Neuralstem to raise $7M after spine injury breakthrough

Rockville-based Neuralstem Inc. has priced a $7 million direct offering of its common stock, a day after the company reported notable spinal cord injury repair in experiments with rats.
Neuralstem stock rallied the most ever Thursday, gaining 38 percent.
Neuralstem plans a direct offering of 7 million shares at $1 per share. The offering is expected to close Sept. 19. Aegis Capital Corp. is the sole placement agent.
On Thursday, Neuralstem said rats with severed spinal cords were transplanted with Neuralstem’s spinal cord stem cells, and the animals recovered significant movement function.
It says the transplanted stem cells turned into neurons with grew “a remarkable number of axons that extended for very long distances,” making connections both above and below the point where spinal cords were severed.
Neuralstem has submitted an application to the FDA fora trial to treat spinal cord injuries with the cells, the same stem cells it used in a recently completed Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Source:Washington Business Journal by Jeff Clabaugh, Broadcast/Web Reporter