Disease Focus: Neurological Disorders


Clinical Translation of Allogenic Regenerative Cell Therapy for White Matter Stroke and Vascular Dementia

Translational Candidate Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived glial enriched progenitors Area of Impact Vascular dementia and white matter stroke, addressing a current bottleneck of poor scale up for existing cell differentiation protocols. Mechanism of Action Preliminary in vivo efficacy studies indicate that the MOA is in the promotion of new connections in the brain after […]

Clinical Translation of Allogenic Regenerative Cell Therapy for White Matter Stroke and Vascular Dementia

Translational Candidate Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived glial enriched progenitors Area of Impact Vascular dementia and white matter stroke, addressing a current bottleneck of poor scale up for existing cell differentiation protocols. Mechanism of Action Preliminary in vivo efficacy studies indicate that the MOA is in the promotion of new connections in the brain after […]

Development of a human stem cell-derived inhibitory neuron therapeutic for the treatment of chronic focal epilepsy

Translational Candidate A cellular therapeutic comprised of inhibitory nerve cells produced from human stem cells Area of Impact Drug-resistant chronic temporal lobe epilepsy Mechanism of Action The product candidate is intended to be delivered into the seizure focus, integrate, and secrete the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA to rebalance neural electrical activity in the brain and eliminate/reduce […]

Human Neural Stem Cells (hNSCs) for neuroprotection in perinatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury (HII)-Pre-IND-enabling Studies

Translational Candidate An established stable human neural stem cell line unmanipulated genetically & propagated under defined conditions Area of Impact Perinatal asphyxia (also called hypoxic-ischemic injury), a major untreatable cause of cerebral palsy & cognitive disability Mechanism of Action hNSCs rescue the penumbra, the part of the brain lesion following perinatal asphyxia that still has […]

Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Neural Stem Cells for Severe Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)

Translational Candidate H9 (WA09) embryonic stem cell-derived neural stem cells with a spinal cord identity (H9-NSCsc) Area of Impact Severe spinal cord injury Mechanism of Action Our candidate therapy for SCI uses human neural stem cells in a gel-like matrix containing growth factors. We aim to fill the injury site with replacement neural stem cells […]

An optimized human neural stem cell line (hNSC) for the treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI)

Translational Candidate Shef6.1 embryonic cells will be enriched for a neural stem cell marker, CD133. These human neural stem cells (hNSCs) are designated as S6.133.hNSCs. Area of Impact Shef6.1 human neural stem cells will be tested as a treatment for memory & behavioral deficits resulting from traumatic brain injury (TBI). Mechanism of Action Traumatic brain […]

Human iPSC-derived GABAergic Progenitors for Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment

Translational Candidate Human iPSC-derived GABAergic interneuron progenitors. Area of Impact Alzheimer's disease and related conditions. Mechanism of Action Transplantation of human iPSC-derived GABAergic progenitors, which will develop into mature GABAergic interneurons, to replace the lost GABAergic interneurons in the hippocampus of AD brains and related disorders. Unmet Medical Need As a complex disease that damages […]

Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Neural Stem Cell Transplants in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Translational Candidate Spinal cord injections of human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived allogeneic neural stem cells (heNSCs) for treatment of ALS Area of Impact Treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Mechanism of Action Although the exact molecular mechanism of action is unknown, extensive research supports the concept that the behavior of defective astrocytes is key to […]

Process development for establishing an iPSC-based therapeutic candidate for Canavan disease

Translational Candidate Genetically-corrected patient iPSC-derived neural progenitor cells, which have demonstrated efficacy to correct disease phenotype in a CD mouse model. Area of Impact This candidate has the potential to develop into a therapy for Canavan disease, a fatal neurological disease that has no cure or standard treatment. Mechanism of Action The proposed candidate is […]

Overexpression of HexA/HexB by lentivector expression in blood cells to treat Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff disease

Translational Candidate Autologous hematopoietic stem cells transduced with a lentiviral vector expressing wild type human HexA and HexB. Area of Impact The therapeutic candidate would halt disease progression in Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff disease patients who have no curative or ameliorating treatment. Mechanism of Action Wild type HexA and HexB will be delivered to affected neurons […]