Stem Cells in Spinal Cord Injury

Phase II of the study focuses on establishing the safety and efficacy of the fist-in-human administration of Neuro-Cells. In phase III efficacy and safety will be further investigated. Enrollment in phase III of the study will automatically start once all patients have been enrolled and treated in phase II. The recruitment period is estimated at respectively 6 months for both the Phase II and Phase III.

Phase II starts with the enrollment of 16 evaluable patients, randomly divided in two groups of 8 evaluable patients each. After an interim intervention analysis, the phase II study expands into a phase III study, requiring the recruitment of 54 additional evaluable patients. Patients recruited for the phase III part will be randomly divided in two groups of 27 evaluable patients each. Details on the planned analyses can be found in section 8 'Statistical Analysis'.

Both the phase II and phase III part of the trial have a similar setup which includes a screening period (1 - 2 days), a randomization, a treatment period of 1 or 2 days and a total follow-up period of 1 year.

All patients undergo a BM harvesting at the start of their participation in the study and will undergo three LPs, performed to administer Neuro-Cells or placebo and/or to collect CSF for research purposes. Neuro-Cells and placebo are both administered as a single dose by an 'unblinded physician'. This physician is different from the 'blinded Investigators and study nurses' responsible for patient selection and follow-up. This study set-up allows to maintain a double-blind status of the patients and the Investigators responsible for the patients' evaluation throughout the first six months of both studies. This is because, approximately six months after the time of inclusion, the patients assigned to the placebo group will undergo a second BM harvesting and will also receive Neuro-Cells. All patients are followed up until approximately one year after the time of inclusion. All patients will have been treated with Neuro-Cells and will have completed follow-up for at least 6 months post-treatment. Patient recruitment, randomization and blinding, and the primary and secondary objectives are identical in the phase II and the phase III part of the study. The study is completed when the last patient finishes his/her last visit, approximately one year after the time of inclusion.