Theregen’s Anginera Patch Used as Foundation for Beating Heart Cell Patch

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Theregen, Inc. (www.theregen.com) has announced that its Anginera™ heart patch, a living three-dimensional engineered human tissue, was used as the foundation for the ”living band-aid for the heart” reported recently at the 2009 American Heart Association (www.americanheart.org) Cardiovascular Sciences Conference in Las Vegas, NV.

Views of the beating heart tissue are available courtesy of NPR ScienceFriday at http://www.theregen.com/heartbeat_popup.html.

Anginera, an epicardial patch containing living human fibroblast cells and extracellular matrix, induces arteriogenesis, repair and restoration of regional heart function. The heart cells embedded in the Anginera tissue scaffold were derived from rat heart tissue. Researchers Steven Goldman, M.D. and Jordan Lancaster, B.S., from the Southern Arizona Veterans Administration and the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center, reported that the Anginera patch cultured with rat heart cells can beat in coordinated rhythm at various rates (www.sciencefriday.com/videos/watch/10230/).

Anginera is currently in human clinical testing for cardiac applications. The patch has demonstrated an ability to 1.) stimulate new mature blood vessels (arteriogenesis) in the human heart in trial patients and 2.) improve left ventricular function in animal models.

Theregen, Inc. (www.theregen.com) develops cell-based therapies for patients with cardiac disease. Theregen's primary corporate objective is the clinical development and approval of Anginera™, its lead product candidate. Theregen is located in San Francisco, Calif.