Sernova Corp. provided a business update. Following a review of the company's therapeutic pipeline and emerging opportunities for its Cell Pouch system platform technologies, Sernova confirms key priorities including its lighthouse program in insulin dependent Type 1 Diabetes plus its intention to advance an IND filing for its post-operative hypothyroidism program.

Data from a patient in Cohort 2 of the company's lead clinical program for insulin dependent Type 1 diabetes (T1D) confirms histologic evidence of long-term (one year) robust survival of abundant human donor islets throughout the Cell Pouch. Additional Cohort 2 findings are specific to an advanced immunosuppression regimen planned for use in its upcoming Phase I/II trial with stem cell-derived islets under co-development with Evotec. Cohort 2 patients treated with an advanced immunosuppression protocol avoided graft rejection and experienced minimal side e ects in comparison to those patients observed in Cohort 1. None of the six patients in Cohort 2 treated with the advanced regimen have tested positive for donor specific antibodies (DSAs), a marker of graft rejection, in comparison to three of six patients who developed DSAs under the conventional immunosuppression regimen in Cohort 1. Ancillary medication, used in some Cohort 2 patients, demonstrated highly favorable graft survival and function for islets transplanted to the Cell Pouch and has been integrated into the updated regimen and implemented for all subsequent patient trial enrollments.

The company anticipated reporting additional data from Cohort 2 of its ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trial of its expanded 10-channel Cell Pouch during the second half of the year at major medical conferences. Sernova reported that this month marks the four-year anniversary of the first patient in Cohort 1 of this Phase 1/2 study who will celebrate insulin independence and normalized blood sugar levels, based on two transplants of human donor islets to the Cell Pouch plus a marginal portal vein top up.