alternative or addition for these disorders.”
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