Israeli firm cites breakthrough in ALS treatment

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A stunning medical breakthrough took the Orthodox community by storm when a rosh yeshiva in Jerusalem diagnosed with two muscle degenerative diseases was able to walk and speak clearly again following one injection of the experimental treatment, after being wheelchair bound and barely able to speak.

Rabbi Rafael Shmuelevitz of Yeshivas Mir was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” and showed marked improvement following one injection of BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics’ NurOwn Cell Therapy. The treatment was injected in 24 ALS patients to study its safety and patient tolerance. The rabbi received the therapy for “compassionate treatment,” according to Professor Dimitrios Karussis of the Neurology Department at The Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem, and Principal Investigator of BrainStorm’s current Phase I/II clinical trial.

“While we cannot draw scientific conclusions based on the outcome of an individual patient, these results are extremely encouraging,” stressed Karussis.

“We are moved by the remarkable results observed following treatment with NurOwn,” said Professor Avi Israeli, BrainStorm’s Chairman of the Board. “We are hopeful that we will continue to see this kind of improvement in all the patients participating in our current and future clinical trials.”

A biotechnology company based in Petach Tikva, Israel, BrainStorm Cell therapeutics works to develop adult stem cell therapies for neurodegenerative disorders including ALS, MS and Parkinson’s disease.

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