Juventas Therapeutics was spun out from the Cleveland Clinic in 2007 by founding CEO and President Dr. Rahul Aras. Aras is the former Director of Life Science Commercialization at Cleveland Clinic Innovations. Juventas is developing a line of regenerative therapies that, through stem cells, stimulate the natural repair process that occurs after an injury. The company is targeting these therapies toward cardiovascular disease, wound healing and peripheral vascular disease (defined by narrowed arteries). The company is developing a new therapy based on its lead product Stromal�cell Derived Factor 1 (SDF�1). Injecting SDF-1 into damaged tissue, Juventas found, restarts a patient's natural repair process. The company is in Phase 1 clinical trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of using SDF-1 to improve cardiac function following a heart attack. But in the future the same repair biology likely can be used to treat other diseases as well. Juventas was supported through Ohio Third Frontier, Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center and JumpStart.