"Living Cell Technologies Limited has received approval to commence treating the six patients in group 3 of the Phase IIb clinical trial of NTCELL for Parkinson’s disease, at Auckland City Hospital.

Four patients will have 120 NTCELL microcapsules implanted into the putamen on each side of their brain, and two patients will have sham surgery with no NTCELL implanted.

The company is blind to the results until 26 weeks after the last patient in group 3 has been treated, at which point the patients who received the placebo may receive the optimal dose of NTCELL.

The Phase IIb trial aims to confirm the most effective dose of NTCELL, define any placebo component of the response and further identify the initial target Parkinson’s disease patient sub-group. If the trial is successful, the company plans to apply for provisional consent to treat paying patients in New Zealand in Q4 2017."

PDF version:
http://www.lctglobal.com/upload/news...0group%203.pdf

(hat tip to mecklenberger at HU for this news)