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IMEL Biotherapeutics

Mitochondrial
Rescue Therapy

Cell-based Therapies for Mitochondrial Dysfunction

Mitochondrial
Rescue Therapy

Cell-based Therapies for Mitochondrial Dysfunction

Targeting mitochondrial dysfunction

IMEL develops cell-based therapies to restore mitochondrial function for the treatment of genetic diseases and age-related indications. Our unique approach enables replacing the dysfunctional mitochondria with healthy mitochondria in a cell to reprogram its functionality.

Mitochondrial dysfunction is the core of a vast range of diseases

Mitochondria are the primary source of energy production in the cell. Found in nearly every cell in the body, they are critical for healthy organ function. Mitochondrial dysfunction has clinical manifestation mainly in multiple systems involving organs that have high energy demands, e.g., brain, skeletal muscles, heart, and pancreas.

Functional mitochondria
Functional mitochondria
Genetic Dysfunction
Genetic Dysfunction
Acquired dysfunction
Acquired dysfunction

Mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the hallmarks of aging

Acquired mitochondrial dysfunction is involved in many age-related disorders such as neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and inflammatory diseases.

  • Alzheimer’s disease
  • Immunosenescence
  • Pulmonary fibrosis
  • Chronic kidney disease
  • COPD
  • Metabolic disease
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Liver disease

Inherited mitochondrial disfunction are manifested in multiple genetic diseases

Inherited mitochondrial disorders are caused by mutations in mitochondrial or nuclear DNA and is involved in more than 50 genetic-related diseases, including:

  • Leigh syndrome
  • MELAS
  • LHON
  • cPEO
  • KSS
  • MNGIE
  • Bath Syndrome
  • Friedreich’s Ataxia

The new era
of mitochondrial therapies

Our approach:
Rescuing mitochondrial function

At IMEL, our cell-based therapy rescues mitochondrial function by replacing dysfunctional mitochondria and increasing the number of healthy mitochondria in a cell (the MirC process). Doing so we restore energy production and function to cells, organs, and systems. The technology can potentially be applied to a wide range of inherited and age-associated indications that lack treatment options today.

IMEL’s products: Autologous mitochondrial replaced cells

We are developing autologous mitochondria-replaced cells (MirC) as an intravenously infused cell therapy for the treatment of patients with mitochondrial dysfunctions. The patients' cells are collected, undergo the MirC process, and returned to the patient.

1: Collect

Collect blood cells via apheresis

2: Select

Select target cells

3: Replace

Replace target cells with the healthy donor mitochondria

4: Prepare

Prepare cell-based product for treatment

5: Infuse

Mitochondria replaced product

Lead Team

CEO

Silvia Noiman, PhD, MBA
COO

Dori Pelled, PhD
VP Medical

Dayana Michel, MD

CEO

Silvia Noiman, PhD, MBA

Dr. Noiman is the founder, Chair, and Chief Executive Officer of IMEL. She is a serial entrepreneur and leading executive with over 30 years’ experience in the Life Science industry. Dr. Noiman has been a venture partner at Pontifax and founded many of Pontifax’s portfolio companies. In 2013, she founded the rare diseases company Eloxx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ELOX) and served as the CEO from inception to a successful IPO. Previously, she chaired the immuno-oncology company cCAM Biotherapeutics (acquired by Merck). She also founded and served as Senior Vice President of the computational drug design company Predix (NASDAQ, EPIX). Dr. Noiman holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and an MBA from Tel Aviv University and did her post-doc studies at the Weizmann Institute of Science.

COO

Dori Pelled, PhD

Dr. Pelled is a senior biopharmaceutical executive with decades of experience in drug development, and he has been the Chief Operating Officer at IMEL since 2019. Previously, he was the Vice President of Research & Development at the rare genetic diseases company Eloxx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ELOX). Earlier, he was Director of Preclinical Research at the orphan indications company Chiasma Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CHMA; acquired by Amryt Pharma, NASDQA: AMYT) and Chief Technology Officer and Director of Clinical Development at the lipid-based products company Enzymotec (NASDAQ:ENZY; acquired by Frutarom, LSE:FRUT/TASE:FRUT). Dr. Pelled earned his PhD in Biochemistry from the Weizmann Institute of Science.

VP Medical

Dayana Michel, MD

Dr. Michel joined IMEL in 2022 as Vice President Medical. A clinical leader with over 20 years’ experience in pharmaceutical R&D—ranging from CRO to Biotech—she also has international experience in medical leadership positions. Dr. Michel is concurrently serving as Vice President Medical at Kamari Pharma. Before joining IMEL, she was Vice President and program lead for solid tumors at Karyopharm Therapeutics (NASDAQ: KPTI), where she led solid tumor programs in all aspects from strategic to medical to operational. Dr. Michel holds an MD degree from the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, the Technion in Israel, and an active license to practice medicine in Israel.

