SAN DIEGO, Aug. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- ViaCyte, Inc., a
privately held regenerative medicine company announced today that
it has entered into a Rights Agreement with Janssen Research &
Development LLC (Janssen), one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical
Companies of Johnson & Johnson. The agreement provides
Janssen with a future right to evaluate a transaction related to
the VC-01™ combination product that ViaCyte is developing for type
1 diabetes. This right will continue through the initial evaluation
of clinical efficacy of VC-01. ViaCyte received $20 million from Janssen and Johnson &
Johnson Development Corporation (JJDC). The payment included a
rights fee and a note convertible into equity at a later date. JJDC
has been a long-standing investor in ViaCyte.
This new infusion of capital, together with the recently
announced $5.4 million private equity
financing transaction, provides substantial additional resources
for the further development of the Company's stem cell derived
islet replacement therapy for insulin-dependent diabetes. The
Company plans to use the funds primarily to accelerate the clinical
development of the VC-01 product candidate.
ViaCyte recently announced the allowance by the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration of an Investigational New Drug application for
the VC-01 product candidate, which will permit ViaCyte to begin
clinical evaluation of the VC-01 product candidate for type 1
diabetes. ViaCyte plans to promptly initiate clinical development
directly in patients with type 1 diabetes, seeking to evaluate both
safety and efficacy in this first clinical study.
"These important transactions provide us with additional
resources we need to pursue the further development of the VC-01
product candidate as a potential new treatment option for patients
with type 1 diabetes," said Paul
Laikind, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of
ViaCyte. "We are pleased to be extending our relationship with
Janssen and JJDC in this area of mutual interest."
ViaCyte's VC-01 product candidate consists of pancreatic
progenitor cells, called PEC-01™ cells, which are derived from a
proprietary human embryonic stem cell line, encapsulated in
ViaCyte's proprietary Encaptra® device. When implanted under the
skin, the PEC-01 cells are specifically designed to mature and
further differentiate into insulin-producing beta and other
endocrine cells that regulate blood glucose in a manner similar or
identical to the islets that normally comprise the endocrine
pancreas.
About ViaCyte
ViaCyte is a privately-held regenerative medicine company
focused on developing a novel cell therapy for the treatment of
diabetes. ViaCyte's lead product candidate, VC-01 combination
product, is based on the production of pancreatic progenitor cells
derived from human pluripotent stem cells. These progenitor cells
are implanted in a durable and retrievable encapsulation device.
Once implanted and matured, these cells are designed to secrete
insulin and other regulatory factors in response to blood glucose
levels. The VC-01 combination product is being developed as a
potential long-term diabetes treatment without immune suppression,
and without risk of hypoglycemia or other diabetes-related
complications.
ViaCyte is headquartered in San Diego,
California with additional operations in Athens, Georgia. The Company is funded
in part by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and
JDRF.
Logo -
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121026/LA00871LOGO-a
SOURCE ViaCyte, Inc.