Dr. Ulrich Martin, head of the Leibniz Research Laboratories for Biotechnology and Artificial Organs (LEBAO) at Hanover Medical School (MHH), and Dr. Robert Zweigerdt, a cell biologist at LEBAO, aim to repair the damaged areas of the heart using biotechnologically produced heart muscle cells. They are not relying on individual cells, but on small clusters of human cardiomyocytes, which are produced in large quantities and injected directly into the heart muscle.
They have now investigated this therapeutic concept in collaboration with and at the German Primate Centre in Göttingen, using a model of heart attack in Javanese macaques. The preclinical study showed that the treatment improved heart function after three months. The results have been published in the journal Nature Communications.