Osiris shares climb on stem-cell therapy approval
NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Osiris Therapeutics traded higher Friday, a day after Canadian regulators approved the company's first-of-a-kind stem cell therapy Prochymal, a treatment for a deadly side effect of bone marrow transplants.
The company announced that Health Canada approved its treatment for graft vs. host disease, a condition in which transplanted bone marrow cells attack the body of the patient. Prochymal is approved for use in children who are not responding to steroid therapy.
Company shares rose 30 cents, or 5.7 percent, Friday in morning trading.
Columbia, Md.-based Osiris is still running clinical trials of Prochymal to support full marketing approval, but the drug was granted a type of conditional approval because of the lack of effective treatments for graft vs. host disease. Osiris is required to run additional studies to confirm the treatment works.
Marketing of Prochymal has not been approved in the U.S., but patients can get the treatment under certain conditions. The Food and Drug Administration allows the use of Prochymal in treatment of both adults and children with graft vs. host disease after steroids have failed.
Prochymal is also being studied as a treatment for Crohn's disease and other conditions.
