IPS HEART Secures 8th FDA Regulatory Milestone with Rare Pediatric Drug Designation for Cardiomyopathy Associated with Muscular Dystrophies
HOUSTON–IPS HEART, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company pioneering induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cell replacement therapies, announced that the FDA has granted Rare Pediatric Drug Designation for ISX9-CPC, for the treatment of cardiomyopathies associated with dystrophinopathies.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) leads to progressive skeletal muscle loss, severe cardiac fibrosis, and premature death frequently driven by cardiomyopathy. While exon skipping and gene therapies face clinical limitations related to safety, limited clinical benefit, and cannot restore full-length dystrophin, IPS HEART’s iPSC platforms address the root cause of muscle degeneration.
Using small-molecule directed differentiation, IPS HEART generates de novo, functional human muscle cells that express full-length dystrophin in preclinical models:
- ISX9-CPC (Cardiac Muscle): Designed to replace fibrotic scar tissue with new, contractile myocardium, demonstrating functional regeneration and improved ejection fraction in preclinical models.
- GIVI-MPCs (Skeletal Muscle): Designed to generate new human skeletal muscle tissue and restore full-length human dystrophin in multiple dystrophic animal models.
IPS HEART Targets 2027 Clinical Trial
IPS HEART is on track to file its Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the FDA and subject to clearance, initiate a first-in-human clinical trial for DMD patients using GIVI-MPCs to restore skeletal muscle with full dystrophin in 2027.
Japan’s PMDA has recently granted the world’s first commercial authorizations for allogeneic iPSC-derived cell therapies that include heart failure.
“Our focus is genuine disease modification in the muscular dystrophies — conditions that require new, healthy muscle – the domain of regenerative medicine,” said Rauf Ashraf, CEO of IPS HEART. “With ISX9-CPC for the heart and GIVI-MPCs planned for clinical entry next year for skeletal muscle, we are leveraging the full power of our iPSC platform to deliver meaningful treatment options.”
While IPS HEART clinical trials are not currently enrolling, it plans to submit an IND and subject to FDA clearance, begin a first-in-human study in 2027.
About IPS HEART, Inc.
IPS HEART, Inc. develops human iPSC-derived cell therapies for cardiac and skeletal muscle diseases, including Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy and heart failure.
About ISX9-CPC and GIVI-MPCs
ISX9-CPC is IPS HEART’s lead cardiac cell therapy, an iPSC-derived cell product designed to treat cardiomyopathy linked to muscular dystrophies like Duchenne and Becker. Rather than working around the genetic defect like gene therapies do, it generates new, functional heart muscle cells to replace scar tissue, showing improved heart function in preclinical models. It recently received FDA Rare Pediatric Drug Designation, IPS HEART’s 8th regulatory milestone for the program.
GIVI-MPCs is IPS HEART’s skeletal muscle cell therapy, designed to generate new human skeletal muscle tissue and restore full-length dystrophin in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. In multiple dystrophic animal models, it has successfully restored full-length human dystrophin. IPS HEART is targeting an IND filing and, subject to FDA clearance, a first-in-human clinical trial using GIVI-MPCs in 2027.
