Pioneering Therapy Could Slow the Effects of Aging

A new groundbreaking therapy could slow down or even reverse aging by recharging body cells with new “batteries” that provide new energy for bodily function. The new therapy utilizes mitochondria from the placenta of infants, which are then transplanted into older people or those suffering from diseases that are currently regarded as incurable. 

Minovia Therapeutics, a company based in Israel, is the first firm globally to test mitochondria transplantation in human beings as a way to help people remain younger for a longer time and also treat conditions that are regarded as incurable. 

Mitochondria are tiny organelles within cells, and they are responsible for providing the energy that each cell needs to perform its tasks. They are like batteries inside cells. In some diseases and as people age, these “batteries” don’t work as they should. As a result, the cells starve in a similar way to a machine that runs out of power and stops working. 

Now scientists have shown that our cells can be given a new burst of energy by introducing mitochondria taken from the placenta. The mitochondria are supercharged and give the recipient a recharge that triggers their own mitochondria to get a new lease of life. 

The pioneering company behind this novel therapy has already completed a clinical trial testing this treatment in kids diagnosed with a mitochondrial condition called Pearson disease. Next year, the company plans to conduct trials on elderly people. 

Minovia’s co-founder and CEO, Doctor N. Yivgi-Ohana, explains that their therapy is actually based on a natural process in which cells receive mitochondria when it is in their vicinity. However, only a tiny fraction (1-in-1000 cells) takes up mitochondria. Ohana adds that for more than a decade, they have been at work searching for a way to ramp up the number of body cells which take up mitochondria in a way that isn’t harmful to the mitochondria or the cells taking it up. Their work managed to raise uptake to at least 50%, and that is more than sufficient to trigger measurable changes in the body. 

The team harvests mitochondria from the healthiest and youngest known organ, which is the placenta. It contains super mitochondria, yet these placentas are usually discarded after the birth of a baby. After obtaining the mitochondria from the placenta, the team then obtains blood stem cells from a patient, mix these two components, and then infuse that mixture back into the patient. 

The transplanted mitochondria provide new energy within the patient’s cells and help in reviving the patient’s own mitochondria to improve their function. In this way, mitochondrial dysfunction reduces and the body can work better than it did before the transplantation. The therapy could therefore be regarded as a fountain of youth, to some extent. 

There is still plenty of work to do to refine and demonstrate the efficacy of this therapy in the wider population, but the findings so far hold great promise. There has been a growing interest in mitochondrial function as a way to treat conditions that have previously been regarded as incurable. Other companies, such as Clene Inc. (NASDAQ: CLNN), are exploring how mitochondrial health can be revived in patients with diseases like multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s. 

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Clene Inc. (NASDAQ: CLNN) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CLNN 

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