Science

Regenerative medicine through RNA-based therapies

 

Insufficient blood supply to the heart, known as myocardial ischemia, can lead to symptoms such as chest pain, dizziness, and fatigue. This condition may lead to a myocardial infarction (so-called heart attack), one of the leading causes of ischemic heart disease. Currently available therapies for ischemic heart disease are symptomatic and do not cure or halt progression towards heart failure. Therefore, new therapies that can restore heart function, slow disease progression, and reduce post-heart attack complications are essential.

Research has shown that the adult human heart can replace its muscle cells, at a rate of about 0.5-1% per year. However, this rate is not enough to replace the millions of heart cells lost due to a heart attack. Fuelled by enthusiasm about the discoveries of activating proliferation of existing heart muscle cells and revascularisation of cardiac tissue, Summa currently develops two gene therapy approaches that elicit cardiac regeneration.

Therapeutic pipeline

Regeneration of cardiac tissue (i.e. repair or replace damaged cardiac tissue) after a heart attack holds major potential as a novel therapeutic strategy to restore the heart. Therapeutic candidates, currently developed by Summa, hold potential to enhance cardiac muscle proliferation: for effective recovery after ischemia, cardiac muscle cells have insufficient regenerative capacity. Our RNA-based therapies can stimulate the regeneration of cardiac muscle cells, helping them to repair damaged areas of the heart. This is crucial for restoring heart function.