Brain dam­age cas­es force an FDA hold on Bel­licum's lead cell ther­a­py -- shares tank

Bel­licum Phar­ma­ceu­ti­cals $BLCM just fell even fur­ther be­hind the pack lead­ers in the cell ther­a­py crowd.

The Hous­ton-based biotech re­port­ed af­ter the mar­kets closed Tues­day that the FDA had slapped a clin­i­cal hold on its lead cell ther­a­py af­ter re­searchers tracked three cas­es of en­cephalopa­thy — a broad term for brain dam­age — among pa­tients tak­ing the drug to sup­port al­lo­gene­ic stem cell trans­plants. The cas­es were deemed as pos­si­bly linked to BPX-501, which was be­ing billed as a safer ver­sion of the cell ther­a­pies now mak­ing their way to the mar­ket.

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