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 that the Company has received a grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), to support the 1st Annual Spinal Cord Injury Investor Symposium ("SCIIS"), a newly created forum to discuss the recent innovation, advancements, and challenges in the treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI). The SCIIS is being presented by Lineage and the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. This event aims to bring together a diverse set of parties over the common interest of the development of new therapeutic interventions for SCI. The collaborative effort is intended to increase disease awareness, elevate the probability of success in product development, and promote clinical trial participation through a focus on patient appropriate clinical endpoints and an opportunity for investment and partnerships among and between for-profit and non-profit organizations. To support the SCIIS and these goals, CIRM has awarded Lineage an Education Conference II Grant, with a total award value of $50,000. This award recognizes the SCIIS as an important mission-specific conference, which will allow for the exchange of scientific information, create opportunities to accelerate the development of stem cell therapies to patients, increase the likelihood of successful treatments reaching patients, addresses an unmet clinical need, and can be impactful to CIRM’s overall mission.
“The approaches to and treatment of spinal cord injury are in need of innovation and modernization. This conference was created to help identify, discuss, and address gaps in the product development process and bring new options and ideas to patients in need of better solutions,” stated Brian M. Culley, Lineage CEO. “At Lineage, our approach focuses on transplanting and replacing lost or damaged spinal cord cells in an effort to restore function and improve quality of life, but there are many programs in industry and academia which may help patients and we need events like the SCIIS to drive collaboration and cooperation across the field. We are proud to have the support of CIRM and other leading entities in spinal cord injury advocacy and therapeutic development, as we work to bring greater awareness to the field. The development of our OPC1 product candidate was one of the first clinical trials supported by CIRM and we are grateful to the agency for its continued commitment to SCI. This funding will help support the inaugural SCIIS and its mission to empower a diverse group of healthcare companies, key opinion leaders, patients and caregivers, policy makers, government representatives and others to connect and work together towards a common purpose: encouraging acceleration in SCI research, clinical trials and product development.”
About the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)
CIRM, California's Stem Cell Agency, was created by the voters of California in 2004 with the passing of Proposition 71, which authorized $3 billion in funding for stem cell research in California. The agency funds stem cell research at institutions and companies throughout California (as well as institutions and companies outside of the state that conduct a portion of their research in California) with the goal of accelerating treatments to patients with unmet medical needs. In 2020, California voters approved to continue funding California's Stem Cell Agency through the passage of Proposition 14. CIRM’s mission is to accelerate world class science to deliver transformative regenerative medicine treatments in an equitable manner to a diverse California and world as well as to accelerate stem cell treatments to patients with unmet medical needs. By promoting and encouraging the growth of the stem cell biotechnology sector, the agency is also helping attract the best scientists to the state and establishing California as a global leader in stem cell research. For more information, please visit https://www.cirm.ca.gov/ and follow the agency on Twitter: @CIRMnews.
About the 1st Annual Spinal Cord Injury Investor Symposium
The 1st Annual Spinal Cord Injury Investor Symposium will be held in-person, on June 29, 2023, at the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine in La Jolla, CA. This event will bring together both public and private companies developing new treatment options for people with spinal cord injury, alongside leaders in the spinal cord injury medical and advocacy communities. A number of important topics will be discussed, including current treatment approaches, the impact of SCI, SCI clinical trial participation and ensuring persons with lived experience perspectives, needs & priorities are appropriately captured, including with new clinical assessment tools. Advance registration is required for attendance. For more information about the conference, please visit http://scisymposium.com/ or follow the conversation on Twitter @SCISymposium, using the hashtag #SCIsymposium.
About Spinal Cord Injuries
A spinal cord injury 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. 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 and preclinical programs are in markets with billion dollar opportunities and include five allogeneic ("off-the-shelf") product candidates: (i) OpRegen®, a retinal pigment epithelial cell therapy in Phase 2a development for the treatment of geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, is being developed under a worldwide collaboration with Roche and Genentech, a member of the Roche Group; (ii) OPC1, an oligodendrocyte progenitor cell therapy in Phase 1/2a development for the treatment of acute spinal cord injuries; (iii) VAC2, a dendritic cell therapy produced from Lineage's VAC technology platform for immuno-oncology and infectious disease, currently in Phase 1 clinical development for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer; (iv) ANP1, an auditory neuronal progenitor cell therapy for the potential treatment of auditory neuropathy; and (v) PNC1, a photoreceptor neural cell therapy for the potential treatment of vision loss due to photoreceptor dysfunction or damage. For more information, please visit www.lineagecell.com or follow the company on Twitter @LineageCell.
Forward-Looking Statements
Lineage cautions you that all statements, other than statements of historical facts, contained in this press release, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements, in some cases, can be identified by terms such as "believe," “aim,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “design,” “intend,” “expect,” “could,” “can,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “seek,” “should,” “would,” “contemplate,” “project,” “target,” “tend to,” or the negative version of these words and similar expressions. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to: the effect of the SCIIS, including increasing disease awareness, the probability of success in product development, clinical trial participation, or investment and partnerships; the ability of cell transplant therapy approaches, including OPC1, to improve recovery, allow a patient to regain more function than what could otherwise be expected, or improve a patient’s quality of life. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Lineage’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this press release, including, but not limited to, the following risks: that the SCIIS will not accelerate SCI research, clinical trials or product development; that positive findings in early clinical and/or nonclinical studies of a product candidate may not be predictive of success in subsequent clinical and/or nonclinical studies of that candidate; and those risks and uncertainties inherent in Lineage’s business and other risks discussed in Lineage’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Lineage’s forward-looking statements are based upon its current expectations and involve assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be incorrect. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Further information regarding these and other risks is included under the heading “Risk Factors” in Lineage’s periodic reports with the SEC, including Lineage’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC and its other reports, which are available from the SEC’s website. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they were made. Lineage undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made, except as required by law.
