The Keck School of Medicine of USC has launched a strategic collaboration with StemCardia, a biotechnology company, founded by a Keck School of Medicine faculty member, that develops cellular and genetic therapies to address heart failure. Heart failure, which happens when the heart cannot pump blood sufficiently throughout the body, is the leading cause of death worldwide. In the United States, it contributes to 1 in every 8 deaths and is the most common reason for hospitalization among adults over 65.
But few treatment options exist, which is why only about half of patients with heart failure survive more than five years after their diagnosis. Innovation is urgently needed to prolong lives and to reduce the substantial burden of heart failure on health care systems around the world. Those pressing needs spurred the new collaborative effort, which aligns StemCardia's technology with the pioneering research of the company's founder, Charles (Chuck) Murry, MD, PhD.
Murry established the company in 2023 while working for the University of Washington. Now, he is chair of the KSOM Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC. "This alliance gives us a clear path for translating our scientific results into therapeutic technologies that can benefit countless patients around the world," said Murry, who is also StemCardia's chief executive officer.
"We are enthusiastic.