Kidney failure

Medeor Therapeutics Completes Enrollment in CIRM-Funded Clinical Trial for Kidney Transplant Patients

/ Kevin McCormack / 1 Comment

A CIRM-funded clinical trial to help kidney transplant patients avoid the need for anti-rejection or immunosuppressive medications has completed enrollment and transplantation of all patients.

Medeor Therapeutics’ MDR-101 Phase 3 multi-center clinical trial involved 30 patients; 20 of them were treated with MDR-101, and 10 control subjects were given standard care. CIRM awarded Medeor, based in South San Francisco, $18.8 million for this research in January 2018.

More than 650,000 Americans suffer from end-stage kidney disease – a life-threatening condition caused by the loss of kidney function. For these people the best treatment option is a kidney transplant from a genetically matched, living donor. Even matched patients, however, face a lifetime on immunosuppressive drugs to prevent their immune system from rejecting the transplanted organ. These drugs can be effective at preventing rejection, but they come at a cost. Because they are toxic these medications increase a transplant patient’s life-time risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and infections.

Medeor Therapeutics developed its MDR-101 therapy to reprogram the patient’s immune system to accept a transplanted kidney without the need for long term use of immunosuppression drugs.

The company takes peripheral blood stem cells from the organ donor and infuses them into the patient receiving the donor’s kidney. This creates a condition called “mixed chimerism” where immune cells from the donor help the patient’s immune system adapt to and tolerate the donor’s kidney. 

After a standard kidney transplant, the patient is given a combination of three anti-rejection medications which they typically have to remain on for the rest of their lives. However, the Medeor patients, by day 40 post-transplant, are only taking one medication and the hope is that immunosuppression is discontinued at the end of one year.

“Chronic kidney disease and kidney failure are a growing problem in the US, that’s why it’s so important that we find new ways to reduce the burden on patients and increase the odds of a successful transplant with long term benefit,” says Maria T. Millan, M.D., President and CEO of CIRM. “Medeor’s approach may not only reduce the likelihood of a patient’s body rejecting the transplanted organ, but it can also improve the quality of life for these people and reduce overall health care costs by eliminating the need to stay on these immunosuppressive medications for life.”

In an earlier Phase 2 trial, a majority of patients achieved mixed chimerism. Approximately 74 percent of those patients have been off all immunosuppressive drugs for more than two years, including some who continue to be off immunosuppressive medications 15 years after their surgery.

“Today’s news is a tremendous milestone not only for Medeor but for the entire transplant community. This is the first randomized, multi-center pivotal study designed specifically to stop the use of all immunosuppressive anti-rejection drugs post-transplant. This therapy can be a true game changer in our efforts to transform transplant outcomes and help patients live healthier lives,” said Dan Brennan, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Medeor Therapeutics.

If the results from this pivotal clinical trial show that MDR-101 is both safe and effective, Medeor may apply to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval to market their approach to other patients in the U.S.

Two rare diseases, two pieces of good news

/ Kevin McCormack / 1 Comment
Dr. Stephanie Cherqui

Last week saw a flurry of really encouraging reports from projects that CIRM has supported. We blogged about two of them last Wednesday, but here’s another two programs showing promising results.

UC San Diego researcher Dr. Stephanie Cherqui is running a CIRM-funded clinical trial for cystinosis. This is a condition where patients lack the ability to clear an amino acid called cystine from their cells. As the cystine builds up it can lead to multi-organ failure affecting the kidneys, eyes, thyroid, muscle, and pancreas.

Dr. Cherqui uses the patient’s own blood stem cells, that have been genetically corrected in the lab to remove the defective gene that causes the problem. It’s hoped these new cells will help reduce the cystine buildup.

The data presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cell and Gene Therapy (ASCGT) focused on the first patient treated with this approach. Six months after being treated the patient is showing positive trends in kidney function. His glomerular filtration rate (a measure of how well the kidneys are working) has risen from 38 (considered a sign of moderate to severe loss of kidney function) to 52 (mild loss of kidney function). In addition, he has not had to take the medication he previously needed to control the disorder, nor has he experienced any serious side effects from the therapy.

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Dr. Linda Marban of Capricor

Capricor Therapeutics also had some positive news about its therapy for people with Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). This is a progressive genetic disorder that slowly destroys the muscles. It affects mostly boys. By their teens many are unable to walk, and most die of heart or lung failure in their 20’s. 

Capricor is using a therapy called CAP-1002, using cells derived from heart stem cells, in the HOPE-2 clinical trial.

