GROUNDBREAKING stem cell technology developed at a Farnham-based company has been used for the first time to successfully cure brain damage in a stroke victim.

Walter Bast, 49, is recovering following an operation in Germany, during which genetically engineered cells were injected into his brain using 'teabag technology' pioneered by Biocompatibles Ltd.

The company, which operates from Farnham Business Park, has been working on the new technique of inserting a small bag filled with stem cells into the brain in order to encourage brain cell growth.

The medical trial is the first of its kind in the world and will pave the way toward greater use of the technology to cure a range of diseases.

Prior to surgery Mr Bast was suffering from severe paralysis of the right arm and had difficulties speaking, but now he's showing clear signs of improvement and has been discharged from hospital.

Speaking a week after the operation he said: "I feel a lucky guy."

The technology used to repair the damage to Mr Bast's brain is called CellBeads and is the brainchild of scientists based at the Farnham medical company.

The researchers had been looking for a long time for a way to repair the brain damage caused by strokes and trials showed that introducing a stem cell engineered to release the protein GLP-1 helped fix such damage in rats.

The cells carrying the protein, which protects against brain cell death, are packed into a 2cm by 2cm 'teabag' and inserted in the problem area of the brain.

If the safety trial meets its goal, Biocompatibles hopes to have a large international trial under way in 2010 with potential regulatory approval coming as early as 2012.

Crispin Simon, chief executive of Biocompatibles, said that the special protein-releasing cells have to be encased in the teabag so that they are hidden from the immune system.

"The cells can be engineered to pump out the drug GLP-1 relatively easily but if you then inject them into a patient, their body will reject them," he explained.

"By encasing them in the teabag we can protect them, keep them alive while they work and remove them easily."

He went on to say that the company is now looking for further patients to continue the trials and would like to carry some out in the UK if possible.

"We are now looking at the opportunity of including UK-based sites in the trials and anyone at the Royal Surrey Hospital, for example, who is interested can contact us and we would be interested in including them."