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>>> BIOTECHNOLOGY
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9. Pigs Cells Effective in Spinal Cord Repair

October 25, 1999 / NAGOYA, Japan  / -- Researchers from
the Yale
University School of Medicine and Alexion
Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(Nasdaq: ALXN) today reported that transplanting
genetically
modified pig cells into surgically damaged spinal cords
of non-human
primates can regenerate the myelin sheath around the
injured fragment
of the spinal cord. The report, entitled
``Xenotransplantation of
Transgenic Pig Myelin Forming Cells Promotes Axonal
Regeneration and
Restores Conduction Across the Transected Spinal Cord,''
is based on
research conducted in the laboratories of Dr. Jeffrey D.
Kocsis of
the Department of Neurology, Yale University School of
Medicine, and
Dr. William L. Fodor, Senior Director of
Xenotransplantation at
Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and their colleagues.
``This promising
data demonstrates that immunoprotected transgenic pig
cells can survive
and regenerate myelin sheaths around damaged neurons
within the spinal
cords of non-human primates,'' said Stephen Squinto,
Senior Vice
President and Chief Technology Officer of Alexion.
``Together with our
findings also presented today which showed that these
transgenic pig
cells both engraft and restore electrical conductance in
rodent models
of spinal injury, these data suggest that this approach
may lead to
the development of a new therapy for spinal cord injury
patients.''