In a news release Capricor said 12-month data from the trial showed improvements in heart function, lung function and upper body strength. In contrast, a placebo control group that didn’t get the CAP-1002 treatment saw their condition deteriorate.

Craig McDonald, M.D., the lead investigator on the study, says these results are really encouraging.  “I am incredibly pleased with the outcome of the HOPE-2 trial which demonstrated clinically relevant benefits of CAP-1002 which resulted in measurable improvements in upper limb, cardiac and respiratory function. This is the first clinical trial which shows benefit to patients in advanced stages of DMD for which treatment options are limited.”

You can read the story of Caleb Sizemore, one of the patients treated in the CIRM-funded portion of this trial.

Huge honor, hugely deserved for CIRM-funded stem cell researcher

/ Kevin McCormack / Leave a comment
Dr. Andy McMahon: Photo courtesy USC

Andy McMahon is one of the most understated, humble and low-key people you are ever likely to meet. He’s also one of the smartest. And he has a collection of titles to prove it. He is the W.M. Keck Provost and University Professor in USC’s departments of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine, and Biological Sciences at the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the European Molecular Biology Organization, and the Royal Society.

Now you can add to that list that Andy is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Election to the NAS is no ordinary honor. It’s one of the highest in the scientific world.

In a USC news release Dean Laura Mosqueda from the Keck School praised Andy saying: “We’re delighted that Dr. McMahon is being recognized as a newly elected member of the National Academy of Sciences. Because new members are elected by current members, this represents recognition of Dr. McMahon’s achievements by his most esteemed peers in all scientific fields.”

Not surprisingly CIRM has funded some of Andy’s work – well, we do pride ourselves on working with the best and brightest scientists – and that research is taking on added importance with the spread of COVID-19. Andy’s area of specialty is kidneys, trying to develop new ways to repair damaged or injured kidneys. Recent studies show that between 3 and 9 percent of patients with COVID-19 develop an acute kidney injury; in effect their kidneys suddenly stop working and many of these patients have to undergo dialysis to stay alive.

Even those who recover are at increased risk for developing more chronic, even end-stage kidney disease. That’s where Andy’s work could prove most useful. His team are using human stem cells to create mini artificial kidneys that have many of the same properties as the real thing. These so-called “organoids” enable us to study chronic kidney disease, come up with ideas to repair damage or slow down the progression of the disease, even help improve the chances of a successful transplant if that becomes necessary.

You can hear Andy talk about his work here:

CIRM is now funding a number of projects targeting COVID-19, including a clinical trial using convalescent plasma gel, and intends investing in more in the coming weeks and months. You can read about that here.

We are also funding several clinical trials targeting kidney failure. You can read about those on our Clinical Trials Dashboard page – diseases are listed alphabetically.

Donor blood stem cells and T cells could help patients wean off immunosuppressive drugs after organ transplant

/ Yimy Villa / 1 Comment
Dr. Samuel Strober is refining a process that eliminates the need for the many immunosuppresant drugs normally required after a transplant.
Image credit: Stanford Medicine News Center

In 2019, there were over 23,000 kidney transplants in the United States, according to figures from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). These transplants can be lifesaving, but the donated organ can be perceived as a foreign invader by the patient’s immune system and attacked. In order to protect the organ from attack, transplant recipients are required to take numerous drugs that suppress the immune system, which are referred to as immunosupressive (IS) drugs. Unfortunately, these drugs, while helping protect the organ, can also cause long term problems such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, infection, a high concentration of fats in the blood, and cancer.

To address this problem, Dr. Samuel Strober and his team at Stanford University are conducting a CIRM-funded clinical trial that gives patients getting a kidney transplant a mixture of their own blood cells and cells from the kidney donor, a process called mixed chimerism.

Pairing patients and donors for transplants is done via Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) matching. HLA are markers on most cells in your body and are used by your immune system to recognize which cells belong to the body. If you are fully HLA matched that means your cells and the donor cells are immunologically compatible, and so less likely to be rejected. If they are HLA haplotypes, it means they are close but not fully matched so rejection is more likely.

In the trial, fifty-one patients with end stage renal failure that had just received a kidney transplant were infused with blood stem cells (cells that can give rise to different kind of blood cells) and T cells (a cell that plays a role in the immune response) obtained from the donor to achieve a mixed chimerism. Of the 51 patients 29 were fully HLA matched, and 22 were HLA haplotype matched.

