UK's ReNeuron sees shares rocket 60% as it announces first patient treated in landmark stroke stem cell clinical trial

UK-based ReNeuron (LSE: RENE) saw its shares leap 60% to 7.75 pence on the back of an announcement that the first patient has been treated with the company’s ReN001 stem cell therapy for stroke in a ground-breaking UK clinical trial.

The PISCES study (Pilot Investigation of Stem Cells in Stroke) is the world’s first fully regulated clinical trial of a neural stem cell therapy for disabled stroke patients. ReNeuron is the first company to have received regulatory approval for any stem cell-based clinical trial in the UK. Stroke is the third largest cause of death and the single largest cause of adult disability in the developed world.

The first patient in the PISCES trial was treated at the Institute of Neurological Sciences, Southern General Hospital, Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board and was safely discharged two days after the straightforward neuro-surgical procedure used to administer the ReN001 cells. In this Phase I trial, ReNeuron’s ReN001 stem cell therapy is being administered to stroke patients who have been left disabled by an ischemic stroke, the most common form of the condition. The Principal Investigator for the trial is Keith Muir, SINAPSE Professor of Clinical Imaging, Division of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Glasgow.