A pioneering clinical trial to inject stem cells into the brains of patients disabled by strokes has been cleared to progress to the next stage after the treatment raised no safety concerns in the first three candidates.

ReNeuron Group PLC, the British biotech behind the trial, says the independent Data Safety Monitoring Board had reviewed safety data from its ReN001 stem cell therapy and recommended the trial advance to the higher dose. "Data from the laboratory safety tests, neurological examinations and neurofunctional tests conducted thus far indicate that the ReN001 treatment is safe and well-tolerated at the initial dose," the company says in a statement.

The procedure involves injecting ReNeuron's neural stem cells into patients' brains in the hope they will repair areas damaged by stroke, thereby improving both mental and physical function.

ReNeuron's chief executive Michael Hunt says the clearance was an important milestone, and the preliminary data also backed up the group's other therapeutic programs using the CTX neural stem cell line that formed the basis of the ReN001 stroke treatment.

AFP-Reuters