HAIFA, Israel, May 29, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq:PSTI) (TASE:PLTR), a leading developer of placenta-based cell therapies, announced today that the company has been invited to present at the U.S. Food & Drug Administration's (FDA) Medical Countermeasures initiative (MCMi) which is sponsoring its 2nd annual Regulatory Science Symposium on May 29-31, 2013 at FDA headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.
The FDA's Office of Counterterrorism and Emerging Threats, Medical Countermeasures Initiative, invited Pluristem to present at this symposium. William R. Prather RPh, MD, Pluristem's Senior Vice President Corporate Development, will present Pluristem's patented PLX (PLacental eXpanded) cell technology and its potential use in the treatment of the complications arising from the acute radiation syndrome (ARS). The data presented by Dr. Prather include preliminary preclinical information on the radio-mitigating activity of intramuscularly administered PLX-RAD cells generated in collaboration with Professor Raphael Gorodetsky and his team at the Biotechnology and Radiobiology Laboratory at the Sharett Institute of Oncology at Hadassah Medical Center, Hadassit,Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO), Jerusalem, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Bethesda, MD, and the Berlin Bradenburg Center for Regenerative Therapies (BCRT), Charite University, Berlin.
Zami Aberman, Pluristem's Chairman and CEO, stated, "We are proud to be invited to present data on the use of our PLX cells to mitigate the harmful effects sustained from acute radiation injury. This presentation is a supplement to the work currently being performed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), to evaluate our PLX cells in animal models of ARS."
About Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS)
ARS represents a constellation of signs and symptoms that occur between several minutes and several weeks after exposure to high doses of ionizing radiation and affecting multiple organs such as the hematological and gastrointestinal systems. The hematological syndrome follows radiation damage to the bone marrow and is characterized by severe decreases in red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets that predispose afflicted individuals to infection, bleeding and potential death.
The gastrointestinal syndrome follows radiation damage to the gastrointestinal tract that can result in diarrhea, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance and infection that can lead to death.
About Pluristem Therapeutics
Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. is a leading developer of placenta-based cell therapies. The Company's patented PLX (PLacental eXpanded) cells are a drug delivery platform that releases a cocktail of therapeutic proteins in response to a host of local and systemic inflammatory and ischemic diseases. PLX cells are grown using the company's proprietary 3D micro-environmental technology and are an "off-the-shelf" product that requires no tissue matching prior to administration.
Pluristem has a strong intellectual property position, company-owned GMP certified manufacturing and research facilities, strategic relationships with major research institutions and a seasoned management team. For more information visit www.pluristem.com, the content of which is not part of this press release.
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Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and federal securities laws. For example, when we discuss that the use of PLX cells could potentially mitigate the harmful effects sustained from acute radiation injury we are using forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements and their implications are based on the current expectations of the management of Pluristem only, and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements: changes in technology and market requirements; we may encounter delays or obstacles in launching and/or successfully completing our clinical trials; our products may not be approved by regulatory agencies, our technology may not be validated as we progress further and our methods may not be accepted by the scientific community; we may be unable to retain or attract key employees whose knowledge is essential to the development of our products; unforeseen scientific difficulties may develop with our process; our products may wind up being more expensive than we anticipate; results in the laboratory may not translate to equally good results in real surgical settings; results of preclinical studies may not correlate with the results of human clinical trials; our patents may not be sufficient; our products may harm recipients; changes in legislation; inability to timely develop and introduce new technologies, products and applications; loss of market share and pressure on pricing resulting from competition, which could cause the actual results or performance of Pluristem to differ materially from those contemplated in such forward-looking statements. Except as otherwise required by law, Pluristem undertakes no obligation to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. For a more detailed description of the risks and uncertainties affecting Pluristem, reference is made to Pluristem's reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
This research has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the NIAID, NIH, under Contract No HHSN272201000046C.