# Sasineprocel (ANPD001) by Aspen Neuroscience

Canonical page: https://technooptimist.io/biotech/sasineprocel
Frontier: [Biotech](https://technooptimist.io/biotech.md) · Field: Replacement cells · Company: [Aspen Neuroscience](https://technooptimist.io/companies/aspen-neuroscience.md)
Stage: Proto (2 of 5: Research → Proto → Pilot → Deploy → Scaling)
Updated: last update 2026-07-09, facts checked 2026-10-11
Goal: Restore the brain's lost dopamine supply in Parkinson's with the patient's own cells, so the graft is not rejected and no lifelong immune-suppressing drugs are needed.
Status: Phase 1/2a fully dosed (15 patients); 12-month gains reported; preparing for phase 3.
Next milestone: Phase 3 alignment with regulators, target 2026

## Milestones

| Status | Milestone | Date | Slip |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Done | ASPIRO phase 1/2a first patients dosed |   |   |
| Done | 12-month data presented at AD/PD (8 patients) | 18 Mar 2026 |   |
| Done | Cohorts 3–4 dosed with frozen thaw-and-inject cells (15 total) | 30 Jun 2026 |   |
| Current | Phase 3 alignment with regulators | 2026 |   |

## Upcoming events

- **2026**: Phase 3 alignment with regulators

## Most important updates

- **9 Jul 2026**: Aspen completes ASPIRO dosing with a frozen, ready-to-inject cell product ahead of phase 3. Aspen finished dosing cohorts 3 and 4 of its phase 1/2a trial, bringing the total to 15 patients. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/aspen-completes-aspiro-dosing-with-a-frozen-ready-to-inject-cell-cc8e4ff2.md) · [original source](https://www.pharmanow.live/latest-news/aspen-neuroscience-aspiro-cohort-3-4-dosing-sasineprocel-phase-3))
- **18 Mar 2026**: Aspen reports 12-month ASPIRO data: patient-derived dopamine cells improve Parkinson's symptoms without immunosuppression. In a late-breaking talk at AD/PD 2026, Aspen showed one-year results for the first eight patients given dopamine-neuron precursors grown from their own skin cells. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/aspen-reports-12-month-aspiro-data-patient-derived-dopamine-cells-2a7330f8.md) · [original source](https://aspenneuroscience.com/aspen-neuroscience-announces-positive-12-month-data-from-its-aspiro-clinical-trial-in-a-late-breaking-oral-presentation-at-t/))

## Current obstacles

- **Small, open-label data**: Gains come from 8 patients with no control group; brain-surgery trials have strong placebo effects.
- **One batch per patient**: Making cells for each person is slow and costly; the frozen formulation is a step toward scale.

## Physics limits

- **Parkinson's is more than dopamine**: The disease also damages other brain regions and causes non-motor symptoms (falls, dementia) that new dopamine cells don't fix.
- **The disease process may reach new cells**: Misfolded alpha-synuclein spread into grafts in older fetal-cell transplants, so grafts may slowly be damaged by the same process.

## How it works

### Reprogram: Skin cells to stem cells

A small skin biopsy is reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells that can become any cell type.

### Differentiate: Grow dopamine precursors

Stem cells are guided into dopamine-neuron precursors; machine-learning genomic tests check quality at each step.

### Implant: MRI-guided injection

Cells go into the putamen on both sides, where dopamine is missing, through a path from the back of the head.

### Own cells: No rejection

Because the cells are the patient's own, no immune-suppressing drugs or permanent hardware are needed.

## Spec sheet

| Spec | Sasineprocel (ANPD001) | Provenance |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Patients dosed (ASPIRO) | 15 | reported |
| Extra good ON time at 12 months | +2.1 to +2.4 h/day | reported |
| Motor score change (OFF, MDS-UPDRS III) | -13.5 to -15.5 points | reported |
| Cells per brain hemisphere | 5–10 million | reported |
| Immunosuppression | None | reported |

Provenance: reported = stated by the company; estimated = our estimate; sample = a sample figure.

## About Aspen Neuroscience

San Diego company that turns each Parkinson's patient's own skin cells into dopamine-neuron precursors and implants them in the brain, so no immune suppression is needed.

- Sasineprocel (ANPD001): 15 patients dosed in the ASPIRO phase 1/2a by June 2026.
- 12-month data: about 2 more hours a day of good symptom control, without immunosuppression.
- San Diego GMP plant built for pivotal-trial manufacturing; preparing a phase 3 package.

- Headquarters: US
- Status: private
- Website: https://aspenneuroscience.com
- Partners, customers, investors: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (investor)

Company page: https://technooptimist.io/companies/aspen-neuroscience.md

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Everything in Biotech: https://technooptimist.io/biotech.md

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