"The traditional paradigm in regenerative medicine consists of injecting stem cells into injured organs so that the damaged tissue can begin to repair itself," explains Juventas Therapeutics president Rahul Aras. "Ours is a more simplified approach that moves away from extracting and reinjecting stem cells."
Based on the research of Cleveland Clinic cardiologist and Juventas co-founder Marc Penn, the biomed company developed an innovative technology that offers a fresh way of looking at regenerative therapy. Penn discovered that it wasn't a lack of stem cells that made an organ's natural repair process ineffective, but rather because the molecular signals that recruit those stem cells are too short-lived.
The key molecule that serves as the beacon for stem cells is Stromal�cell Derived Factor 1 (SDF�1). Injecting SDF-1 into damaged tissue, they found, restarts a patient's natural repair process.
Presently, Juventas 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, adds Aras, the same repair biology likely can be used to treat other diseases as well.
Thanks to help from the State of Ohio's Third Frontier initiative, Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center and JumpStart, Juventas spun out from the Cleveland Clinic in 2007. The Cleveland-based company currently employs four full-time and two part-time members. But as the technology moves into other disease applications, Aras anticipates exponential growth.
Source: Rahul Aras, Juventas TherapeuticsWriter: Douglas Trattner