The pioneering therapy that could roll back the rigours of ageing
Israel-based Minovia Therapeutics is the first company in the world to start testing mitochondrial transplantation in humans, which could treat incurable diseases and keep bodies younger for longer.
Mitochondria are tiny compartments within cells that act like batteries, supplying the cell with the energy it needs to function.
In ageing and certain diseases, the mitochondria stop working efficiently, starving the cells of energy, similar to the batteries running down in a machine.
But scientists have now shown that it is possible to 'augment' cells with supercharged mitochondria from the placenta.
Minovia has already completed clinical trials of the new therapy for patients with Pearson's Syndrome - a mitochondrial disease - and is planning to trial the treatment in elderly people next year.
Dr Natalie Yivgi-Ohana, CEO and co-founder of Minovia, said: 'It's actually a very natural process for cells to take up mitochondria when they come in contact with them, but it was usually only one in 1000 cells that would do it.
'In the past 13 years, we've developed a method to maximise cellular take up without harming the cells or the mitochondria, so now more than 50 per cent of cells take up a significant amount of mitochondria.
'We take it from the youngest and healthiest organ, which is the placenta and which is full of super mitochondria and yet it's normally thrown away like garbage. We could find it to be the fountain of youth.'
To make the therapy, scientists take the mitochondria from a healthy donated placenta and mix them with blood stem cells, which are then infused back into the patient's bloodstream.
Not only do the super mitochondria help to produce more energy in cells, but they also reactivate natural quality control functions inside cells, which keep failing mitochondria at bay. So over time, the level of the body's healthy mitochondria also goes up.
Last month, the company released phase 2 results for Pearson Syndrome, which can cause a range of problems in children, including failure to thrive, diabetes and neurological issues.
There are currently no approved therapies for the condition, and care is only palliative, with patients dying during childhood. But the new therapy has led to marked improvements.
'Severe energy failure'
'These were all paediatric patients and they suffer severe energy failure, so they are not growing,' added Dr Yivgi-Ohana.
'It took a few months, but we have started observing improvement in their energy and less fatigue, more waking hours. We observed improvement in renal function, improvement in appetite, in growth.'
Now the company is turning its attention towards ageing, and is hoping that growing older may one day be seen as a treatable disease.
The company is planning to start trials of the treatment for elderly people in Israel next year and is developing biomarkers so they can test whether older people are experiencing mitochondrial dysfunction.
It could even help diseases of ageing, such as Parkinson's, which is strongly linked to mitochondrial dysfunction.
'Significant in almost every disease'
'We are all going to suffer mitochondrial disease as we age,' added Dr Yivgi-Ohana.
'Ageing is not considered a disease, but if we have a way to demonstrate that actually, as we age, we become mitochondrially dysfunctional, then that would be the trigger to propose a treatment.
'We want to start next year treating elderly people with mitochondrial dysfunction in longevity clinics and demonstrate that it really helps. '
She added: 'The scalability in terms of the mitochondria is unlimited, there are no limitations of placentas and the amount of mitochondria that we can harvest and cryopreserve.'
'Mitochondria are such powerful organelles, and they can transfer between cells, so their sensing and their information transfer is so significant in almost every disease that you will look at.'
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