A group of the nation's most respected
leaders in stem cell biology announced formation of Fate
Therapeutics, a new biotechnology company developing drugs to control cell
fate. Fate will harness the healing power of adult stem cells by using
small molecule drugs to modulate cells in vivo (in the body) and by
reprogramming mature adult cells into stem cells.
"Fate's approach is the dawn of a new day in medicine," said Dr. Ben
Shapiro, retired Executive Vice President of Worldwide Basic Research,
Merck Research Laboratories, and a member of Fate's Science Advisory Board.
"Revolutionary advances in stem cell research have shifted the entire
debate. We are proving that adult stem cell proliferation and
differentiation can be modulated in the human body, and we now have the
ability to induce pluripotent stem cells from adult human tissue rather
than relying on the use of stem cells derived from embryos."
The company expects to have a lead adult stem cell modulating drug, in
a cancer-related indication, enter the clinic in 2008.
Fate Therapeutics' revolutionary platform is two-fold
The Fate platform focuses on both regenerative and reprogramming
medicine. The Fate regenerative medicine platform involves developing drugs
that awaken adult stem cells in the body to repair damaged cells and
tissues. The Fate reprogramming medicine platform involves developing drugs
to reprogram mature adult cells into stem cells which when differentiated
can become healthy heart, bone, brain or other tissues.
Applications of these two approaches include treating the effects of
neurological diseases such as Down syndrome, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's;
healing damaged heart tissue after heart attacks; increasing bone and
muscle strength in the severely frail; and protecting organs after
infection or transplantation. Fate will also tackle devastating cancers,
such as pancreatic and colorectal cancer, by developing drugs to prevent
the expansion and maturation of cancer stem cells.
Fate's approach differs significantly from others working with stem
cells
To date, most stem cell companies have focused on cell therapy using
harvested cells from cord blood or other tissues. In contrast, Fate's
approach focuses exclusively on traditional therapeutics, namely small
molecules and protein therapeutics, to direct cell fate. In addition to its
novel approach, Fate's work has potential broad application across all
degenerative diseases, developmental disorders and cancers, and in enabling
the creation of healthy patient-identical cells for transplantation.
"We have looked at investing in many stem cell companies, but the
science and commercial reality just wasn't there yet," said Robert Nelsen,
founding partner of ARCH Venture Partners, whose firm co-founded Fate. "Now
is the perfect storm; the right biology breakthroughs; a targeted way to
use real drugs; and the leading scientists, entrepreneurs, and investors --
all in the same company to develop breakthrough medicines."
Founders' breakthroughs are breathtaking in scope and implication
Fate's founders include researchers from across the United States and
multiple scientific disciplines, including basic biology, biological
chemistry and translational medicine. As authors of many of the most
far-ranging breakthroughs in stem cell science, the team is defining the
changes in the field:
-- Philip Beachy, Ph.D., Stanford University Institute for Stem Cell
Biology and Regenerative Medicine and HHMI has pioneered the use of
synthetic small molecules and natural products to manipulate activities
of developmental and stem cell signaling pathways in vitro and in vivo.
-- Sheng Ding, Ph.D., Scripps Research Institute, has worked on the
identification of small molecules and genes that control cell fate,
including cell reprogramming and differentiation. Dr. Ding's work has
important implications for the development of small molecule drugs that
can potentiate adult stem cells in vivo, and reprogram differentiated
cells to new functions.
-- Randall Moon, Ph.D., University of Washington, Director, Institute for
Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, HHMI, and UW Department of
Pharmacology, has focused on illuminating the biological pathways that
control adult stem cells during the process of regeneration to develop
new therapeutic methods to activate regeneration.
-- David Scadden, M.D., Professor, Harvard University, Co-director and
Co-founder, Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Director Massachusetts
General Hospital Center for Regenerative Medicine, has broken new
ground in understanding how blood forming stem cells and other adult
stem cells are maintained in the adult body in specialized niches, and
in developing therapies that exploit this biology to modulate adult
stem cells in vivo.
-- Leonard Zon, M.D., Harvard University, Director of the Stem Cell
Program, Children's Hospital of Boston, and HHMI, is a world expert on
the biology of adult blood forming stem cells and methods of enhancing
their function for cancer and regenerative medicine applications
Esteemed scientists to join Fate's Science Advisory Board
In addition to the founding scientists, Fate Therapeutics has garnered
the expertise of additional stem cell scientists, research leaders, and
drug development luminaries to join its Scientific Advisory Board:
-- Robert Langer, Sc.D.: Institute Professor of Chemical and Biomedical
Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
-- Ram Sasisekharan, Ph.D.: Professor of Biological Engineering & Health
Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
-- Ben Shapiro, M.D.: Retired Executive Vice President of Worldwide Basic
Research, Merck Research Laboratories
"Fate's timing is excellent," said Fate's Executive Vice President Tom
St. John. "The science is now mature enough. Clear therapeutic modalities
have emerged, and the cloud of political and ethical debate surrounding
embryonic stem cells is now a thing of the past. We've got a real
opportunity to prove that Fate's adult stem cell therapies are the future
of medicine."
Before joining Fate, St. John was the Vice President of Therapeutic
Development at ICOS Corporation overseeing all of ICOS' development
programs.
World-class investment team lined up behind scientists
The unparalleled scientific team is backed by leading venture capital
firms ARCH Venture Partners, Polaris Venture Partners, Venrock and OVP, all
with successful track records in building some of the world's leading life
sciences companies.
The syndicate group has a combined $7 billion under management.
Ground-breaking biotechnology companies founded by the firms and their
partners include Immunex, IDEC Pharmaceuticals, Gilead Sciences, Genetics
Institute, Illumina, Centocor, Sepracor, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Athena
Neurosciences, Aviron, Corixa, deCode Genetics, Geron, Glycofi, Ikaria,
Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Sirna Therapeutics,
Trubion Pharmaceuticals, Vical and XenoPort.
Fate Therapeutics was co-founded by Alex Rives, of ARCH Venture
Partners. The company's board of directors includes Amir Nashat, General
Partner, Polaris Venture Partners; Robert Nelsen, Co-founder and Managing
Director, ARCH Venture Partners; and Bryan Roberts, Managing General
Partner, Venrock.
About Fate Therapeutics
Fate Therapeutics was founded by the world's leading experts in adult
stem cell biology to develop and commercialize therapies to control the
destiny of cells. The company's revolutionary platforms are focused on
developing medicines that awaken adult stem cells resident within the body
to fight disease and regenerate damaged cells and tissue, and on the use of
small molecules to reprogram mature adult cells to an embryonic-like state.
The company's work has broad application, and offers new hope in the
treatment of degenerative diseases, developmental disorders, and cancer and
in enabling the creation of patient-identical cells for transplantation.
Fate has facilities in Seattle, and soon in California and
Massachusetts. For more information, see fatetherapeutics.
Fate Therapeutics
fatetherapeutics
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий