Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and partner Athersys, Inc. announced updated results from its phase I clinical trial of MultiStem®, its allogeneic cell therapy product, administered to individuals following acute myocardial infarction (AMI), commonly referred to as a heart attack. The updated study results were presented at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) Conference held in Washington, D.C. The results demonstrate that MultiStem was well tolerated at all dose levels and suggest improvement in heart function in patients.

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According to the University of Granada, Spanish researchers have employed for the first time adult cells extracted from a human heart to turn stem cells from adipose tissue into cardiac myocytes. In other words, they achieved to “reprogram” adult stem cells, which might improve treatments for heart disease therapeutical.

At present, the use of stem cells in treatments for heart disease is one of the most common practices. However, working with stem cells without targeting heart tissue negatively affects the efficacy of treatments. Therefore, inducing cell differentiation into cardiac muscle (cardiomyocytes) may be one of the best options in the treatment of these pathologies.