Shaping the Future of Longevity With Yaky Yanay And James “Jim” Roosevelt from Pluri : How Pluri’s Therapies Are Shaping the Future of Aging and Healthcare

In this exclusive TechBullion interview, Yaky Yanay, CEO of Pluri, and James “Jim” Roosevelt, a member of Pluri’s Advisory Board, explore the innovative therapies Pluri is developing to shape the future of healthcare and ageing. Pluri is focused on cell-based solutions to address age-related diseases and healthcare needs, leveraging their proprietary 3D cell expansion technology, which expands potent placental cells to help the body regenerate. Yanay discusses the company’s goals in developing scalable, allogeneic cell therapies to treat various age-related conditions, including knee osteoarthritis and difficult-to-treat cancers. Roosevelt, drawing on his healthcare leadership experience, emphasizes the importance of Pluri’s work in advancing healthcare for older populations and how their innovations, like the MAIT cell platform for cancer treatment, could revolutionize eldercare and oncology.

The conversation also highlights Pluri’s broader mission, connecting their healthcare innovations to other sectors like Agtech and Foodtech, as they aim to foster global wellbeing and sustainability. Both Yanay and Roosevelt underline the importance of equity in healthcare, ensuring these cutting-edge therapies will be accessible to all, not just the privileged few, contributing to a more equitable and sustainable future for aging populations.

Could you please tell us more about you?

Yaky Yanay is CEO and president of Pluri. Having joined the company in 2006, he was appointed as CEO in June 2019 after serving as president since February 2014. Mr. Yanay is the former co-chairman and current board member of Israel Advanced Technology Industries (IATI), the largest umbrella organization representing Israel’s life science and high-tech industries. Before joining Pluri, Mr. Yanay was the chief financial officer of Elbit Vision Systems Ltd. a public, machine vision, high-tech company and, prior to that, served as manager at Ernst & Young Israel. Mr. Yanay holds a bachelor’s degree with honors in business administration and accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant in Israel.

James Roosevelt is a member of the Pluri Advisory Board and the former CEO of Tufts Health Plan, New England’s second-largest health plan. He’s also worked as a healthcare lawyer for many years in Boston, served as associate commissioner for retirement policy for the Social Security Administration and chaired several boards, including the Massachusetts Hospital Association and the Massachusetts Association health plans. He was also a member of the board of the American Hospital Association. 

Yaky: Pluri’s mission revolves around advancing cell-based solutions for unmet patient needs. Can you explain how your proprietary 3D cell expansion technology  is uniquely suited to tackle the challenges of aging and age-related diseases?

We are particularly excited about helping people live better and potentially longer through cell therapies, which is why many of our preclinical and clinical programs explore a wide range of age-related therapeutic areas, including vascular disease, inflammation-related conditions, muscle injuries, and hematological disorders.

Our 3D cell expansion technology enables us to expand placental cells and use them to manufacture cell therapies. Placenta cells are potent, allogeneic and powerful cells that encourage the body to regenerate itself.

The major advantage of an allogeneic solution is that our product candidates do not require genetic or tissue matching prior to administration, meaning they have the potential to be administered in almost any clinical setting. Other cell therapies, particularly immunotherapies for oncology treatment, must be individually produced for each patient, which is effective, but also expensive, time consuming, and limiting in terms of treating many patients. 

James: As a member of Pluri’s Advisory Board, what excites you most about the company’s potential to address the healthcare needs of older adults, particularly through regenerative medicine and immunotherapy?

Pluri’s work goes beyond an idea or theory about what might work scientifically, and then, therapeutically. For more than two decades, the company has been building a very solid, integrated structure that includes their proprietary 3D cell expansion technology as well as their collected expertise that will allow them to effectively develop and produce cell therapies. Notably, their deep understanding of how to create and expand multiple types of cells also makes them an attractive partner to other research institutions that are exploring how cell therapies can address the conditions that often affect older adults.

Regarding immunotherapy, I think Pluri’s recently announced platform to create allogeneic placental mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells for potential treatment of solid tumors is notable. Despite enormous strides made in the treatment of hematologic cancers with immunotherapy, solid tumors remain difficult to treat. The MAIT cells Pluri is creating are potent effector cells, which eases and hastens their migration directly to solid tumor sites — with the added bonus that these cells are shown to reduce the likelihood of graft-versus-host-disease (GvHD), a serious complication and limitation associated with other potential allogeneic products. Hence, the forthcoming research about how these cells can be applied to treatment across patient populations vs. treating one patient at a time is very important. 

Yaky: Pluri’s collaboration with Charité in Berlin, backed by Horizon Europe funding, is an exciting milestone. What can we expect from the upcoming Phase I/II study using PLX-PAD for knee osteoarthritis, and how does this project align with Pluri’s broader goals in age-related research?

