This update is not intended to be a scientific one but merely the story of a businessman who is well known in the MND / ALS community in the US. Please see the three videos below.
Warren has probably had more stem cells administered than any other MND / ALS sufferer. The video is simply intended to highlight what stem cell injections have done for Warren and how they continue to keep him healthy. Warren has not taken part in the NurOwn clinical trial but is self-funding treatment in many countries using stem cells that have not had the NurOwn process applied. This is essentially the same/similar to the NurOwn process but lacking the neurotrophic factors. Warren is somewhat compensating for this by increasing the frequency or number of stem cells administered. He is also using a combination of different types of stem cells. What Warren is doing is a procedure that could be provided at most UK hospitals (already used in orthopaedics and cancer). However, clinical trials have only been conducted using one type of stem cell at a time. So if provided at UK hospitals, it would be one type of stem cell injection to treat MND. Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells (BMMSCs) are one such type amongst the few that Warren has had administered. BMMSCs are also those used in NurOwn treatment process that is now in phase 3 clinical trials.
The rationale behind what Warren is doing is that stem cell treatment is the best available until NurOwn is approved. He remains alive and according to him healthier than before diagnosis. After that he will use NurOwn and any new drugs that are approved thereafter. Combination therapy may be an option in future.
Such treatments could quite easily be provided by the NHS. A monthly injection of the patient’s own bone marrow stem cells would probably have less of an impact on the economy when compared to health, social care and other costs of MND. From the NurOwn phase 2 clinical trial results, the BMMSCs injected intrathecally have been proven to be safe.
In the past 100 years there has been no effective treatment for MND and when one comes along very little is being done to offer it in the UK or review early approval of NurOwn by NICE (CAA).
Why isn’t the NHS offering the below?
BMMSCs (Now) ---> NurOwn (NICE early approval 2020 or wait until FDA approves) ---> Combination therapy: NurOwn + New drugs (2021/22)