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Biotech / Medical : CRIS, Curis (formerly CBMI) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tom r. phillips who wrote (367)	3/10/2001 6:56:55 PM
From: tnsaf	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 668

Friday March 9, 8:47 am Eastern Time Press Release Transplanted Cells Shown to Improve Condition of Patients Suffering From Incontinence CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BW HealthWire)--March 9, 2001--Patients with stress urinary incontinence experienced significant improvement after receiving treatment with a cell transplant product under development by Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRIS - news), according to a pilot study published in Neurourology and Urodynamics (February 2001). The product, Chondrogel, is in Phase III clinical testing conducted by Curis to treat vesicoureteral reflux, a pediatric urological disorder. In the pilot study, Chondrogel, a cell-based, minimally invasive tissue augmentation product, was tested in 32 patients with stress urinary incontinence due to intrinsic sphincter deficiency (ISD). ISD is a severe sub-type of stress incontinence caused by an inherited or acquired deficiency in the urethral sphincter mechanism. The overall study results showed that a single endoscopic injection of Chondrogel was successful in over 80 percent of patients 12 months later, as measured by a battery of incontinence assessments. Success was measured as being dry or improved compared to pre-treatment. ``Tissue augmentation using transplanted autologous chondrocytes was shown to significantly decrease the severity of incontinence for patients in this study,'' said Alfred E. Bent, M.D., head, division of urogynecology/reconstructive pelvic surgery and chairman, department of gynecology at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, and principal investigator. ``It also appears that the material in this product resists degradation or migration, since the beneficial effects remain constant one year after injection. Adverse reactions were generally minor.'' ``Chondrogel is an excellent example of the use of tissue engineering to create regenerative therapies,'' said Doros Platika, M.D., Curis' president and chief executive officer. ``These results further validate the technology behind Curis' pipeline of potential products aimed at restoring the body's normal function and improving quality of life.'' Chondrogel is a living tissue product comprised of autologous cartilage cells taken from the patient's own ear, expanded in culture and injected into an area where structural deficiency may be corrected by tissue augmentation. ISD is frequently treated with collagen for bulking, but according to published reports this material is subject to degradation requiring repeated treatments. A more desirable implant would maintain volume over time, be non-migrating, accepted by the body and easily implantable.