Neuralstem, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a collaboration with Professor Guido Nikkah Ph.D, of Albert-Ludwigs-University in Freiburg, Germany, to advance development of Neuralstem's human neural stem cell therapies.
The collaboration with Professor Nikkah will focus on Huntington's disease.
"We are pleased to have established this collaboration in Germany" said Richard Garr, Neuralstem President & CEO. "The goal of our work with Professor Nikkah will be to qualify our existing cGMP spinal cord cells into Professor Nikkah's human trial program to treat Huntington's disease. As we prepare to submit an IND to treat ALS with our stem cells in the U.S., we continue to look for strategic relationships in both Europe and Asia which will allow us to move the cells into humans. We believe that Professor Nikkah's program is the most advanced of its kind in Western Europe, and we are excited about his working with our cells."
Huntington's disease (HD) results from genetically programmed degeneration of brain cells, called neurons, in certain areas of the brain. This degeneration causes uncontrolled movements, loss of intellectual faculties, and emotional disturbance. HD is a familial disease, passed from parent to child through a mutation in the normal gene. Each child of an HD parent has a 50-50 chance of inheriting the HD gene.