Living Cell tops up coffers with $4.8 million

After raising AUD$6.36 million in its IPO last month, Living Cell Technologies (ASX:LCT) has announced a successful AUD$4.8 million top-up of its cash reserves.

The fundraising is the latest chapter in a dream run for LCT, whose shares have risen from their $0.20 issue price to achieve an average weighted price over the last 5 business days of $0.45.

And results from pre-clinical studies of its NeurotrophinCell therapy released this week show the therapy is capable of healing damaged tissue and potentially replacing damaged nerve cells in a rat model of Huntington's disease. Animals receiving NeurotrophinCell showed 86 per cent less damage to the brain and a dramatic improvement in the use of their limbs, the company said.

Huntington's is an irreversible inherited disease which results in atrophy of neurons in the brain, leading to dementia, psychiatric abnormalities and death. It is currently untreatable.

NeurotrophinCell uses a clear carbohydrate gel derived from algae to encapsulate porcine or rat choroid plexus cells, which produce cerebral spinal fluid and growth factors known as neurotrophins.

"The choroid plexus cells from the pig appear to produce neurotrophins in large quantities," said LCT medical director Bob Elliott. "The live cells are capable of producing a cocktail the neurotrophins -- they heal damaged tissue. They may also be able to recruit local cells in the brain which have the potential to replace damaged cells."

Cells are protected from attack by the host's immune system by the gel capsule, while still having access to small molecule nutrients.

"NeurotrophinCell has effectively shown the ability of LCT's technology, to protect brain tissue that would otherwise die, potentially forestalling or preventing the debilitating consequences of this disease," said Alfred Vasconcellos, CEO of LCT's US operations, LCT BioPharma.

The details and data from the study are to be presented at the October Society for Neuroscience conference in San Diego and published in the journal NeuroReport.

A similar study is underway in primates, according to Ellis. Results of the trial are expect in early January.