SAN DIEGO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 6, 2019 / Targazyme, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel enzyme products to improve efficacy outcomes for stem cell transplantation, immunotherapy, gene therapy and regenerative medicine, announced today an award from The Sexual Medicine Society of North America. This award will fund a pivotal study at The University of Texas Health Science Center to prove the concept that TZ 101 treated mesenchymal stem cells reverses erectile dysfunction in men with prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of death for men. By 2 years, at least 60% of men who receive treatment for prostate cancer, either through prostatectomy or radiotherapy will experience poor erectile function due to nerve and vascular damage. This grows to 80% of men by 15 years.
Therapy using mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) post-treatment to regenerate nerves and vascular tissues has shown promise in reversing these losses of erectile function. However, these therapies are limited by technical need for the mesenchymal cells to home to and be retained within the corpus cavernousm (CC) so that they can be effective in restoring erectile dysfunction. Targazyme's TZ 101 shows great promise in improving mesenchymal stem cell delivery to and retention within the corpus cavernousm to restore nerve, vascular and erectile function' said Dr. Wang Run, Professor of Surgery (Urology) at University of Texas, Houston Medical Center. 'The results from this study will form the basis for entering clinical trials to use TZ 101-treated MSCs to treat erectile dysfunction with the goal of improving the quality of life of men with prostate cancer'.
While we are primarily focused on improving outcomes for patients undergoing cancer immunotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, the granting of this medical award for study of Targazyme's product provides additional validation of our novel platform technologies for improving efficacy, safety and cost of care outcomes for multiple areas of cell therapy including mesenchymal stem cell therapy, said Lynnet Koh, CEO and Chairman of Targazyme. If successful, these results will not only restore quality of life for men after prostate cancer treatment, but also form the basis for the use of TZ101 to enhance mesenchymal stem cell therapy in other disease indications.
About Targazyme, Inc.
Targazyme Inc. is a San Diego-based, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel enzyme-based platform technologies and products to improve clinical efficacy, safety and cost of care outcomes for stem cell transplantation, immunotherapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases, gene therapy and regenerative medicine.
The Company's clinical-grade fucosyltransferase enzymes and small molecule products (TZ101 and TZ102) are off-the-shelf biologic products used at the point-of-care to treat therapeutic cells immediately before infusion into the patient using a simple procedure that is easily incorporated into existing medical practice. The Company has received worldwide patents, multiple FDA orphan drug designations, has an open investigational new drug application (IND) with multiple ongoing clinical studies and a Phase 3 Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) with the FDA. Targazyme's fucosylation technology has received numerous medical and scientific awards from institutions such as NIH, NCI, US Treasury, CPRIT, ETF, OCAST, JDRF, Leukemia, Lymphoma Society.
Targazyme has partnerships and collaborations with Kyowa Hakko Kirin and Florida Biologix, as well as various medical research institutions including The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Texas Transplant Institute, Case Western/University Hospitals, Scripps Hospitals, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, UCLA Medical Center, UCSF Medical Center, UCSD Medical Center, Stanford University Medical Center, University of Minnesota Medical Center, University of California San Diego Medical Center, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, Indiana University, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and New York Blood Center. Learn more at http://www.targazyme.com.
Contact Information:
Vicky Dammer
[email protected]
(973)610-2825
SOURCE: Targazyme