ReNeuron has just received permission to launch a clinical trial for stroke patients using neural stem cells. About a dozen patients will receive the cells at Southern General Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland. An article in the Financial Times chronicles the path to obtain regulatory permission to launch the trial in the UK. An article in NatureNews describes how the cells, derived originally from aborted fetuses, have been genetically engineered with an inducible gene to control cells’ growth. The prospect of transplanting genetically engineered cells worried advisors to the FDA’s panel on starting clinical trials with embryonic stem cells last year, though Geron is still pressing ahead on this front.

Also, read about clinical trials underway with Osiris from a recent interview with the CEO Randall Mills.

For more information, see my December post on other non-embryonic stem cell trials that have launched recently.