Restoring levels of the immune modulator mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor (MANF) in the muscles of aged animals improved their regenerative capacity by promoting repair-associated injury responses, researchers from the University of Lisbon have discovered.
The science that led Garuda Therapeutics Inc. to a $62 million series B financing was a combination of hard work, luck and serendipity, according to co-founder and CEO Dhvanit Shah. At the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Shah and his fellow researchers found that endothelial cells go through significant modifications before becoming hematopoietic stem cells. That simple discovery, as Shah told BioWorld, brought on research leading to the possibility that patients would not need a marrow donor before receiving a stem cell treatment.
Sensorium Therapeutics Inc. closed a $30 million series A round to fund the discovery and development of new psychiatric drugs, inspired by human ethnobotanical practices that date back hundreds or even thousands of years.
Arizona State University scientists have discovered an unprecedented pathway in a fungus to produce telomerase RNA (TER) from a protein-encoding messenger RNA (mRNA). Unlike in animals and other fungi, this fungal TER is transcribed by RNA polymerase III, lacks a protective 5′ cap and it is processed from the 3′-untranslated region of an mRNA transcript. This telomerase has two essential structural domains that keep it active. For now, scientists have only observed this process in the fungus Ustilago maydis, or Mexican truffle. “In animals, and even in Ascomycota, which is another fungal phylum, the telomerase RNA is transcribed by RNA polymerase II as an independent gene. This is the only case among all different kingdoms in eukaryotes that the telomerase RNA is processed from the mRNA molecule. It is a very unusual biogenesis pathway.” Julian Chen told BioWorld.
Aspen Neuroscience Inc. has closed a series B financing of $147.5 million. The funds will help get its autologous neuron replacement candidate into a phase I/IIa study for Parkinson’s disease. Privately held Aspen has been talking about initiating the phase I/IIa clinical trial since at least 2019. But in April 2022, it came a lot closer to reality. That’s when the company launched its first patient screening studies at several sites in the U.S. Now, the trial-ready cohort study is designed to screen potential participants for the study.
Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research in Japan have deployed improved genetically modified human stem cell-derived retinal transplants to treat rats with retinitis pigmentosa, a major cause of hereditary human blindness.
PERTH, Australia – Stem cell therapy company Mesoblast Ltd. provided new subgroup analyses from its phase III advanced chronic heart failure trial showing a greater treatment benefit from rexlemestrocel-L in high-risk patients with chronic heart failure and low ejection fraction (HFrEF) with diabetes or ischemia.
DUBLIN – Novadip SA raised €19 million (US$22.1 million) in a first close of a series B round to progress its autologous bone regeneration therapy, NVD-003, on either side of the Atlantic. The company is also working on an allogeneic regenerative approach, which is still preclinical.
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare approved Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s Alofisel (darvadstrocel) to treat complex perianal fistulas in patients with non-active or mildly active luminal Crohn’s disease. This marks the first allogeneic stem cell therapy to be greenlighted in the country.
Hebecell Corp. closed on a $53 million series A funding to continue advancing its off-the-shelf pluripotent stem cell CAR-natural killer cell (PSC-CAR-NK) therapy program into the clinic. Allen Feng, Hebecell’s chief scientific officer, has worked in stem cell development for more than 16 years. He’s seen a lot of technological change, especially in the past two years. Everyone is using the same technology, he said, but added that Hebecell’s technology is different from anyone else’s. It’s much simpler technology and has “very good potential” to move into large-scale industrial production.
