Early stem cell findings boost ReNeuron’s shares

SHARES in life sciences outfit ReNeuron surged by up to 20 per cent yesterday after the firm unveiled “intriguing” early results from its stem cell trial in stroke patients at Glasgow’s Southern General Hospital.

The company is injecting stem cells – which have the potential to develop into any other type of cell in the human body – into patients’ heads to try and repair their brains.

Initially, the first phase of the “Pisces” clinical trial is designed to test whether the treatment is safe for use. Yet improvements were measured in the brain and motor functions of the first five patients to be given the experimental treatment.

Michael Hunt, chief executive at ReNeuron, said: “The Pisces clinical trial is primarily a safety study and we must therefore treat any of the observed early indications of functional benefit of our stroke treatment with considerable caution. That said, we remain encouraged by the results seen in the study to date.”

Keith Muir, professor of clinical imaging at Glasgow University and principal investigator of the Pisces study, said: “We remain pleased and encouraged by the data emerging from the study to date. The preliminary signals of potential functional benefit, whilst intriguing, will require further investigation in a suitably-designed study.”

Shares later pulled back, closing down 0.06p at 3.59p.