• subgroup analysis showed relatively greater clinical effects for patients with milder disease
• study subjects with less severe motor scores experienced a significant treatment effect (p = 0.006) 
• significant improvement in this subgroup was documented up until 9 months, the time at which the immunosuppressive cyclosporine was discontinued, raising “the possibility that some degree of graft rejection may have occurred and prevented continuing benefit” 
• postmortem analysis of 5 subjects whose deaths were unrelated to the cell therapy showed healthy-appearing dopamine neurons and uninterrupted re-innervation of the affected brain area between graft deposits
• surviving dopamine neuron count was higher in the four-donor group 
• PET scans demonstrated compelling biological activity in cell therapy recipients.

The adverse effect profile of the procedure was essentially reassuring and manageable. Dr. Olanow will “return to the laboratory” to first test whether the preceding considerations can be managed such that improved animal model outcomes are achieved prior to revising the human protocol which he expects would be possible in approximately one year or so. 

As studies like this advance the development of stem cell therapies for Parkinson disease and other conditions, biotech companies are still wrestling with ways to develop stem cell-focused business plans. If fetal stem cell transplant can eventually help Parkinson patients, a biotech company may be able to develop an alternate source for the transplanted cells that does not require fetal tissue. Alternately, a company could sell the reagents and incubators needed to prepare a patient’s own stem cells for autologous transplantation. 

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