Excigen provides an electric opportunity; SiReen's protein mutagenesis

Genzyme Biosurgery has tapped into cardiovascular gene therapy IP from start-up company Excigen Inc. to add to its cardiothoracic portfolio of biomaterials and biotherapeutics, including gene- and cell-based therapies. The partnership will put a commercial platform on top of a base of research into the electrophysiology of the cardiovascular system built by Excigen founders Eduardo Marban and J. Kevin Donahue, both physicians at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The goal is to be in the clinic in three years.

Much of Marban's work has centered on the mechanisms and pathways of arrhythmias, and understanding how best to ameliorate the condition that often is intertwined with ischemia and heart failure. Out of that work, according to GZBX President Duke Collier, has come a significant amount of IP covering the discovery of certain genes and the mechanism of action of those genes. ...