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A trial of Mesoblast’s stem cell product has been show to be effective for rheumatoid arthritis.

The company announced the first results a trial giving 48 rheumatoid arthritis patients an intravenous infusion of Mesoblast’s proprietary Mesenchymal Precursor Cell product.

The treatment resulted in early and sustained clinical responses.

A short time ago, Mesoblast’s shares were up 13% to $1.317.

The global market for rheumatoid arthritis treatmentis is about $15.7 billion. About one third of patients either do not sufficiently respond or cannot tolerate current treatments.

“We are encouraged by the efficacy signals seen in the initial results using the lower dose of Mesoblast’s cell therapy in biologic refractory patients with rheumatoid arthritis,” says Mesoblast CEO Silviu Itescu.

“They suggest that a single intravenous administration of our cell therapy may result in rapid and sustained responses in patients with active disease where disease

remission remains the clear goal.”

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