New stem cell-based treatment for Parkinson's disease enters clinical development

A new treatment that involves transplanting healthy nerve cells into the brains of patients with Parkinson’s disease is to begin clinical trials.

STEM-PD uses human embryonic stem cells that have been programmed to develop into dopamine nerve cells. The stem cells will be transplanted into the brains of Parkinson's disease patients to replace cells that are lost during the course of the disease.

STEM-PD has already been shown to be safe and effective at reverting motor deficits in animal models of Parkinson's disease.

'The use of stem cells will in theory enable us to make unlimited amounts of dopamine neurons and thus opens the prospect of producing this therapy to a wide patient population. This could transform the way we treat Parkinson's disease' said Professor Roger Barker from the University of Cambridge and clinical lead on the project.

The team, led from Lund University in Sweden, is soon to begin recruitment, with the trial a collaboration between Skåne University Hospital, the University of Cambridge, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and Imperial College London.

To find out more, read the press release from Lund University.