Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that its multi-center, human clinical stem cell trial for the treatment of patients suffering from heart attacks has successfully passed the first safety milestone of the trial.

Additionally, the novel stem cell therapy was cleared by the presiding independent safety board to begin enrolling patients at higher doses of drug.

“Each step brings us closer to providing a novel stem cell therapy to treat heart attack patients who are in need,” said Cardiologist Nabil Dib, M.D., Chief of Cardiovascular Research at the Arizona Heart Institute. Dr. Dib is one of the investigators evaluating the stem cell drug in patients who have recently had their first heart attack.

“Congestive heart failure is a common outcome in heart attack patients and is the number one cause of disability in the United States.”

In addition to the cardiac clinical trial, Osiris is currently enrolling patients in three other stem cell studies. The company has two ongoing Phase II clinical trials with Prochymal(TM) to treat graft versus host disease, a life threatening disease affecting leukemia patients and others who have received bone marrow transplants. Osiris also has an ongoing Phase I/II clinical trial with Chondrogen(TM) for the treatment of meniscal injuries in the knee.

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