[THE INVESTOR] Nature Cell announced on Oct. 24 that it has filed for approval of the US Food and Drug Administration to initiate the first and second phases of clinical trials for AstroStem, a stem cell therapy for Alzheimer’s disease, in the US.

Since 2008, Nature Cell has been seeking to develop a novel medicine for the still-incurable brain disease. Its CEO Ra Jeong-chan and a team from Seoul National University jointly had confirmed the possibility of a therapy using autologous adipose tissue on animals suffering from the degenerative disease, a first in the world.

The company has resumed research and development of the drug since December 2014 and when it receives approval from South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, it will recruit patients both here and in the US, aiming to complete the trials, simultaneously on the safety and efficacy, by the first half of 2017.

By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)