Progenitor Cells Secreting GDNF for the Treatment of ALS

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Grant Award Details

Grant Type:

Disease Team Therapy Development – Research

Grant Number:

DR2A-05320

Investigator(s):

Name:

Professor Clive Niels Svendsen

Institution:

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Type:

Disease Focus:

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Neurological Disorders

Human Stem Cell Use:

Adult or Tissue Stem Cell

Award Value:

$16,168,464

Status:

Closed

Progress Reports

Reporting Period:

Year 1

Reporting Period:

Year 2

The goal of this project is to produce a clinical grade of human neural progenitor cells that are modified to release the powerful growth factor GDNF that protects dying motor neurons in the spinal cord. In year 2 of this project, we have significantly advanced all aspects of the study and overcome a major hurdle related to the production of the clinical grade human neural progenitor cells (our product that is called CNS10-NPC-GDNF). The challenge was to scale up our laboratory methods (where we produce only a few vials of the cells for lab use) to a clinical grade set of over 1000 vials. Thanks to a major collaborative effort with the City of Hope, many weeks of trouble shooting, and the tenacity of our own scientists, and the CIRM funding, we are happy to report that we now have a clinical grade lot of cells (1,200 vials) for use in all of our animal testing studies and the clinical trial itself. In addition we have now completed all of our dose ranging studies and demonstrated that transplantation CNS10-NPC-GDNF in the lumbar spinal cord of an ALS rat model has a neuroprotective effect on motor neurons at all doses investigated. During this year we have completed more pilot studies in the pig using a novel delivery device (developed by Cedars-Sinai) that will now be used to deliver the cells to the spinal cord of the patients in the trial and is currently moving though the regulatory pathway. Our ALS clinic has expanded rapidly over the past year and implemented more extensive patient testing using the new CIRM funded ATLAS chair to assess overall body strength. Given the size of our clinic we are now confident of recruiting enough patients within southern California to alter the trial from multi sites to a single site within California – Cedars-Sinai. This will allow a more focused approach and development of this novel treatment locally – with subsequent expansion to more sites. We have recruited more members of the clinical team to allow for this. Finally we have continued to present our results at meetings around the world and publish our data in the spirit of communicating this important work to both the scientific community and public.

Reporting Period:

Year 3

Reporting Period:

Year 4

Grant Application Details

Application Title:

Progenitor Cells Secreting GDNF for the Treatment of ALS

Public Abstract:

This project aims to use a powerful combined neural progenitor cell and growth factor approach to treat patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease). ALS is a devastating disease for which there is no treatment or cure. Progression from early muscle twitches to complete paralysis and death usually happens within 4 years. Every 90 minutes someone is diagnosed with ALS in the USA, and every 90 minutes someone dies from ALS. In California the death rate is one person every one and a half days. Human neural progenitor cells found early in brain development can be isolated and expanded in culture to large banks of billions of cell. When transplanted into animal models of ALS they have been shown to mature into support cells for dying motor neurons called astrocytes. In other studies, growth factors such as glial cell line-derived growth factor (or GDNF) have been shown to protect motor neurons from damage in a number of different animal models including ALS. However, delivering GDNF to the spinal cord has been almost impossible as it does not cross from the blood to the tissue of the spinal cord. The idea behind the current proposal is to modify human neural progenitor cells to produce GDNF and then transplant these cells into patients. There they act as “Trojan horses”, arriving at sick motor neurons and delivering the drug exactly where it is needed. A number of advances in human neural progenitor cell biology along with new surgical approaches have allowed us to create this disease team approach.
The focus of the proposal will be to perform essential preclinical studies in relevant preclinical animal models that will establish optimal doses and safe procedures for translating this progenitor cell and growth factor therapy into human patients. The Phase 1/2a clinical study will inject the cells into one side of the lumbar spinal cord (that supplies the legs with neural impulses) of 12 ALS patients from the state of California. The progression in the treated leg vs. the non treated leg will be compared to see if the cells slow down progression of the disease. This is the first time a combined progenitor cell and growth factor treatment has been explored for patients with ALS.

Statement of Benefit to California:

ALS is a devastating disease, and also puts a large burden on state resources through the need of full time care givers and hospital equipment. It is estimated that the cost of caring for an ALS patient in the late stage of disease while on a respiration is $200,000-300,000 per year. While primarily a humanitarian effort to avoid suffering, this project will also ease the cost of caring for ALS patients in California if ultimately successful. As the first trial in the world to combine progenitor cell and gene transfer of a growth factor, it will make California a center of excellence for these types of studies. This in turn will attract scientists, clinicians, and companies interested in this area of medicine to the state of California thus increasing state revenue and state prestige in the rapidly growing field of Regenerative Medicine.

Publications

Hum Mol Genet (2013): Back to the future: how human induced pluripotent stem cells will transform regenerative medicine. (PubMed: 23945396)
J Vis Exp (2014): A cGMP-applicable Expansion Method for Aggregates of Human Neural Stem and Progenitor Cells Derived From Pluripotent Stem Cells or Fetal Brain Tissue. (PubMed: 24962813)
Neuroreport (2013): Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor-secreting human neural progenitors show long-term survival, maturation into astrocytes, and no tumor formation following transplantation into the spinal cord of immunocompromised rats. (PubMed: 24284956)
Nat Med (2022): Transplantation of human neural progenitor cells secreting GDNF into the spinal cord of patients with ALS: a phase 1/2a trial. (PubMed: 36064599)