Standard IS drugs were administered to all the patients after transplantation and the patients were monitored from six to twelve months to ensure there was no organ rejection or graft vs host disease (GVHD), a condition where donated blood stem cells attack the body.

After this period, the patients were taken off the IS drugs and the results of this trial are very promising. Twenty-four of the fully HLA matched patients with a persistent mixed chimerism for at least six months were able to stop taking the IS drugs without evidence of rejection for at least two years. Ten HLA haplotype matched patients with a persistent mixed chimerism for at least twelve months were able to stop taking some of the IS drugs without rejection.

This is encouraging news for patients undergoing any kind of transplant, leading to hope that one day all patients might be able to get a life-saving organ without having to take the IS drugs forever.

The full results of this study were published in Science Translational Medicine.

The Most Important Gift of All

/ Kevin McCormack / Leave a comment
Photo courtesy American Hospital Association

There are many players who have a key role in helping make a stem cell therapy work. The scientists who develop the therapy, the medical team who deliver it and funders like CIRM who provide the money to make this all happen. But vital as they are, in some therapies there is another, even more important group; the people who donate life-saving organs and tissues for transplant and research.

Organ and tissue donation saves lives, increases knowledge of diseases, and allow for the development of novel medications to treat them. When individuals or their families authorize donation for transplant or medical research, they allow their loved ones to build a long-lasting legacy of hope that could not be accomplished in any other way.

Four of CIRM’s clinical trials involve organ donations – three kidney transplant programs (you can read about those here, here and here) and one targeting type 1 diabetes.

Dr. Nikole Neidlinger, the Chief Medical Officer with Donor Network West – the federally designated organ and tissue recovery organization for Northern California and Nevada – says it is important to recognize the critical contribution made in a time of grief and crisis by the families of deceased donors. 

“For many families who donate, a loved one has died, and they are in shock. Even so, they are willing to say yes to giving others a second chance at life and to help others to advance science. Without them, none of this would be possible. It’s the ultimate act of generosity and compassion.”

The latest CIRM-funded clinical trial involving donated tissue is with Dr. Peter Stock and his team at UCSF. They are working on a treatment for type 1 diabetes (T1D), where the body’s immune system destroys its own pancreatic beta cells. These cells are necessary to produce insulin, which regulates blood sugar levels in the body.

In the past people have tried transplanting beta cells, from donated pancreatic islets, into patients with type 1 diabetes to try and reverse the course of the disease. However, this requires islets from multiple donors and the shortage of organ and tissue donors makes this difficult to do.

Dr. Stock’s clinical trial at UCSF aims to address these limitations.  He is going to transplant both pancreatic islets and parathyroid glands, from the same donor, into T1 patients. It’s hoped this combination approach will increase beta cell survival, potentially boosting long-term insulin production and removing the need for multiple donors.  And because the transplant is placed in the patient’s forearm, it makes it easier to monitor the effectiveness and accessibility of the islet transplants. Of equal importance, the development of this site will facilitate the transplantation of stem cell derived beta cells, which are very close to clinical application.

“As a transplant surgeon, it is an absolute privilege to be able to witness the life-saving organ transplants made possible by the selfless generosity of the donor families. It is hard to imagine how families have the will to think about helping others at a time of their greatest grief. It is this willingness to help others that restores my faith in humanity”

Donor Network West plays a vital role in this process. In 2018 alone, the organization recovered 702 donor samples for research. Thanks to the generosity of the donors/donor families, the donor network has been able to provide parathyroid and pancreas tissue essential to make this clinical trial a success”

“One organ donor can save the lives of up to eight people and a tissue donor can heal more than 75 others,” says Dr. Neidlinger. “For families, the knowledge that they are transforming someone’s life, and possibly preventing another family from experiencing this same loss, can serve as a silver lining during their time of sorrow. .”

Organs that can be donated

Kidney (x2), Heart, Lungs (x2), Liver, Pancreas, Intestine

Tissue that can be donated

Corneas, Heart valves, Skin, Bone, Tendons, Cartilage, Veins

Currently, there are over 113,000 people in the U.S. waiting for an organ transplant, of which 84 % are in need of kidneys.  Sadly, 22 people die every day waiting for an organ transplant that does not come in time. The prospect of an effective treatment for type 1 diabetes means hope for thousands of people living with the chronic condition.

71 for Proposition 71

/ Geoffrey Lomax Dr. PH / 3 Comments

Proposition 71 is the state ballot initiative that created California’s Stem Cell Agency. This month, the Agency reached another milestone when the 71st clinical trial was initiated in the CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinics (ASCC) Network. The ASCC Network deploys specialized teams of doctors, nurses and laboratory technicians to conduct stem cell clinical trials at leading California Medical Centers.

