Dystrogen Therapeutics is a clinical-stage life sciences company advancing a proprietary, patented chimeric cell therapy platform to treat muscle-wasting disorders and rare genetic diseases. Our therapies are designed to restore muscle function by delivering healthy donor-derived organelles, including mitochondria, directly into patient tissues through a novel cell fusion process protected by U.S. and international patents.

The company was founded on the pioneering research of Professor Maria Siemionow, MD, PhD, a globally recognized scientist and surgeon who led the first near-total face transplantation in the United States. Her breakthrough work in transplantation tolerance and immune modulation using chimeric cells laid the foundation for Dystrogen’s therapeutic platform.

Our first clinical program focuses on Dystrophin Expressing Chimeric (DEC) cells, developed specifically for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). For broader applications—such as sarcopenia, cancer cachexia, and age-related muscle degeneration—we are developing Myoblast Chimeric Cells (MCCs). These cells deliver functionally intact donor organelles and are created using our proprietary cell fusion technology, offering immune tolerance, enhanced muscle regeneration, and metabolic restoration—without gene editing or immunosuppressive therapy.

Our technologies are developed in collaboration with the University of Illinois and represent a new frontier in regenerative medicine.

Dystrogen Corporate Presentation (PDF)

• Press Releases:
  • May 27, 2025: Dystrogen Therapeutics Granted U.S. Patent for Myoblast Chimeric Cell Therapy
  • December 20, 2023: Dystrogen Therapeutics Announces Approval of Clinical Trial Application (CTA) to Initiate a Phase 1/2 Clinical Trial of DT-DEC01 for the Treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
  • January 23, 2023: Dystrogen Therapeutics Corp Announces Presentation of Abstracts at the 2023 Muscular Dystrophy Association Clinical & Scientific Conference
  • September 26, 2022: Dystrogen Therapeutics Investigational Chimeric Cell Therapy DT-DEC01 for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Demonstrates Clinically Significant Functional and Biomarker Improvements
  • April 7, 2022: Dystrogen Therapeutics Investigational Chimeric Cell Therapy DT-DEC01 for the Treatment of Duchene Muscular Dystrophy Shows Safety and Functional Improvements
  • January 4, 2022: Dystrogen Therapeutics Announces First in Man Dosing of Novel Chimeric Cell Therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and Reports 6-week Clinical Outcomes
  • August 18, 2020: FDA has granted Dystrogen Therapeutics Rare Pediatric Disease (RPD) Designation and Orphan Drug Designation for the company’s product candidate: Dystrophin Expressing Chimeric (DEC) Cell Therapy Dystrophin Expressing Chimeric DT-DEC01
  • November 05, 2019: /PRNewswire/ Dystrogen Therapeutics announces that treatment with Dystrophin Expressing Chimeric (DEC) Cells improves cardiac function in preclinical Duchenne’s study
  • September 12, 2019: UIC today – Human ‘chimeric’ cells restore crucial protein in Duchenne muscular dystrophy
  • June 6, 2019: The New York Times – Your Surgeon’s Childhood Hobbies May Affect Your Health
  • April 26, 2019: Positive Opinion from Ethics Committee to perform a First-in-Human trial (pdf) – Duchenne therapy

   

• Conferences:
  • 2025 Muscular Dystrophy Association Clinical & Scientific Conference
    Wednesday, March 19, 2025 Oral presentation in Dallas, Texas:
    • “Safety and Efficacy of DT-DEC01 Therapy in Non-Ambulatory Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Patients up to 24 Months after Systemic Administration”
  • 2023 Muscular Dystrophy Association Clinical & Scientific Conference
    March 19-22, 2023 in Dallas, Texas:
    • “Assessment of Preliminary Safety and Efficacy of DT-DEC01 Therapy at 12-months after administration to in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Patients”
    • “Electromyography as an Efficacy Biomarker with Improvement in Motor Unit Potentials after DT-DEC01 Therapy in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Patients”
    • “Prevalence of Anti-HLA Antibodies in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Patients at Screening Visit and After Intra-bone Administration of DT-DEC01 Therapy”
  •  2019 The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Clinical and Scientific Conference
    April 13-17 2019, at the Hyatt Regency, Orlando.At the conference was presented the data from our pre-clinical studies related to systemic delivery of dystrophin expressing chimeric cells “DEC” and how they circumvent the immune response and improve a number of functional characteristics. The new results confirm the feasibility and efficacy of chimeric cell therapy and represent a novel satellite cell-based approach for the treatment of DMD.
    
  • Conference poster: Systemically delivering dystrophin expressing chimeric (DEC) cells circumvents an immune response and improves various functional characteristics.(pdf)