jCyte to Conduct Clinical Trial on Stem Cell Therapy for Retinitis Pigmentosa

More information is emerging today on the clinical trial for a retinal eye disease supported by the California stem cell agency, which has already committed $20 million or so to the project.

Henry Klassen and Jing Yang

The trial will be conducted by jCyte, Inc., of Newport Beach, Ca., close to UC Irvine where the principal investigator, Henry Klassen, works. The firm was founded by Klassen and Jing Yang, also of UC Irvine.

The jCyte Web site is a bit thin, but it did say it hopes to "leverage national qnd international partnerships."

Klassen wrote on the site;

"Please bear in mind that this is just the beginning. Not the beginning of our labors, certainly (which go back decades), but the beginning of the clinical undertaking. The whole project remains experimental, yet all of our hopes are running high. So, while this does not translate immediately into a treatment, it opens the door to that possibility." 

The CIRM Web site also has a progress report from Klassen on his research plus more details of the science.

CIRM said in its press release yesterday that the agency had provided $21 million for Klassen's research. However, its Web site today shows only $19 million, We are asking CIRM about the difference,

The jCyte team, photo from jCyte