Pluristem Therapeutics and NYU Medical Center Partner to Study Use of PLX Cells in Treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcers
HAIFA, Israel, Mar 15, 2011 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- Pluristem Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:PSTI) (TASE:PLTR) and New York University (NYU) Medical Center today announced the formation of a partnership to study the use of Pluristem's proprietary placenta-derived PLX cells for the treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcers (DFU). Weiliam Chen, R.Ph. Ph.D., Director of the Tissue Engineering Research Laboratory, Department of Surgery at NYU's Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Wound Healing Center, will be the principal investigator (PI) of these pre-clinical studies, which are the first step towards a future potential Phase II clinical study for treatment of DFU.
An in vitro and a series of animal models will be used to evaluate the role PLX cells have in healing DFU. Through a novel academic-industrial collaborative research paradigm, these trials, with proposed support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will be used as a bridge towards the potential treatment of patients with diabetic foot ulcers.
"Diabetes affects over 170 million people worldwide and more than 20 million Americans with the prevalence expected to double by 2030. Chronic diabetic foot ulcers are the leading cause of lower extremity amputations," said Dr. Chen. "No new therapy for diabetic chronic wounds has been introduced into clinical use since 1998 and there is a critical unmet need for innovative therapies able to accelerate DFU healing, prevent amputation and reduce associated morbidity and mortality."
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that approximately 12% of patients afflicted with diabetes develop a foot ulcer. This translates into approximately 2.5 million patients with foot ulcers in the U.S. alone.
"This partnership with Pluristem is important to developing an innovative advanced cellular therapy," added Dr. Chen. "Many diabetic patients have advanced atherosclerosis and have lower extremity vascular insufficiencies. Pluristem's PLX cells can stimulate angiogenesis, which is highly advantageous in treating diabetic chronic wounds. Besides, the PLX cells can directly address cellular impairment in diabetic wounds leading to tissue regeneration in the wound beds."
"We are very proud to be working with a world-renowned expert such as Dr. Chen and partnering with the NYU Medical Center in using PLX cells for the potential treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcers," said Zami Aberman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pluristem. "Our PLX-PAD cells have been shown to be safe and potentially effective and to improve the quality of life in patients with Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), some of whom had suffered from ulcers. We are, therefore, excited about testing the PLX cells' effectiveness in treating DFU."
About the Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Wound Healing Center at NYUMC
The Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Wound Healing Center's mission is to eliminate limb loss in patients with lower extremity wounds and rapidly treat pressure ulcers before non-healing and complications ensue. The Kimmel program is unique in that it has members of eight departments available or involved in the care of each wound patient personified by the contributions from NYU faculty in the departments of Orthopedic Surgery, Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Plastic Surgery, Psychiatry, Dermatology, Anesthesia and Physiatry.
The Kimmel Center treats the elderly, disabled and those with diabetes who suffer with wounds in a personal and caring environment that involves patients and their families at every level of care. Under the Kimmel Centre's innovative, comprehensive, and compassionate care system, healing is not just an outcome, it's the expectation. This philosophy that every wound can heal is predicated on 29 years of study on the cellular basis of healing -- from the clinic to the operating room to the research laboratories. |
