Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (“ACT”; OTCBB: ACTC), a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, announced today the dosing of third patient in its Phase 1/2 trial for Stargardt's macular dystrophy (SMD) using retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). The patient was treated on Monday (Feb. 6) by Steven Schwartz, M.D., Ahmanson Professor of Ophthalmology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and retina division chief at UCLA's Jules Stein Eye Institute. The outpatient transplantation surgery was performed successfully and the patient is recovering uneventfully.

“With the treatment of this third Stargardt's patient at Jules Stein Eye Institute, we have now completed the treatment of the first cohort of patients under our clinical protocol for phase I/II of our U.S. SMD trial”

“With the treatment of this third Stargardt's patient at Jules Stein Eye Institute, we have now completed the treatment of the first cohort of patients under our clinical protocol for phase I/II of our U.S. SMD trial,” said Gary Rabin, chairman and chief executive officer of ACT. “We will continue to regularly monitor the three SMD patients in this trial, and by early spring anticipate review of their progress and safety-related data by the Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB). With approval of the DSMB, we would then advance to the next cohort of patients and administer a higher dosage of RPE cells. In the context of all three trials we have running, this patient is the fifth person worldwide to be treated with our hESC-derived RPE cells. To date, there have been no complications or side effects due to the RPE cells, and we remain cautiously optimistic that our ongoing clinical programs will demonstrate the safety and tolerability of ACT's stem cell-derived RPE cells.”

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