StateClinics_Image_CMYK

These teams work with academic and industry partners to support patient-centered for over 40 distinct diseases including:

  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
  • Brain Injury & Stroke
  • Cancer at Multiple Sites
  • Diabetes Type 1
  • Eye Disease / Blindness Heart Failure
  • HIV / AIDS
  • Kidney Failure
  • Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID)
  • Sickle Cell Anemia
  • Spinal Cord Injury

These clinical trials have treated over 400 patients and counting. The Alpha Stem Cell Clinics are part of CIRM’s Strategic Infrastructure. The Strategic Infrastructure program which was developed to support the growth of stem cell / regenerative medicine in California. A comprehensive update of CIRM’s Infrastructure Program was provided to our Board, the ICOC.

CIRM’s infrastructure catalyzes stem cell / regenerative medicine by providing resources to all qualified researchers and organizations requiring specialized expertise. For example, the Alpha Clinics Network is supporting clinical trials from around the world.

Many of these trials are sponsored by commercial companies that have no CIRM funding. To date, the ASCC Network has over $27 million in contracts with outside sponsors. These contracts serve to leverage CIRMs investment and provide the Network’s medical centers with a diverse portfolio of clinical trials to address patients’’ unmet medical needs.

Alpha Clinics – Key Performance Metrics

  • 70+ Clinical Trials
  • 400+ Patients Treated
  • 40+ Disease Indications
  • Over $27 million in contracts with commercial sponsors

The CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinics and broader Infrastructure Programs are supporting stem cell research and regenerative medicine at every level, from laboratory research to product manufacturing to delivery to patients. This infrastructure has emerged to make California the world leader in regenerative medicine. It all started because California’s residents supported a ballot measure and today we have 71 clinical trials for 71.

 

 

How CIRM support helped a promising approach to type 1 diabetes get vital financial backing

/ Kevin McCormack / 1 Comment

Death-Vallery-011

The “Valley of Death” sounds like a scary place from “Lord of the Rings” or “Game of Thrones” that our heroes have to navigate to reach safety. The reality is not that different. It’s the space that young companies have to navigate from having a good idea to getting financial backing, so they can move their projects towards the clinic. At the other side of the Valley are deep-pocket investors, waiting to see what makes it through before deciding if they want to support them.

It’s a Catch 22 situation. Without financing companies can’t make it through the Valley; but they need to get through before the folks with money will considering investing. As a result many companies languish or even fail to make it through the Valley of Death. Without that financial support promising therapies are lost before they even get a chance to show their potential.

CIRM was created, in part, to help those great ideas get through the Valley. That’s why it is so gratifying to hear the news today from ViaCyte – that is developing a promising approach to treating type 1 diabetes – that they have secured $80 million in additional financing.

The money comes from Bain Capital Life Sciences, TPG and RA Capital Management and several other investors. It’s important because it is a kind of vote of confidence in ViaCyte, suggesting these deep-pocket investors believe the company’s approach has real potential.

In a news release Adam Koppel, a Managing Director at Bain, said:

“ViaCyte is the clear leader in beta cell replacement, and we are excited about the lasting impact that it’s stem cell-derived therapies can potentially have on improving treatment and quality of life for people living with insulin-requiring diabetes. We look forward to partnering with ViaCyte’s management team to accelerate the development of ViaCyte’s transformative cell therapies to help patients.”

CIRM has been a big supporter of ViaCyte for several years, investing more than $70 million to help them develop a cell therapy that can be implanted under the skin that is capable of delivering insulin to people with type 1 diabetes when needed. The fact that these investors are now stepping up to help it progress suggests we are not alone in thinking this project has tremendous promise.

But ViaCyte is far from the only company that has benefitted from CIRM’s early and consistent support. This year alone CIRM-funded companies have raised more than $1.0 billion in funding from outside investors; a clear sign of validation not just for the companies and their therapies, but also for CIRM and its judgement.

This includes:

  • Humacyte raising $225 million for its program to help people battling kidney failure
  • Forty Seven Inc. raising $113 million from an Initial Public Offering for its programs targeting different forms of cancer
  • Nohla Therapeutics raising $56 million for its program treating acute myeloid leukemia

We have shown there is a path through the Valley of Death. We are hoping to lead many more companies through that in the coming years, so they can bring their therapies to people who really need them, the patients.