Living Cell Technologies Limited has advanced its Parkinson's disease research, with choroid plexus tissue successfully shipped from New Zealand to Australia as part of the third clinical trial of NTCELL. The choroid plexus (porcine brain) tissue was provided by New Zealand biotech NZeno from its
designated pathogen-free facility in Invercargill. Following receipt of an import permit from the Australian Government's Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the tissue was shipped to Australia and transported to research partner, University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in preparation
for the manufacturing of NTCELL. LCT's Research Agreement with UTS and the Australian Foundation for Diabetes Research enables the production of NTCELL in Australia, which would be a new milestone for this project. Once production of NTCELL has been optimised, it will be manufactured at a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facility for use in the Company's third clinical trial of NTCELL in Parkinson's disease. Under an agreement with OptiCellAI, artificial intelligence (AI) technology will be used to optimise and select NTCELL for implantation into the brains of people with early to mid-stage Parkinson's disease, as a potential treatment for the disease. Regulatory approval from Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration is required prior to the first clinical trial, with similar trials having previously been undertaken in New Zealand. The first trial participants are expected to receive treatment in 2024.