Science Advisory Board spoke with Seth Ettenberg, PhD, a panelist and CEO of BlueRock Therapeutics, about the value of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). BlueRock, a clinical-stage engineered cell therapy company, has an iPSC-based platform that reprograms mature, differentiated cells back to iPSCs and applies advanced engineering to enhance their therapeutic capabilities.
"The beauty about having a base technology in induced pluripotent stem cells is that we can go on and make any cell type of the body from that core technology -- which, then, means we have a lot of choices to make," Ettenberg said.
These iPSCs can serve as new, authentic replacements of cells damaged or lost to disease and BlueRock is currently focused in the areas of neurology, cardiology, immunology, and ophthalmology, according to Ettenberg.
BlueRock recently closed enrollment for a phase I clinical trial for BRT-DA01, its novel cell therapy for treating Parkinson's disease, and plans to start a global non-interventional study for patients in the second half of 2022.
Watch the video below to learn more.