VistaGen Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the use of embryonic stem (ES) cells for drug discovery and development.
Proprietary ES Cell Platform
VistaGen's core R&D platform consists of novel and clinically-relevant human and animal ES cell technologies and associated bioinformatics systems. Our technologies enable the discovery and validation of disease- and pathway-specific proteins that are biological drugs and classical drug targets. VistaGen's novel ES cell biological systems are the basis for innovative custom pharmacology and toxicology screening systems. We believe that the stem cell systems will enable the identification of drug candidates with greater efficiency and higher probability of success compared to traditional approaches. With VistaGen's ES cell technologies, researchers utilize proprietary cell lines and customized differentiation protocols to create a wide range of clinically relevant cells at higher efficiency and purity than the Company's competitors. This is especially relevant for insulin-producing b-islet cells, dopamine-positive neurons, and cells of the heart, liver, blood and vascular organs.
Toxicity Screening Tools
VistaGen's ES cell technologies provide human ES cell-based heart and liver cell systems that address the limitations of current biological systems and focus on the two most relevant cell types for toxicity testing. Additionally, VistaGen's ES cell technologies will enable researchers to assess how genetic differences of people could affect responses to new drugs. VistaGen's ES cell toxicology screening systems could also potentially reduce the number of animals used in drug development.
AV-101
VistaGen's lead drug candidate, AV-101, is a potential first-in-class "GlyB site" antagonist of the NMDA-receptor, entering Phase 1 clinical development for epilepsy and neuropathic pain markets. AV-101 is expected to address the limitations of previous NMDA-receptor antagonists by providing high efficacy and expected low adverse side effects. AV-101 will potentially prevent or delay the onset and reduce the severity of epileptic seizures. Concurrently, AV-101 minimizes neural toxicity that accompanies the pathological activation of NMDA-receptors, which are associated with seizures, inflammation and brain damage. In addition, NMDA-receptors are active in animal models of chronic pain that is typically associated with diabetic, viral and inflammatory neuropathies. Human Resources at: hr@vistagen.com
