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Biotech / Medical : Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
REGN 657.80+1.7%Nov 7 3:59 PM EST
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To: Patrick Slevin who wrote ()5/19/1997 10:09:00 PM
From: Mark Fisner   of 3557
 
Following the P&G news, I've been keeping tabs of this thread. I'm learning but really know diddly about this field; from what I gather, REGN is attempting to use growth factors such as BDNF to restore some lost function to Parkinson's and/or Alzheimer's patients. Growth factors appear to work well in a pitrie dish on cells or in little bitty mice, but the story in humans is less clear. Now I come across a thread started today for Diacrin Subject 15088 where direct injection with long lived pig cells (which are pretreated to become immune privileged) expressing the lost neurotransmitter is the treatment approach. Some level of FDA approval has already been given. Since neither approach addresses the root of the disease directly (am I wrong?), wouldn't Diacrin's approach be more straightforward and effective? Has BDNF or any other growth factor been shown to elevate neurotransmitter levels in diseased humans so as to produce real clinical effects? A relative of mine received l-dopa treatment for his Parkinson's with dramatic (but diminishing) effects; isn't it logical to expect cells that essentially replicate this treatment to be more effective than growth factors (which, I imagine, aid in the survival of a greatly diminished cell population)?

Please correct my faulty logic.

Mark
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