There is currently no effective disease-modifying treatment for osteoarthritis (OA), only symptomatic treatment at a late stage. According to the World Health Organization, more than 73% of people ages 55 and older have OA, most commonly in the knee,  which is why it aligns with our age-related research goals.

OA is also the third-most-rapidly growing disease associated with disability, showing an increase of 30% over the past decade and currently affecting more than 500 million people worldwide and about 50 million in Europe. OA also represents a huge healthcare burden, with U.S. indirect costs amounting to 1% of the gross national product.

The Phase I/IIa study to evaluate PLX-PAD for the reduction of inflammation and cartilage degeneration will be carried out by Charité, Pluri, and other members of the international consortium under the leadership of Professor Tobias Winkler, principal investigator (PI) of the Julius Wolff Institute and Center for Musculoskeletal Surgery at the Berlin Institute of Health Center for Regenerative Therapies. Our goal is to supply treatment for this unmet need. We hope for a successful study — and that the outcome will allow us to move forward and introduce this treatment to the world. 

Yaky: The use of placental cells in Pluri’s MAIT cell platform offers inherent biological advantages for treating cancers. Can you elaborate on the significance of these cells and how they may revolutionize treatments for difficult-to-treat cancers?

CAR-T immunotherapy, which uses conventional T cells, has shown monumental success in treating hematological malignancies, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approving six autologous CAR-T cell therapies to date. However, equivalent success has yet to be duplicated in solid tumor malignancies. Moreover, the availability and cost of such treatments restrict them to a small population due to the complex nature of autologous therapy. What’s unique about Pluri’s immunotherapy approach is that our cells are targeting solid tumors, and Pluri’s MAIT cells have the potential to become a targeted, allogeneic, affordable and scalable treatment with reduced risk for complications.

Pluri’s MAIT cells offer substantial benefits versus conventional T cells. They’re isolated from human placentas, which are rich in highly potent allogeneic immune cells. These cells express high levels of various chemokine receptors, which facilitate their migration directly to tumor sites.

Furthermore, unlike conventional T cells typically collected from peripheral blood, Pluri’s placental MAIT cells demonstrate a very restricted TCR, which minimizes their likelihood of inducing graft-versus-host-disease (GvHD) and suggests that they may persist in the body for a longer duration. Also, it’s important to note that we’re aiming to create an off-the-shelf, ready-to-go therapeutic that can be created from a healthy donor and used across patients, versus the current standard of care, which creates each immunotherapy treatment for an individual patient.

James: The aging population presents both challenges and opportunities in healthcare. How do you see Pluri’s innovations, such as the MAIT cell platform, addressing not just current medical needs but also reshaping the future of eldercare and oncology treatment?

It’s because of the healthcare advances that have taken place over the last half century and improvements in nutrition and public health accessibility that we are all living longer in the United States, Europe, and Japan but also in parts of the world with sizable and growing younger populations where they also see increasing elder populations. The technologies developed by Pluri will provide real therapies to deal with the consequences of aging.  The timing is almost perfect for these products and research, which are especially needed in today’s society.

Yaky: You will be presenting at Longevity Nation 2024 (Oct. 28-31), a conference that will explore the interrelations of science, technology, and society in addressing the challenges of population aging. With modern medicine extending life expectancy, the focus is now shifting toward ensuring longer, healthier lives. How does Pluri’s work contribute to this “longevity revolution,” and what are the broader implications for public health policy? 

As James alluded to, people are living longer, and we are now dealing with conditions we never had to deal with before. Thus, we need to find new ways to treat age-related conditions. We believe our cell therapies can treat many of these conditions, potentially improving quality of life for the elderly population while providing much-needed support for strained healthcare systems around the world.

Yaky: Climate change is increasingly impacting global health. Pluri’s technology is also being used to advance Agtech and Foodtech, sectors critical to sustaining global populations. How do these areas of Pluri’s work intersect with your mission in healthcare and longevity?

Pluri’s technology harnesses the potential of cell-based products across various industries, driving forward global wellbeing and sustainability. All life — plant, animal, and human — starts from cells as their building blocks.

Everything in our world is interconnected — cells, people, nature, and everything in between. Thus, longevity is not solely about addressing age-related illnesses; it’s fundamentally about ensuring access to nutritious food, fostering sustainable agriculture, and cultivating a healthy environment.

At Pluri, we believe that these elements are intrinsically linked to our mission in healthcare and longevity, creating a holistic approach that enhances quality of life for all.

James: As someone deeply involved in healthcare advocacy, what lessons from your broader career do you see being applied at Pluri in terms of the ethical and practical challenges of developing and deploying next-generation therapies for an aging world?

What draws my support and enthusiasm is Pluri’s commitment to equity. They are working towards creating solutions that entire populations might access, not just those who can afford experimental treatments or who are in clinical trials. So I see what Pluri has developed and is developing as enhancing healthcare equity, particularly in aging populations, but ultimately, in public health as well.