Novel Neural Cell Therapy a Cure for Focal Epilepsy

An experimental neural cell therapy is safe and led to greater than 90% reduction in seizures in two patients with drug-resistant mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) in the first-in-human test of the novel therapy.

The findings will be presented April 24 at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) 2023 Annual Meeting.

NRTX-1001 therapy (Neurona Therapeutics) is a one-time dose of an injectable suspension of high-purity inhibitory interneurons that secrete the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).

The interneurons are intended to integrate and innervate on-target, providing long-term GABAergic inhibition to repair hyperexcitable neural networks.

This therapy is "potentially restorative instead of just destructive, like epilepsy surgery," study investigator David Spencer, MD, professor of neurology and director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, said during a press briefing.

Source: MEDspace