Durham, NC -- December 11, 2006 Aldagen, Inc. today announced the presentation of data from a clinical trial using its ALDESORT product to isolate stem cells from cord blood. The trial is being conducted by Joanne Kurtzberg, MD, the Duke University physician who pioneered the use of umbilical cord blood as a treatment for fatal childhood cancers and genetic diseases in 1993. Dr. Kurtzberg presented positive interim results of the study at the 48th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in Orlando, Florida.
About the Study
ALDESORT enriches a unique population of stem and progenitor cells from cord blood that contribute to neutrophil and platelet engraftment and to immune reconstitution following transplantation. The primary goal of the clinical study is to determine if transplanting these enriched cells is safe. The study will also indicate if transplanting these cell populations could result in accelerated engraftment and lead to more favorable clinical outcomes compared to a historical control group from the Cord Blood Transplantation Trial (COBLT) study, a multicenter Phase II study sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. At the time of the interim analysis, eleven pediatric patients with cancer or genetic diseases were transplanted with unrelated donor umbilical cord blood and a supplement of cord cells isolated using ALDESORT. Overall survival at 180 days was 90.9%, compared to an overall survival at 180 days of 57% in COBLT study. The cumulative incidence of neutrophil engraftment by day 42 was 90.9% (p=0.001) and platelet engraftment by day 100 was 79.5% (p=0.003).
The findings of this study once again show the promise of transplanting stem cells from umbilical cord blood to treat children with resistant cancers and genetic diseases, said Dr. Kurtzberg. The infusion of cells enriched with ALDESORT has had no adverse effects and appears to improve the speed and efficacy of cord bloo
Contact: Michelle Linn