[Proneuron1] Detroit Medical Center's Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan (RIM) joining Procord trial

[proneuron1 at list.proneuron.com]

Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan Is the First Midwest Rehabilitation
Hospital to Participate in Proneuron's Clinical Research Trial for Spinal
Cord Injury 

Detroit, Michigan and L.A. California, November 16, 04 --- Proneuron
Biotechnologies (www.proneuron.com) and the Detroit Medical Center's
Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan (RIM) (www.RIMrehab.org) announced
today that RIM will participate as the first Midwest rehabilitation center
in Proneuron's international, multi-center, randomized-controlled Phase II
study of ProCord, an experimental procedure for acute spinal cord injury
(SCI). 

Assisting RIM in screening spinal cord injury patients for this experimental
procedure is Detroit Receiving Hospital, a national leader in trauma and
emergency medicine.  This unique partnership between an expert trauma center
and a leading rehabilitation facility allows for efficient and continuous
care of persons with spinal cord injuries.

"As a leader in the spinal cord injury community for more than 50 years, we
have been following Proneuron's research with great interest. We are excited
to be involved in the second phase of this study and contributing to further
advancements in SCI research," said Terry Reiley, President, Rehabilitation
Institute of Michigan.

Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan is one of the nation's largest
hospitals specializing in rehabilitation medicine and research. As southeast
Michigan's only rehabilitation hospital, RIM treats more spinal cord injury
patients than any hospital in the state, including the most complex cases.
Recently, RIM opened its Center for Spinal Cord Injury Recovery
(www.centerforscirecovery.org), a world-class facility designed to implement
and study the results of innovative treatments that may result in some level
of improvement in persons with injured or damaged spinal cords. 

"This is one of the most exciting research project in which Rehabilitation
Institute of Michigan has had the opportunity to participate," said Steve
Hinderer, MD, medical director of RIM's Center for Spinal Cord Injury
Recovery, and principal investigator of the ProCord study at RIM. 

The Phase II trial commenced at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer,
Israel, in September 2003 and expanded to the U.S. in 2004. Currently, six
other centers in the U.S. are participating in the study. They include Craig
Hospital (Denver, CO), The Mount Sinai Medical Center (New York, NY),
University Hospital (Newark, NJ) in cooperation with Kessler Institute for
Rehabilitation (West Orange, NJ), Shepherd Center (Atlanta, GA) and Shriners
Hospitals for Children (Philadelphia, PA). 

"We are delighted to be working with the Rehabilitation Institute of
Michigan. Together with the esteemed research teams participating in this
study, we hope to make great strides in the understanding of the effects of
ProCord, with the goal of developing this currently experimental procedure
for spinal cord injury patients worldwide," said Mr. Nir Nimrodi, CEO of
Proneuron.

This experimental study is open to patients who meet eligibility criteria,
including but not limited to ASIA Grade A, C5-T11, within 14 days of injury.
This is a randomized-controlled clinical trial. Patients found eligible for
the study will be randomly assigned to either a treatment or control group,
two treatment patients for every one control patient, on average. Control
patients will not receive the procedure.  All control and treatment patients
will receive standard spinal cord injury rehabilitation and will receive
follow-up testing for one year.  It is crucial that trial site investigators
are notified of a potential candidate within a few days of their spinal cord
injury in order to give ample time for patients to enroll and participate in
the 14-day window of the clinical trial.  

Patient, Immediate Family of Patient and/or Physician inquiries:
24 hour a day Patient Recruitment Center:
Email: clinical.trial at proneuron.com 
Telephone: 1 866 539 0767 (U.S. toll free) or 1 506 652 3486. 
Fax: 1 866-214-7078
*Callers outside of the U.S., please use standard international dialing code
For additional information: www.proneuron.com
 

For additional information: 
Cheryl Angelelli, Director, Marketing & PR, Rehabilitation Institute of
Michigan
CAngelel at dmc.org, 313-966-8490.
Marjie Hadad, Media Liaison, Proneuron, Marjie.hadad at proneuron.com,
+972-54-536-5220