competitor does not cut the mustard

Second paragraph 3rd and 4th lines .......some analysts have taken the hatchet to these results ......

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSIR), today provided an update on its Phase 2 trial evaluating Prochymal, a formulation of adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), in patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes. This first-of-its kind trial, conducted in partnership with JDRF, is testing MSCs from unrelated adult donors in 63 pediatric and adult patients to assess the safety of MSCs in this population and whether the treatment shows signs of slowing progression of the disease. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either Prochymal or placebo, and both the physicians and patients remain blinded as to which patients received stem cells.

The interim assessment at one year showed that systemic infusions of Prochymal were well-tolerated in this unique population. There were no differences in adverse event rates between the Prochymal and placebo groups. Importantly, no patients experienced a reaction to the infusions despite the cells being unrelated to the recipient, unmatched, and used without immunosuppression. No significant differences in the rates of disease progression, as measured by stimulated C-peptide levels at the one year time point, have been observed. However there was a trend towards fewer hypoglycemic events for patients treated with Prochymal as compared to controls. The patients will be followed for another year (for a total of two years), after which time a complete analysis of the data will be conducted.

"This groundbreaking study is an important first step in the use of stem cells to potentially alter the course of type 1 diabetes," said Jay S. Skyler, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Deputy Director of the Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. "The ability to safely use stem cells from unrelated donors is an important finding of this study and provides new possibilities for further development of stem cell therapies for type 1 diabetes."

Prochymal is designed to provide therapeutic benefit by controlling inflammation, promoting tissue regeneration, and preventing scar formation. In type 1 diabetes, the patient’s own immune system attacks and destroys insulin-producing islet cells in the pancreas, resulting in the loss of blood-sugar control. Currently, there are no approved treatments for altering the rate of destruction of these critical islet cells, called beta cells.
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........ Here is only one of the replys to the ann...((((((((((((((..Osiris stem cell treatment can't beat placebo in diabetes study
January 3, 2012 — 11:48am ET | By John Carroll


It takes a considerable level of patience, but if you dig deep into Osiris Therapeutics's latest update on its mid-stage study of the adult stem cell therapy Prochymal for Type 1 diabetes, you'll find that after a year of treatment patients taking the therapy aren't doing any better than the placebo arm when it comes to a key endpoint of the study.

The study still has a year left to run, and the biotech touted data on how well patients tolerated the treatment and how it matches the placebo on adverse events. Then there's this note: "No significant differences in the rates of disease progression, as measured by stimulated C-peptide levels at the one year time point, have been observed. However there was a trend towards fewer hypoglycemic events for patients treated with Prochymal as compared to controls."

Osiris ($OSIR) has been harshly criticized in the past for spinning the news on Prochymal, which ran into some severe trouble in the clinic when it was studied as a potential treatment for graft vs. host disease, Crohn's disease and more. TheStreet's Adam Feuerstein, in particular, has enjoyed heckling the company for its sunny releases. And he wasn't missing a beat following today's announcement.

Following a note on Osiris's regulatory troubles, Feuerstein notes: "Osiris finds it easier apparently to bamboozle retail investors about failed stem-cell therapies than regulators.")))))))))))) of course the market reacted as per analysts report Cheers Vin ..