Their presentation demonstrated that in a murine pemphigus model, S/F-iTregs significantly decreased clinical scores, circulating anti-Dsg3 IgG titers, and other autoimmune markers related to Pemphigus. Collaborators also reported that S/F-iTregs generated from samples obtained from patients with Pemphigus also showed potent inhibition of autologous T cell proliferation in vitro.

Pemphigus is a serious and sometimes fatal autoimmune skin disease. RegCell's proprietary platform allows for creating induced antigen-specific regulatory T-cells (Tregs) that are stable in vivo and maintain a high degree of functionality (S/F-iTregs). RegCell was cofounded by Professor Shimon Sakaguchi from Osaka university and Kyoto university, who is credited with the original discovery of Tregs.

Tregs play a central role in managing immune self-tolerance and depleted or dysfunctional Tregs are characteristic of many autoimmune disorders. "There has been interest in using Tregs as a treatment for autoimmune disorders for many years.  However, to date, these efforts have been limited by lack of antigen-specificity and persistence. The ability to create stable/functional Treg cells that are antigen-specific has until now been elusive. We believe that RegCell's proprietary platform can accomplish this goal by inducing Tregs from antigen-specific effector T-cells that appear to maintain their functionality, and we look forward to advancing our S/F-iTreg platform into clinical development", said Professor Sakaguchi.