SUNRISE, Fla., Oct. 18, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- www.bioheartinc.com/">Bioheart, Inc. (OTCBB:BHRT) was among top scientists and physicians presenting cutting edge data at the Controversies and Advances in the Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease Conference in Los Angeles last week. A summary of data on the use of adult muscle stem cells (immature myoblasts) to treat advanced heart failure was presented by Howard Leonhardt, Bioheart's co-founder and Chief Technology Officer. Bioheart is one of the only companies in phase II/III trials using stem cells. More than 400 patients have been treated with muscle stem cells and the following results have been published in peer reviewed journal articles:
- 84% of MyoCell treated patients have improved in at least one parameter while only 16% have worsened.
- 33% of MyoCell treated patients have improved by two heart failure classes.
- MyoCell treated patients improved 91.7 meters in exercise capacity while placebo patients declined 4 meters.
- MyoCell is the only cell composition that has demonstrated an ability to grow new contractile muscle in heart scar tissue.
In addition to the above summary from clinical trials completed by Bioheart, Mr. Leonhardt presented published pre-clinical data demonstrating repeat percutaneous injections of myoblasts can bring even greater improvement to heart failure patients.
Click here to read more about repeat injections using myoblasts:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19700775
Bioheart's CEO and President, Mike Tomas said, "Our clinical programs are among the most advanced in the cell therapy sector and the clinical results over the past 10 years have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of myoblast therapies. We are committed to continuing these programs and bringing these therapies to commercialization."
About Bioheart, Inc.
Bioheart is committed to maintaining our leading position within the cardiovascular sector of the cell technology industry delivering cell therapies and biologics that help address congestive heart failure, lower limb ischemia, chronic heart ischemia, acute myocardial infarctions and other issues. Our goals are to cause damaged tissue to be regenerated, if possible, and to improve a patient's quality of life and reduce health care costs and hospitalizations.
Specific to biotechnology, we are focused on the discovery, development and, subject to regulatory approval, commercialization of autologous cell therapies for the treatment of chronic and acute heart damage and peripheral vascular disease. Our leading product, MyoCell, is a clinical muscle-derived cell therapy designed to populate regions of scar tissue within a patient's heart with new living cells for the purpose of improving cardiac function in chronic heart failure patients.
For more information on Bioheart, visit www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/ctr%3Fd=227994%26l=7%26a=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.bioheartinc.com%26u=http%253A%252F%252Fus.lrd.yahoo.com%252F_ylt%253DAlOSZ9CEXfT3uibZcyJcgLWxcq9_%253B_ylu%253DX3oDMTE2cnJmdW9hBHBvcwMxBHNlYwNuZXdzYXJ0Ym9keQRzbGsDaHR0cHd3d2Jpb2hl%252FSIG%253D11fguppga%252FEXP%253D1312565712%252F%252A%252Ahttp%25253A%252Fwww.bioheartinc.com%252F">http://www.bioheartinc.com.
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