San Diego-based Fate Therapeutics, which focuses on the discovery and development of adult stem cell modulators, has announced that its Wnt protein therapeutic program, in development for use in skeletal muscle regeneration, has moved several steps closer to its goal.
After dealing with manufacture, formulation and delivery issues, Fate now has a selection of candidate proteins and has validated their therapeutic potential in a number of preclinical animal models. Naturally occurring proteins in the Wnt family are involved in stem cell fate and tissue development and repair.
Fate's FT301 program includes a number of proprietary Wnt7a-based protein therapeutics that are in development for the regeneration of skeletal muscle by modulating stem cells. In August, Fate snagged $9.2 million of equity financing, but the specific programs that this will support have not been disclosed.
The company also said it has strengthened its advisory team by adding K. Christopher Garcia of Stanford University School of Medicine, the researcher who published the first molecular structure of a Wnt protein.
- read the press release