R. Rex Parris, President and Chairman of the Board of biotech company CarthroniX, announced a donation of $50,000 to Denis Evseenko of the Keck School of Medicine of USC to support continued research in the field longevity.
Evseenko was recently awarded a $1.69 million research project grant from the National Institutes of Health to address how to slow arthritis in aging joints. He has helped develop breakthroughs in molecular studies that identified and characterized the unique cell populations that form the superficial human joint cartilage zone.
An associate professor of orthopaedic surgery and stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, Evseenko is one of the world’s leading medical researchers of arthritis and how gene activity drives cartilage development.
“The CDC reports that 23% of all adults, or 54 million people, have some form of arthritis and are limited in their activities due to severe joint pain,” said Mr. Parris. “Dr. Evseenko’s work will help tens of millions of people in this country and many more worldwide, living with arthritis’s daily struggle. Now there is evidence that it will also extend the quality of life and longevity.”
CarthroniX is comprised of scientists and surgeons with expertise in regenerative medicine and stem cell research. Their research is focused on creating novel small molecules to stimulate the regrowth of healthy cartilage. Evseenko’s work fits seamlessly with CarthroniX’s goals of extending the quality of life for millions of people. Osteoarthritis is one component of the aging process as cartilage degenerates over time, especially after injury and wear and tear.
Recently, it was discovered that some of the small molecules studied to treat arthritis also reverse the aging of human cells in vitro. This gift will enable Evseenko’s lab to advance to the next stage of research. The CX-1 small molecule will hopefully slow the aging of mice. If this is confirmed, CarthroniX will seek FDA approval of human trials to investigate CX-1’s effect on human longevity and regeneration of vital organs.
“This gift will help us explore some fundamental and transformative questions related to life span extension,” said Evseenko.
CarthroniX novel technologies are proven to preserve, repair, and regenerate cartilage in joints and suppress inflammation in large animals. CarthroniX is developing two types of drugs: one that is both regenerative and anti-inflammatory, and a second that is solely anti-inflammatory.