Genzyme’s, Diacrin’s NeuroCell doesn’t appear to work

CAMBRIDGE (Bloomberg) — Genzyme Corp. and Diacrin Inc. said their surgical treatment for Parkinson’s disease didn’t work any better than a placebo treatment in a study of 18 patients. The study was designed to measure the safety and benefits of the treatment, in which doctors transplant nerve cells from fetal pigs into the brains of Parkinson’s patients in an attempt to re- grow tissue destroyed by the disease. Ten patients in the study were given the nerve cell product, NeuroCell, and eight patients underwent placebo surgery. A year and a half after surgery, patients in both groups had improved by about the same degree, the companies said. The companies plan to review these preliminary results to make decisions about further studies.