Biotechnology - Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Provasculon was founded to exploit the discovery by Richard Lee, MD, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, and Vincent Segers, MD, a researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital, of novel forms of the growth factor Stromal Cell-Derived Factor-1 (SDF-1).SDF-1 is a well characterized chemokine for attracting stem cells and represents a novel approach for tissue regeneration. A key limitation for therapeutic use of SDF-1 is that it is inactivated by enzymes that are present in injured tissues. Provasculon has licensed new forms of SDF-1 from the Brigham and Women's Hospital that in a paper published in the scientific journal Circulation have been shown to resist inactivation. These new forms represent potential therapies for cardiovascular disease and diabetic ulcers, among other indications.