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TEDCO grant to help fund stem cell research at Johns Hopkins Medicine
The Maryland Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO) awarded a $750,000 grant to Miami-based biopharmaceutical company Longeveron LLC for stem cell research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
The grant will go toward Longeveron’s clinical trial examining the safety and efficacy of its allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell product to improve flu vaccine immune-response in elderly patients with frailty. The project will be conducted in collaboration with Sean Leng, M.D., Ph.D., and his research team at Johns Hopkins.
Longeveron’s product is derived from the bone marrow of young, healthy adult donors, and is currently being tested in a variety of indications in clinical trials, including Aging Frailty. In 2017, the company published positive Phase I and Phase 2 Aging Frailty study results in the Journals of Gerontology. Frail patients showed marked improvement in physical performance, lung function, and inflammation, with no serious adverse effects attributed to the treatment. The company also recently completed enrollment in the first phase of its flu vaccine immune-response trial.
Longeveron will initiate recruitment for the next phase of its flu vaccine immune-response trial in August, prior to the start of flu season. The company is also recruiting for an expanded Phase 2b Aging Frailty study, as well as a Phase 1 stem cell Alzheimer’s trial. For more information about the stem cell flu study and the other clinical trials.
