Osiris Stem Cells Safe for Heart Injury

An early experiment using adult stem cells to treat heart attack patients has allayed concerns over the treatment's safety and, surprisingly, yielded some data suggesting that stem cells might help repair an injured heart.

Osiris Therapeutics(OSIR Quote) on Sunday reported positive safety and efficacy data from a phase I study of its adult stem cell therapy, Provacel, in patients with heart disease.

In the 53-patient, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, heart attack patients given an intravenous infusion of Provacel reported lower adverse events such as abnormal heart rhythms compared with patients given a placebo. ...