VistaGen licensed exclusive rights of the cardiac stem cell technologies from University Health Network (UHN), Canada's largest research hospital, pursuant to a strategic research agreement with UHN and distinguished UHN researcher, Dr. Gordon Keller, Director of UHN's McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine (McEwen Centre), one of the world's leading centers for stem cell and regenerative medicine research.
Under the sublicense agreement, VistaGen will receive an upfront cash payment of $1.25m, as well as potential future milestone payments and royalties.
VistaGen CEO Shawn Singh said: "Cardiac cell therapy and regenerative medicine offer new hope for patients battling heart attacks and heart disease worldwide.
"We believe BlueRock will play the leading role in the advancement of potentially life-changing cardiac cellular therapies, advancing these and other ground-breaking discoveries well beyond the lab and into the clinic, while we continue to focus our efforts on advancing AV-101 through Phase 2 clinical development for major depressive disorder and other CNS indications."