A world-first Australian medical therapy that uses stem cells to treat degenerative spinal disease has been approved for testing on patients in the U.S.
Using the treatment to replace painful bone grafts is the goal and hope of researchers.
The U.S. government awarded approval to an Australian biotechnology company for its adult stem cell treatment to be used in a major trial.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowed it to bypass the small phase-one human safety trial and move directly into a larger phase-two trial since the preliminary animal trials were so promising.
This marks the first time that adult stem cells will be used to treat spinal disc disease in a genetically unrelated patient