ReNeuron's hRPC stem cells improve vision in first cohort of retinitis pigmentosa patients

ReNeuron Group plc (LSE:RENE) said a single subretinal implantation of its hRPC stem cells led significant improvements in visual acuity in three patients with retinitis pigmentosa in the first cohort of the Phase II portion of a Phase I/II trial. hRPC stem cells are expanded human allogeneic neural retinal progenitor cells extracted from neural retina.

At two months of follow-up, one patient's visual acuity in the treated eye improved from nine letters at baseline to 29 letters as measured by the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) eye chart. At 18 days of follow-up, visual acuity improved from nine letters at baseline to 24 letters in one patient and from 32 letters at baseline to 46 letters in another patient. The mean change from baseline in visual acuity for the untreated control eyes was a loss of one letter...