Board of Directors

CEO

Silvia Noiman, PhD, MBA

Tomer Kariv, JD

Taro Inaba

CEO

Silvia Noiman, PhD, MBA

Dr. Noiman is the founder, Chair, and Chief Executive Officer of IMEL. She is a serial entrepreneur and leading executive with over 30 years’ experience in the Life Science industry. Dr. Noiman has been a venture partner at Pontifax and founded many of Pontifax’s portfolio companies. In 2013, she founded the rare diseases company Eloxx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ELOX) and served as the CEO from inception to a successful IPO. Previously, she chaired the immuno-oncology company cCAM Biotherapeutics (acquired by Merck). She also founded and served as Senior Vice President of the computational drug design company Predix (NASDAQ, EPIX). Dr. Noiman holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and an MBA from Tel Aviv University and did her post-doc studies at the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Tomer Kariv, JD

Mr. Tomer Kariv is a board member at IMEL. He also serves as the Chairman and as a member of the board of directors of Eloxx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ELOX). For the past 14 years Mr. Kariv has been the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of The Pontifax Group, which established six funds with over $1.2 billion under management and invested in over 100 portfolio companies. Mr. Kariv also serves on the board of directors of many of The Pontifax Group’s portfolio companies. Mr. Kariv has 14 years of experience as a seasoned venture capital industry executive; has played a key role in investing, managing, and nurturing technology-driven companies and startups; and has held senior management positions at top Israeli financial institutions. Mr. Kariv received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Harvard University and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

Taro Inaba

Taro Inaba is a founder and a board member at IMEL. He has over 30 years of business development and venture investment experience. His successful investments include Actimis Pharma, Boston Biomedical, and Hutchison Medipharma. He spent 13 years at Mitsui Ventures where he pursued cross-border biotech investment models. He spun out of Mitsui and created Reminges Ventures, an independent cross-border venture capital firm focused on life science with principal offices in Boston and Tokyo. Remiges plays a lead investor role for Series A rounds globally and it creates de-novo companies based on intellectual properties from Japanese academia. Mr. Inaba is Managing Partner there as well as sitting on the boards of 7 of the Remiges portfolio companies. Mr. Inaba is also Director of Koinobori, a philanthropic entity dedicated to promoting functional recovery in patients with mitochondrial diseases. Mr. Inaba holds a B.E. in Polymer Chemistry, Kyoto University, and MBA from European University.

Advisory board

Prof. Satoshi Gojo, MD, PhD

Prof. Sir Douglass Turnbull, FRCP, FMedSci, FRS

Prof. Marni J. Falk, MD

Prof. Orian Shirihai, MD, PhD

Prof. Amnon Peled, PhD

Prof. Satoshi Gojo, MD, PhD

Prof. Gojo is the scientific founder and inventor of the IMEL technology. He earned his MD degree at Nara Medical University in 1990, studied gene therapy at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital, and served as Associate Professor at the University of Tokyo (2008-2011), where he focused on regenerative medicine in the treatment of severe heart failure. Since 2011, Prof. Gojo has engaged in intracellular organelles research at the Department of Regenerative Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine. He has been the Chief Scientific Officer of IMEL Therapeutics since 2021.

Prof. Sir Douglass Turnbull, FRCP, FMedSci, FRS

Prof. Turnbull is one of the world’s foremost experts in mitochondrial diseases. He is an emeritus Professor of Neurology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (1990-2020), and served as the Director of the Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research (WCMR; 2011-2020), the Director of the Newcastle University Centre for Ageing and Vitality (2004-2020). In addition, Prof. Turnbull was Honorary Consultant Neurologist, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne (1988-2020) as well as leading the NHS Highly Specialized Service for Rare Mitochondrial Diseases of Adults and Children (2007-2019). He was awarded a knighthood in 2016 for his work preventing genetic diseases.

Prof. Marni J. Falk, MD

Dr. Falk is the Executive Director of the Mitochondrial Medicine Frontier Program at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) as well as Distinguished Endowed Chair and Professor in the Division of Human Genetics within the Department of Pediatrics at University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Falk is a clinical geneticist, attending physician, and PI of clinical trials of potential therapies, diagnostics, and natural history studies in patients living with mitochondrial diseases. In addition, Dr. Falk is a leading primary investigator of a large translational research laboratory program focused on mitochondrial disease in animal and human cell models. She has authored more than 150 publications in the areas of human genetics and mitochondrial disease, is Editor of ‘Mitochondrial Disease Genes Compendium: From Genes to Clinical Manifestations,’ and serves as co-organizer of the Mitochondrial Disease Sequence Data Resource (MSeqDR) Consortium. She received her B.Sc. in Biology and MD degree at the George Washington University School of Medicine and gained board certification in Pediatrics and Medical Genetics after completing dual residency training at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals of Cleveland. She is an elected member of the Interurban Clinical Club and the American Society of Clinical Investigators, as well as a long-time member and former Chair of the Scientific and Medical Advisory Board of the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation.

Prof. Orian Shirihai, MD, PhD

Prof. Shirihai is the director of the Metabolism Unified Research Theme at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Professor of Medicine (Endocrinology) and Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, also at UCLA. Additionally, he is the Chief Scientific Officer of Enspire Bio and Scientific Advisor of LUCA Science. Prior to joining UCLA, Prof. Shirihai was with the Department of Medicine at Boston University Medical Center (BUMC) and Boston University School of Medicine, where he played a pivotal role in the development of cutting-edge technology for high throughput respirometry in collaboration with Seahorse Bioscience. He earned his MD and PhD degrees from the Faculty of Medicine at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

Prof. Amnon Peled, PhD

Prof. Peled is Associate Professor and the Head of the Gene Therapy Institute at Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem, where he directs a laboratory focusing on the role of cytokine in hematopoietic stem cell biology, inflammation, and cancer. For over 20 years, Prof. Peled has been involved in developing novel therapies with Biokine Therapeutics (where he is founder and Chief Scientific Officer), BiolineRX (NASDAQ: BLRX), Gamida Cell (NASDAQ: GMDA), and others. He has co-authored more than 110 publications and is inventor or co-inventor of more than 180 patents related to therapeutic applications in stem cell biology, immunology, and cancer. Prof. Peled holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Cell Biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science and did his post-doc at Harvard Medical School.

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