Open letter to Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [Copy of letter sent]

Dear Mr Hancock

A response to the below petition is expected shortly.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/301033

To ensure a more informed government response that takes into consideration all possible options for making NurOwn available to treat 5,000 Motor Neurone Disease (MND) sufferers, please contact management at Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics to discuss the matter prior to a response.

Substantial time and resources are currently being dedicated to Covid-19. Without your colleagues dedicating some time and liaising with management at Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics there is a risk that not only will the government response to the petition fall short of expectations and potential but that MND sufferers in the UK will be denied the opportunity of early approval and access to NurOwn for treatment of MND.

You recently approved a large-scale clinical trial of Inclisiran prior to European Medicines Agency (EMA) approval in a collaboration between Novartis and the NHS to treat patients. Similar collaboration between Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics and the NHS may be possible for treatment of 5,000 MND sufferers with NurOwn. Addition of NurOwn to a platform trial such as MND-SMART is another possibility.

There is no effective treatment for MND until NurOwn is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Authority (FDA). The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have existing pathways for early approval of new treatments. The UK could potentially approve NurOwn prior to FDA approval or make NurOwn available to MND sufferers through a large-scale clinical trial.

Please request that your colleagues contact management at Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics to explore options for making NurOwn available to treat MND.

I have copied management at Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics.

#NurOwnEurope