Cell & Gene Therapies to Regenerate the Heart

StemCardia is developing therapies engineered to repair and strengthen the heart.

No curative treatments are available for chronic heart failure, the leading cause of death.

The heart does not regenerate itself, inspiring our approach to restore cardiac muscle cells.

Heart Disease

  1. Heart Aging. The heart loses significant muscle mass each decade starting in your 20s.

  2. Heart Attack. The risk of irreversible heart damage doubles each decade starting in your 50s.

  3. Heart Failure. Our approach aims to prevent and reverse chronic heart failure.

Heart Failure

  • 6 million people in the US alone have been diagnosed with heart failure.

  • 380,000 people die each year in the US from heart failure, the leading cause of death.

  • 30 million people are projected to be diagnosed with heart failure by 2030.

TEDx Talk:

Breakthroughs:

2023 - Control of cardiac arrhythmias (Cell Stem Cell)

Gene-edited cells move science closer to repairing damaged hearts | The Washington Post

University of Washington and Sana researchers use gene editing to prep stem cells for heart repair | Geekwire

2018 - Restoring mechanical function in primate heart (Nature Biotechnology)

Human stem cells give monkey hearts a boost after heart attacks | CNN

Stem cells help fix damaged hearts in monkeys; human testing is on the way | Geekwire

2014 - First report of heart regeneration in primate (Nature)

Stem cells used to repair animal hearts and human muscle | USA Today

Stem cell treatment repairs damaged hearts in monkeys | The Guardian

2012 - Electrical integration of cardiomyocyte grafts (Nature)

Heart muscle cell grafts suppress arrhythmias after heart attacks in animal study | EurekAlert!

2007 - First small animal proof of functional benefit (Nature Biotechnology)

Stem Cell Treatment Repairs Damaged Rat Hearts | National Institutes of Health