Developing Treatment From Cleveland Biotech Firm Could Help Reduce Heart Failure
Juventas Therapeutics has developed what’s called JVS-100. It’s a gene therapy that uses the body’s own stem cells to fix damaged portions of the heart, and reduce swelling and enlargement …which often leads to severe problems in blood circulation, then heart failure, and eventually death.
Rahul Aras is CEO of Juventas Therapeutics. He’s encouraged at the results so far.
“It’s an indication, A -- that the drug is safe. And B -- that there’s a real potential to have an impact in patients with heart failure," says Aras. "Our next step is to expand the patient population to a larger pool, and really take a deeper, closer look, at how this may affect overall clinical outcomes. We’d look forward to starting those trials next year.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that heart failure afflicts nearly 6 million Americans, and half of those diagnosed die within five years.
Story by ideastream's Brian Bull.