Neuroplast, a Dutch medical BioTech company in the growing feld of regenerative medicine stem cell-based therapeutics, announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation to Neuro-Cells, the Company\u2019s autologous therapy for the treatment of Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury. Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) can be granted for a product that is intended for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of life-threatening or chronically debilitating conditions that affect no more than fve in 10,000 people in the European Union. With the ODD status Neuroplast takes advantage of potential incentives from the European Union such as protocol assistance, reduced fees, funding from the European Commission for clinical trials, and 10 years of market exclusivity .<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage or trauma to the spinal cord which interrupts communication of the brain with body regions below the site of injury. Spinal cord injuries are mainly caused by accidents and, in most of the cases, result in life-long loss of control of motor functions and sensation. After the primary injury to the spinal cord, a cascade of events leads to progressive loss of tissue which may further deteriorate the patient\u2019s prognosis. Current treatment approaches for neurodegenerative disorders as SCI are only symptomatic, leaving the underlying pathophysiology unaffected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neuro-Cells represents a non-substantially manipulated tissue engineered product manufactured from patient\u2019s own bone-marrow, intended to treat patients suffering from traumatic SCI. Based on these mechanisms Neuroplast focuses to develop a stem cell therapy, which can inhibit the in\ufb02ammatory processes following damaged\/dying neural tissue cells and sees its Neuro-Cells as a disease modifying therapy (DMT). DMT\u2019s are defned as treatments or interventions that affect the underlying pathophysiology of the disease and have a benefcial outcome on the course of several neurodegenerative diseases such as SCI and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). <\/p>\n\n\n\n