Belgium's Tigenix says heart attack stem cell trial successful

Belgian biotech group Tigenix said its medical trial with a novel treatment for patients at risk of heart failure after a coronary attack was successful.

The group said patients treated in its PhaseI/II trial of donor-derived expanded cardiac stem cells (AlloCSC) showed no side-effects and all of them continued to live after 30 days, six months and a year.

Tigenix added that in one subgroup of trial patients associated with a poor long-term outlook, there was a larger reduction in the size of infarction, tissue death due to inadequate blood supply.

"This is the first trial in which it has been demonstrated that allogeneic cardiac stem cells can be transplanted safely through the coronary tree," one of the doctors in the trial said.

The group said it would now analyze the data from the trial and decide on how to proceed with its research.