Capricor Therapeutics, a Los Angeles-based company, published an update about its CIRM-funded clinical trial for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a devastating degenerative muscle disease that significantly reduces life expectancy.

The company reported positive results from their Phase I/II HOPE trial that’s testing the safety of their cardiosphere stem cell-based therapy called CAP-1002. The trial had 25 patients, 13 of which received the cells and 12 who received normal treatment. No serious adverse effects were observed suggesting that the treatment is “generally safe” thus far.

Patients given a single dose of CAP-1002 showed improvements “in certain measures of cardiac and upper limb function” after six months. They also experienced a reduction of cardiac scar tissue and a thickening of the heart’s left ventricle wall, which is typically thinned in DMD patients.

Capricor shared more details on their six-month trial results in a webcast this week, and you can read about them in this blog by Rare Disease Report.

Leading cause of death for DMD patients

DMD is a severe form of muscular dystrophy caused by a recessive genetic mutation in the dystrophin gene on the X chromosome. Consequently, men are much more likely to get the disease than women. Symptoms of DMD start with muscle weakness as early as four years of age, which then leads to deterioration of both skeletal and heart muscle. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in DMD patients – a fact that Capricor hopes to change with its clinical trial.

Capricor’s CEO, Dr. Linda Marbán, commented in a press release that the trial’s results support the findings of other researchers.

“These initial positive clinical results build upon a large body of preclinical data which illustrate CAP-1002’s potential to broadly improve the condition of those afflicted by DMD, as they show that cardiosphere-derived cells exert salutary effects on cardiac and skeletal muscle.”

Also quoted in the press release was Pat Furlong, DMD patient advocate and CEO of Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy.

Pat Furlong

“I’m excited to see these data, especially given the advanced nature of the patients in the HOPE trial. It is also gratifying to see the field of cell therapy making progress after more than two decades in development. It is our hope that CAP-1002 will have broad potential to improve the lives of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.”

Pat recently spoke at the 2^nd Annual CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinics meeting about her heartbreaking experience of losing two sons to DMD, both at a very young age. You can watch her speech below. We also featured her story and her inspiring efforts to promote DMD awareness in our 2016 Annual Report.

What to HOPE for next?

The trial is a year-long study and Capricor will report 12-month results at the end of 2017. In the meantime, Dr. Marbán and her team have plans to talk with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about the regulatory options for getting CAP-1002 approved and on the market for DMD patients. She explained,

Linda Marban, CEO of Capricor Therapeutics

“We have submitted an FDA meeting request to discuss these results as well as next steps in our development of CAP-1002 for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which includes our plan to begin a clinical trial of intravenously-administered CAP-1002 in the latter half of this year. We believe the interim HOPE results may enable us to pursue one of the FDA’s Expedited Programs for Serious Conditions, and we will apply for either or both of the Breakthrough Therapy and Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designations for CAP-1002.”

Related Links:

• HOPE for patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy-associated heart disease
• Ready Set Go: CIRM funded clinical trial for heart disease finishes patient enrollment