Israeli cancer treatment developer BioCancell has achieved successful results on 64 percent of patients treated for bladder cancer. The company tested its BC-819 treatment, which is intended for patients that cannot be treated with chemotherapy or Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG). Out of 39 patients treated, cancer was eradicated in 25 and the patients did not develop new tumors over the three-month trial period.
Israeli company BioCancell Therapeutics Ltd., has announced positive results in a Phase IIb clinical trial of its BC-819 treatment for pancreatic cancer. The study showed that the drug is safe for all patients and that increasing the dosage of the drug does not cause deterioration in the patients’ condition.
BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics, a leading developer of adult stem cell technologies for neurodegenerative diseases, has announced that the first patient began treatment in the Company’s Phase IIa dose-escalating clinical trial for ALS. The trial, which will evaluate the safety and preliminary efficacy of BrainStorm’s NurOwn stem cell therapy candidate, is being conducted at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.
Israeli company BiolineRX, which is currently testing an innovative drug for treating schizophrenia, is planning a financing round, with a $15 million goal. “Calcalist” reports that the round is set to take place before the interim analysis of the clinical trial planned in March.
Israeli company Brainsway, which developed a device called Deep TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation), for treating various brain-related disorders, has announced a successful trial of its treatment for smoking addiction. 84 percent of subjects in the trial quit smoking after receiving the treatment, of which approx. one-third were still non-smokers after a six month period.
Israeli medical diagnostic technology developer Micromedic Technologies Ltd., has announced positive intermediary results in its trial of CellDetect, a technology for detecting cervical cancer. The results show a 94 percent success rate. In light of these results, Micromedic’s share price rose 10.48 percent.
Israeli company BioControl Medical, which develops implant for treating complex medical conditions, has reported positive results on its FitNeS treatment trial. The device was implanted in five patients, all of which shown a reduction of up to 50 percent in seizures and no side effects.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries announced positive results for its Treanda drug trial, for the treatment of lymphoma. During the trial, Treanda was given to patients with slow-growing lymphoma (non-Hodgkin lymphoma), in combination with Roche’s Rituxan. Results showed that patients treated with the combined drugs lived three years longer with no progression of their tumors, compared to those taking chemotherapy with Rituxan.
Prolor Biotech reported positive results from a Phase II four-month treatment extension study of hGH-CTP, its long-acting version of human growth hormone, in growth hormone deficient adults. The findings show that a single weekly injection of hGH-CTP has the potential to replace seven consecutive daily injections of currently marketed human growth hormone (hGH), and further validates the dosing regimen for the company’s planned Phase III trial. In the Phase II clinical trial, hGH-CTP was administered to growth hormone deficient adults for a period of four weeks.
Rosetta Green, an Israeli company which specializes in crop improvement for the agriculture and alternative fuel industries, announced it has successfully completed an experiment producing human growth hormone from algae. The project is part of the European Commission’s effort to manufacture chemicals and proteins in algae, at an estimated $7 million. It is managed by Professor Sammy Boussiba from Ben Gurion University of the Negev. According to the company, it intends to further test these human proteins in clinical trials in mice.