WATERTOWN, Mass. — LifeMine Therapeutics announced the formation of a clinical advisory board comprising leading transplant surgeons and physicians to guide the development of LIFE-001, an experimental immunosuppressive drug designed to prevent organ transplant rejection while potentially reducing treatment-related complications.
The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company is developing LIFE-001 as a long-acting injectable calcineurin activation inhibitor intended to provide immunosuppression without certain toxicities associated with existing calcineurin inhibitors, including tacrolimus and cyclosporine.
LIFE-001 is currently being evaluated in a first-in-human Phase 1 clinical trial. LifeMine plans to initiate a Phase 2 study in kidney transplant recipients and a Phase 1b study in islet cell transplantation in early 2027.
“Despite tremendous advances in transplantation, the immunosuppressive therapies used to prevent organ rejection continue to impose a significant lifelong burden on patients,” said Gregory Verdine, Ph.D., co-founder, president and CEO of LifeMine Therapeutics.
“LIFE-001 was designed from the outset to preserve the power of calcineurin inhibition while overcoming fundamental limitations of legacy calcineurin inhibitors,” Verdine added.
The advisory board will be chaired by Dr. Andrew Cameron, surgeon-in-chief of Johns Hopkins Hospital, and will provide guidance on clinical development, transplant immunology and strategies to improve outcomes for transplant recipients.
“Calcineurin inhibitors transformed the field of transplantation and remain foundational to preventing organ rejection, but their toxicities can have significant consequences for patients who may require lifelong treatment,” Cameron said.
He added that LIFE-001 represents a different approach to calcineurin inhibition that could potentially maintain immunosuppressive effectiveness while reducing complications associated with existing treatments.
The eight-member advisory board includes:
- Dr. Andrew Cameron, director of the Department of Surgery and surgeon-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
- Dr. Andrew Adams, professor and chief of the Division of Transplantation at the University of Minnesota.
- Dr. Roy Bloom, professor of medicine and medical director of the Kidney Transplant Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
- Dr. Beatrice Concepcion, medical director at the University of Chicago Medicine.
- Dr. John Gill, professor of medicine and academic head of kidney transplantation at the University of British Columbia.
- Dr. Nicolae Leca, medical director at the University of Washington Medical Center.
- Dr. Roslyn Mannon, vice chair of research in internal medicine and associate chief of research in nephrology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
- Dr. Flavio Vincenti, kidney and pancreas transplantation specialist at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center.
Gill emphasized the importance of developing treatments that preserve transplanted organs over longer periods, particularly for younger patients who may eventually require additional transplants.
“There remains a significant need for new approaches that can provide the immunosuppressive efficacy required to prevent rejection while reducing the toxicities associated with lifelong treatment and improve quality of life for patients,” Gill said.
LifeMine uses its proprietary Top-Down Drug Discovery platform, which applies digital genomic search technology to fungi to identify potential precision medicines.
The company said its new advisory board will support the advancement of LIFE-001 through clinical trials as it evaluates the drug’s potential to improve long-term outcomes for organ transplant recipients.
