CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American and TASE: LCTX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing allogeneic cell therapies for unmet medical needs, today announced it will be hosting a virtual Investor and Analyst Day on February 22, 2021 at 1:30pm PT / 4:30pm ET to discuss the company’s OPC1 program for acute spinal cord injury. Lineage management will be joined by therapeutic area expert Edward Wirth, III, M.D., Ph.D., for an update on OPC1, an oligodendrocyte progenitor cell (OPC) transplant designed to provide clinically meaningful improvements in motor recovery for individuals with acute spinal cord injuries (SCI). The OPC1 program has been partially funded by a $14.3 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) and has received Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation and Orphan Drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Jason McCarthy, Ph.D., Senior Managing Director, Biotechnology, Maxim Group, LLC will moderate the event and interested parties can register for the event directly on the Solebury Trout Events Page.
Interested investors can access the live webcast on the Events and Presentations section of Lineage’s website. Additional videos are available on the Media page of the Lineage website.
“We are fortunate to have Dr. Wirth available to review the clinical data collected to date and discuss the opportunity to use oligodendrocyte progenitor cell transplants to aid recovery following a severe spinal cord injury. Dr. Wirth also will discuss our recently announced partnership with Neurgain Technologies, Inc. to evaluate an improved delivery system designed to allow for more precise administration of cells with shorter cessation of a patient’s respiration,” stated Brian Culley, CEO. “Ed has broad experience with the development of cell-based therapies for spinal cord injury and neurological disorders and notably, led the team which conducted the first human pluripotent stem cell spinal cord transplant in the United States.”
Therapeutic Expert: Edward Wirth, III, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Wirth currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer at Aspen Neuroscience, Inc., a company working to develop best-in-class autologous cell therapies for neurological diseases such as Parkinson disease. Dr. Wirth’s specialties include clinical trials, translational research, stem cells, cell-based therapies, magnetic resonance imaging, spinal cord injury and neurological disorders.
Dr. Edward Wirth completed the M.D./Ph.D. program at the University of Florida (UF) in 1994. He elected to remain at UF to conduct postdoctoral research and subsequently joined the faculty in 1996. From 1997 to 2002, Dr. Wirth led the UF team that performed the first human pluripotent stem cell spinal cord transplant in the United States. This study demonstrated the feasibility and safety of implanting cell line-derived spinal cord cells into patients with post-traumatic syringomyelia (a complication of spinal cord injury). From 2002 to 2004, Dr. Wirth held academic appointments at Rush Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center and at the University of Chicago. From 2004 to 2011, he served as Medical Director for Regenerative Medicine at Geron Corporation, where he led the world’s first clinical trial of a hESC-derived transplant. In 2013 he joined Asterias Biotherapeutics and served as its Chief Translational Officer from 2013 to 2015 and Chief Medical Officer from 2015 to 2019. At Asterias, Dr. Wirth led the expansion and completion of the clinical trial which demonstrated the initial clinical safety and activity of OPC1 in patients with subacute spinal cord injuries. He briefly served as Chief Medical Officer of Lineage Cell Therapeutics, which acquired Asterias in March 2019, before joining Aspen Neuroscience as its Chief Medical Officer.
About Spinal Cord Injuries
A spinal cord injury (SCI) occurs when the spinal cord is subjected to a severe crush or contusion and frequently results in severe functional impairment, including limb paralysis, aberrant pain signaling, and loss of bladder control and other body functions. There are approximately 18,000 new spinal cord injuries annually in the U.S. There are no FDA-approved drugs specifically for the treatment of SCI. The cost of a lifetime of care for a severe spinal cord injury can be as high as $5 million.
About Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc.
Lineage Cell Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel cell therapies for unmet medical needs. Lineage’s programs are based on its robust proprietary cell-based therapy platform and associated in-house development and manufacturing capabilities. With this platform Lineage develops and manufactures specialized, terminally differentiated human cells from its pluripotent and progenitor cell starting materials. These differentiated cells are developed to either replace or support cells that are dysfunctional or absent due to degenerative disease or traumatic injury or administered as a means of helping the body mount an effective immune response to cancer. Lineage’s clinical programs are in markets with billion dollar opportunities and include three allogeneic (“off-the-shelf”) product candidates: (i) OpRegen®, a retinal pigment epithelium transplant therapy in Phase 1/2a development for the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in the developed world; (ii) OPC1, an oligodendrocyte progenitor cell therapy in Phase 1/2a development for the treatment of acute spinal cord injuries; and (iii) VAC, an allogeneic dendritic cell therapy platform for immuno-oncology and infectious disease, currently in clinical development for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. For more information, please visit www.lineagecell.com or follow the Company on Twitter @LineageCell.
