Our lead clinical product is a tissue-engineered nigrostriatal pathway (TE-NSP) that mimics the lost nigrostriatal pathway in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). TE-NSPs are microinjected into the brain, with the TE-NSP cell bodies implanted into the substantia nigra and their axonal projections terminating in the striatum. Then the TE-NSPs create synaptic connections within the local architecture, further establishing a biologically relevant network integrated with the existing neuroanatomy.
Other PD cell therapies infuse dopaminergic neurons straight into the striatum, potentially creating uncontrolled dopamine release. TE-NSP recapitulate the lost circuitry in PD patients, allowing for refined and controlled dopamine release.