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news.Covalon Technologies has achieved an important milestone with its EPAS1 technology that is expected to allow Covalon to engineer mesenchymal stem cells for increased expression of EPAS1, a hypoxia inducible factor.
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Covalon has successfully transduced porcine and human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with EPAS1 and demonstrated that the transcription factor can effectively be over expressed in both human and porcine MSCs. The laboratory results show the ability of porcine and human MSCs to over-produce the transcription factor and that it binds DNA in the nucleus of modified cells.
Covalon’s cell therapy program is designed to generate cells that express useful genes at a site of cell therapy for treating ischemic conditions, such as congestive heart failure, chronic wounds, peripheral vascular disease and other conditions. The therapy is also expected to improve blood flow and oxygen delivery to the damaged heart by stimulating the growth of new blood vessels in damaged myocardium, by a process of therapeutic angiogenesis.
EPAS1 is a master gene that is a regulator of the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and several other important angiogenic proteins crucial to new blood vessel growth required to deliver blood, oxygen and nutrients to regenerative tissues by cell transplantation. The EPAS1 technology is intended to restore the beating of the damaged heart tissue with a cell therapy that delivers muscle precursor cells loaded with the EPAS1 gene to enhance blood vessel growth.
Frank DiCosmo, CEO of Covalon, said: “Our program offers the potential for an exciting, minimally invasive alternative to open heart surgery for those suffering from congestive heart failure.”