Beware of the stem cell mirage

Athersys, a small drug maker in Cleveland, Ohio, has an ambitious media campaign to promote an experimental stem cell treatment for stroke. The centerpiece of that campaign is an Oregon woman who made a remarkable recovery after being treated with the therapy.

But as STAT's Adam Feuerstein reports, the story is a bit more complicated than that.

Although Athersys is conducting clinical trials necessary to secure FDA approval for the treatment, it already failed one — the therapy was no better than placebo in helping patients recover. That doesn't necessarily spell doom for future trials, and it doesn't make the Ohio patient's story any less heartwarming. But it does mean investors may be being led astray.

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