The latest longevity updates from our investment news desk. 

Remedium publishes gene therapy safety data

Gene therapy company Remedium Bio announced the publication of pre-clinical data demonstrating the safety and chondrogenic activity of its gene therapy for osteoarthritis. These data are the first to be published from Remedium’s ongoing research collaboration with Tufts University studying the approach.

The gene therapy is being studied as a single injection treatment for OA in both the human and companion animal markets.

“Our findings confirm the chondrogenic mechanism after a single injection of RMD1101 and provide preliminary confirmation for the potential of the gene therapy approach to treating osteoarthritis,” said Frank Luppino, president and CEO of Remedium.

GenSight reports positive 3-year data

Gene therapy company GenSight Biologics reported topline efficacy and safety results at 3 years post-treatment administration in a Phase 3 clinical trial of its LUMEVOQ therapy. The results show sustained efficacy and favorable safety for bilateral intravitreal injection of the gene therapy with a statistically significant visual acuity improvement from baseline in both treated eyes.

“The REFLECT trial has delivered a further set of results demonstrating the sustained benefit of lenadogene nolparvovec, while reconfirming its safety profile,” said Nancy J Newman, MD, Professor of Ophthalmology and Neurology at Emory University School of Medicine. “In addition, the additional benefit among bilaterally treated patients suggests that injection of both eyes may be the best option for LHON patients with the ND4 mutation.”

SomaLogic analyzes 4,000 samples from Chinese biobank

Proteomics company SomaLogic completed the analysis of 4,000 plasma samples from the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB), one of the world’s largest prospective studies. The SomaLogic team provided more than 28 million data points from the assay, which will be combined with other available genetic, lifestyle, anthropometric and health outcome data to address a range of research questions.

“The large-scale application of proteomics assays in big population biobanks such as CKB will be a game changer,” said Zhengming Chen, Professor of Epidemiology at Oxford Population Health. “Building on the experience gained in these initial 4,000 samples, we will seek to extend the use of the proteomic assay to a much larger number of samples in the near future.”

Heartseed reveals key component of cardiac cell therapy

Cell therapy company Heartseed announced that Recombumin from Albumedix Ltd is a critical component of HS-001, Heartseed’s investigational cardiac remuscularization cell therapy, which has commenced first in human dosing. Recombumin is the world’s only USP-NF compliant recombinant human albumin.

“Heartseed is exceptionally proud of the milestone that the commencement of our in-human trial marks for HS-001,” said Heartseed’s CMO, Dr Takehiko Kaneko. “Albumedix’ near four decades of experience with recombinant albumin, and their Recombumin portfolio, played an important role in supporting the formulation and manufacture of this novel therapy. Our partnership with Albumedix helps us towards our goal of advancing standards of care for patients with heart failure.”

FDA green light for dog longevity study

Pet longevity company Loyal announced it has received protocol concurrence from the FDA for its companion dog longevity study. Protocol concurrence means the FDA has reviewed the scientific design of the study and determined that it meets the required quality standards and will validate whether Loyal’s drug extends canine lifespan and healthspan or not.

As no-one has conducted a longevity drug trial before, the company is building the path to FDA approval largely from scratch.

“This is a huge milestone for any drug company, but it’s especially significant because, to our knowledge, this is the first time the FDA has accepted a clinical study intending to show that a drug extends lifespan and healthspan, rather than only proving efficacy against a single, specific disease – which is the case with most drugs on the market today,” said Karen Greenwood, Loyal’s head of regulatory and strategy.