SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwired - August 26, 2014) - Targazyme, Inc. (formerly America Stem Cell, Inc.), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel enzyme technologies and products to improve efficacy outcomes for cancer immunotherapy and cell therapy, announced today the receipt of an SBIR award to fund the development of genetically-modified mesenchymal stem cells treated with Targazyme's lead product, TZ101 for treatment of oral mucositis. This SBIR award is from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and Targazyme will be collaborating with Dr. Christina Jamieson at the Department of Surgery, University of California San Diego School of Medicine.

Mucositis is a common side effect of chemo- and radiotherapy with respect to patients receiving head and neck radiation, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or multi-cycle chemotherapy for solid tumors. It has been estimated that nearly 40% of all patients treated with standard doses of chemotherapy experience some degree of mucositis while nearly all patients undergoing high-dose chemotherapy experience this depilating side effect. Mucositis continues to represent an important medical need in any oncology patients especially with recently emergent molecularly targeted therapies that are causing unique toxicities of the mucosa.

"Replenishing the mucous membrane tissues of the mouth and nose will relieve one of the most painful and serious side-effects of cancer therapies. Strengthening this tissue with TZ101 treated mesenchymal stem cells may also help patients fight off infections and help them to tolerate even more effective anti-cancer therapies," said Dr. Christina Jamieson, Assistant Professor of Surgery, UC San Diego, School of Medicine. "We are grateful for this research support. I look forward to continuing our successful collaboration in hopes that we may bring treatments like this to patients with cancer more quickly."

"Treatment of mesenchymal stem cells with TZ101 targets them more effectively to sites of inflammation, making them more efficient at ameliorating the damage of mucositis," said Lynnet Koh, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Targazyme. "This support from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research provides additional validation of our development program and of TZ101's potential to meaningfully improve clinical efficacy outcomes for the larger field of cell therapy and regenerative medicine."

About Targazyme, Inc.

Targazyme, Inc. is a privately-held biotechnology company based in San Antonio, TX with additional offices in San Diego, CA and Basel, Switzerland. Its key technology platforms (TZ101 and TZ102) are designed to improve the homing and engraftment of a wide variety of therapeutic cells to target tissues. Applications in development include hematopoietic stem cell transplants, immunotherapies for solid tumors, cell therapies to ameliorate graft-versus-host and autoimmune disease, and cell therapies for ischemic disease such as myocardial infarction and stroke. Targazyme has partnerships and collaborations with Kyowa Hakko Kirin and Florida Biologix, as well as various medical research institutions including The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Texas Transplant Institutes, Case Western/University Hospitals, Scripps Hospitals, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, University of California San Diego, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute and Indian University. Learn more at http://www.targazyme.com