Placenta-derived stem cell treatment company Pluristem Therapeutics Ltd. (Nasdaq:PSTI; DAX: PJT) said today that it will continue a study of a potential treatment for radiation sickness.
Pluristem said it has signed a collaboration agreement with the Hadassah University Medical Center to continue a previously conducted animal study that indicates PLX cells are potentially effective in the treatment of radiation sickness.
Pluristem's preliminary study indicated that the administration of its placenta-derived PLX cells following radiation exposure resulted in a significant improvement in the repopulation of cells of the haematopoietic system within the animal's bone marrow.
Pluristem CEO Zami Aberman said, "We are excited to form a collaboration with Hadassah University Medical Center to further test the ability of our PLX cells to effectively treat radiation sickness. The data collected from our initial study holds great promise for both our company and the medical industry."
Additionally, Pluristem has found its PLX cells to be cytoprotective, which the company believes play a role in protecting bone marrow cells from the adverse effects of radiation exposure. Hadassah University Medical Center Head of Laboratory of Biotechnology and Radiobiology Prof. Raphael Gorodetsky said, "Exposure to high doses of ionizing radiation may be fatal, with no adequate efficient treatment, except for bone marrow transplantation in severe cases, which is a hazardous treatment by itself and in most cases is not easily available. Therefore, the convincing initial data from Pluristem's trial, using PLX cells to alleviate radiation damages, convinced us to move ahead with additional testing."
Pluristem shares closed at $2.95 yesterday, giving a market cap of $121.91 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 6, 2011
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