A team of physicians at Rockford, Ill.-based Mercyhealth Javon Bea Hospital-Riverside participated in a unique stroke study that used patients' stem cells to promote tissue regeneration, it announced May 22.
The goal of the procedure was to enhance the neural function of patients who had acute ischemic strokes.
The clinical trial, a phase 2b, randomized, double-blind study, is also testing out a medicine in its investigational phase called Redasemtide, made by Japanese pharmaceutical company Shionogi and Co. The therapy, which the drugmaker describes as a "regeneration-inducing medicine" is given through an IV and works to promote healthy generation of new tissues after damage to them done by either injury or disease — without use of living cells.
"We are very pleased and honored to be the first site in North America to enroll our patients in this landmark trial," Vibhav Bansal, MD, the director of neurointervention and neurosciences at Javon Bea Hospital–Riverside, said in the release. "This could not have been done without the support of Mercyhealth and our exceptional stroke and research team."