Health and Disability Ethics Committee of the New Zealand Ministry of Health has granted ethical approval for Living Cell Technologies' (LCT) Phase I Parkinson's disease trials of NTCELL.
The company won regulatory authorisation to advance the trials in October, from Medsafe.
Living Cell Technologies chief executive Dr Andrea Grant said the ethical approval was granted in an efficient timeframe.
"It means that LCT is still on track to commence NTCELL's first in-human trials in Q1 2013," Dr Grant added.
The 60-week study, is expected to assess the safety and clinical profile of NTCELL in Parkinson's patients.
Parkinson's disease (also known as Parkinson disease, Parkinson's, idiopathic parkinsonism, primary parkinsonism, PD, hypokinetic rigid syndrome/HRS, or paralysis agitans) is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system.
LCT also announced the appointment of Dr Andrea Grant, who joined the company as chief executive on 28 December 2011, to the board as managing director.
