TMCnet News
BEAT BioTherapeutics Announces Scientific Presentation at American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy Annual MeetingBEAT BioTherapeutics Corporation (BEATBio) announced today that co-founder and Scientific Advisory Board member Dr. Michael Regnier will present at the upcoming American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy annual meeting on May 4, 2016, in Washington, DC. Dr. Regnier's presentation is titled "AAV6-mediated Cardiac-specific Overexpression of Ribonucleotide Reductase Enhances Myocardial Contractility via Myosin Activation." The talk will present his work with BEATBio's BB-R12 gene therapy being developed for the treatment of human heart failure. The meeting program summary states, "We have observed, and it has been confirmed by others, that 2 deoxy-ATP (News - Alert) (dATP), when added to ATP, triggers myosin activation and increases cardiac contractility. Using gene therapy, we have translated this finding into a therapeutic approach to heart failure by cardiac-specific upregulation of ribonucleotide reductase, the enzyme that converts small amounts of ATP into dATP. We have tested this approach in cells, rodent models and, most recently, a large-animal (swine) model of heart failure, all with encouraging results. We have also demonstrated rescue of contractility in a canne model of dilated cardiomyopathy and in failing human myocardium. Further animal studies are planned with the goal of treating patients with heart failure." Dr. Regnier is the Director of the Heart and Muscle Mechanics Lab at University of Washington in Seattle where he is also the Washington Research Foundation Endowed Professor of Bioengineering, the Vice-Chair for Bioengineering Research and Adjunct Professor of Physiology & Biophysics. He is an Established Investigator of the American Heart Association, and a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). The ASGCT meeting will be held at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. Dr. Regnier's talk is on Wednesday, May 4, 2016, as part of a symposium: Frontiers in Cardiovascular Gene and Cell Therapy. The symposium is from 8:00 to 10:00 AM in the Washington 3 conference room. The symposium co-chairs are Seppo Yla-Herttuala, MD, PhD, FESC and Charles R. Bridges, MD, ScD. About BEATBio: BEATBio is a Seattle, WA-based biotechnology company focused on the development of BB-R12, a novel biological treatment for heart failure. BB-R12 is a gene therapy based on increasing myocardial dATP to improve cardiac muscle contraction. BEAT Bio holds an exclusive worldwide license to the BB-R12 technology and has completed initial stages of pre-clinical development and manufacturing scale-up. The company is currently raising a Series A financing to complete IND-enabling studies and complete Phase I human trials. Please visit www.beatbiotherapeutics.com for more information.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160502006415/en/ |
