SAN DIEGO, Jan. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ViaCyte, Inc., a privately-held regenerative medicine company, announced today that ViaCyte's President and CEO Paul Laikind, Ph.D. will present at Biotech Showcase™ 2020, to be held January 13 to 15 at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square.

During the presentation, Dr. Laikind will discuss ViaCyte's leadership in discovering and developing novel cell replacement therapies to treat human diseases. The company has two product candidates, PEC-Direct and PEC-Encap (also known as VC-01), in clinical trials. Both have the potential to transform the way type 1 diabetes is managed to the extent of providing a functional cure for the disease. With CRISPR Therapeutics, ViaCyte is developing immune-evasive stem cell lines from its proprietary CyT49 pluripotent stem cell line. These immune-evasive stem cell lines, which are being used in the PEC-QT program, have the potential to further broaden the availability of cell therapy for all patients with insulin-requiring diabetes, type 1 and type 2, as well as other potential indications. The Company's leadership is reflected in its robust intellectual property portfolio, which includes hundreds of issued patents and pending applications worldwide.

"ViaCyte has made significant clinical progress advancing a stem cell-derived islet replacement therapy for type 1 diabetes, including the first demonstration of human C-peptide production (a biomarker for insulin production) in patients receiving the PEC-Direct product candidate. These patients were unable to produce detectable levels of C-Peptide before treatment," said Dr. Laikind. "With the significant clinical progress we made last year, we expect that this year we can accelerate our mission to deliver transformative therapies for insulin-requiring diabetes."

Dr. Laikind will be presenting at Biotech Showcase as follows:

Date: Monday, January 13, 2020
Time: 11:15 am PST
Room: Franciscan C (Ballroom Level)
Venue: Hilton San Francisco Union Square Hotel, 333 O'Farrell Street, San Francisco, CA (United States)

Biotech Showcase, produced by Demy-Colton and EBD Group, is an investor conference focused on driving advances in therapeutic development by providing a sophisticated networking platform for executives and investors that fosters investment and partnership opportunities. The conference takes place each year during the course of one of the industry's largest gatherings and busiest weeks.

About ViaCyte

ViaCyte is a privately held regenerative medicine company developing novel cell replacement therapies as potential long-term diabetes treatments to achieve glucose control targets and reduce the risk of hypoglycemia and diabetes-related complications. ViaCyte's product candidates are based on directed differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into PEC-01 pancreatic islet progenitor cells, which are then implanted in durable and retrievable cell delivery devices. Over a decade ago, ViaCyte scientists were the first to report on the production of pancreatic cells from a stem cell starting point and the first to demonstrate in an animal model of diabetes that, once implanted and matured, these cells secrete insulin and other pancreatic hormones in response to blood glucose levels, and can be curative. More recently, ViaCyte demonstrated that when effectively engrafted, PEC-01 cells mature into glucose-responsive insulin producing cells in patients with type 1 diabetes. To accelerate and expand its efforts, ViaCyte has established collaborative partnerships with leading companies including CRISPR Therapeutics and W.L. Gore & Associates. ViaCyte is headquartered in San Diego, California. ViaCyte is funded in part by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) and JDRF.  For more information on ViaCyte, please visit www.viacyte.com and connect with ViaCyte on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

SOURCE ViaCyte, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.viacyte.com