Neuralstem Collaborates with Hospital in Taiwan to Develop Additional ALS Stem Cell Clinical Trials

Neuralstem Inc. has announced that it has entered into a collaboration with the China Medical University & Hospital of Taiwan, to advance development of Neuralstem's human spinal cord neural stem cell therapies.

The collaboration will focus on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) with Dr. Shinn-Zong Lin, MD, PhD as principle investigator.

"We are pleased to have established this collaboration in Taiwan," said Richard Garr, Neuralstem President & CEO.

"The goal is to qualify our existing cGMP spinal cord cells into a human trial program to treat ALS in Taiwan. We would expect the Taiwan trial to follow the U.S. trial by about 6 to 9 months. As we prepare to submit an IND to treat ALS with our stem cells in the U.S. this fall, we continue to look for strategic relationships in both Europe and Asia that will allow us to move the cells into humans. Taiwan is a substantial and important market in Asia, and China Medical University is the National leader in innovative neurological research and treatments. We are very pleased to be adding them as another partner as we build out our worldwide network of neurosurgical centers capable of conducting clinical trials, and ultimately delivering our cell therapies."