BrainStorm’s core technology, NurOwn™, is based on the breakthrough scientific achievements of Professor Eldad Melamed, Head of Neurology, Rabin Medical Center, Tel Aviv University, and a member of the Scientific Committee of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, and Dr. Daniel Offen, Head of the Neuroscience Lab, Felsenstein Medical Research Center (FMRC) at Tel Aviv University.
NurOwn™ processes human mesenchymal stem cells, which are present in bone marrow and are capable of self-renewal as well as differentiation into many other tissues. The research team is among the first to have successfully achieved the in vitro differentiation of bone marrow cells (animal and human) into characteristic nerve-like cells capable of releasing dopamine and glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF). Dopamine cell damage and death is the hallmark of Parkinson’s Disease (PD). GDNF cells have been found to protect healthy dopamine-producing cells, as well as to repair degenerated cells, preventing the progression of Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. BrainStorm’s NurOwn™ therapy for PD replaces degenerated dopamine-producing nerve cells and strengthens them with GDNF.
The ability to differentiate GDNF-producing cells makes NurOwn™ technology highly attractive for treating ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, as well. NurOwn™ technology is patent pending worldwide.
NurOwn™’s Competitive Advantage
There are several companies—big pharma as well as young biotechs—developing therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. To date, conventional drugs have met with little success, due to negative side effects, resistance to therapeutic benefits over time and the ability to treat only the early symptoms of the disease. There is a host of young companies pursuing stem cell therapies, although none has been identified as pursuing a solution for Parkinson’s Disease with bone marrow-derived stem cells as its priority focus.
By choosing a technology platform based on autologous, bone marrow-derived stem cells, BrainStorm is able to overcome several factors inhibiting stem cell advancement and greatly shorten the expected time to market.
�� Free of embryonic or fetal stem cells - By avoiding the use of
embryonic or fetal stem cells, BrainStorm’s therapies are not subject
to the ethical and political controversy surrounding the use of these
specific cells.
�� Autologous bone marrow-derived stem cells - These stem cells offer
several important benefits:
o They can form many different cell types and are easily harvested.
o There is no risk of rejection as they are harvested from the patient.
o There is no known risk of tumor formation (as with embryonic or
fetal stem cells).
o They capitalize on the 40-year safety record of bone marrow
transplants.
�� Natural differentiation - Bone marrow-derived stem cells undergo,
when appropriately stimulated, natural differentiation into the desired
nerve cells. The NurOwn™ process is does not involve gene
manipulation - a therapeutic concept that has not been proven to be
commercially viable.
Overview
