Approval from Loewenstein Medical Center enables patient identification for Company's planned first-in-human spinal cord injury study
TEL AVIV, Israel, July 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Matricelf Ltd. (TASE: MTLF), a regenerative medicine company developing personalized, autologous engineered neural tissue for the treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI), today announced that it has received approval from the Helsinki Committee (Institutional Review Board) and the Director of Loewenstein Rehabilitation Medical Center, Israel's leading rehabilitation hospital and one of the country's premier referral centers for spinal cord injury, to begin collecting blood samples from eligible patients with complete thoracic spinal cord injury (AIS A, T2–T12).
The collected blood samples will be used to generate induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are intended to serve as the cellular component of Matricelf's personalized autologous neural implant.
The approval enables the Company to begin identifying and preparing eligible patients for its planned first-in-human clinical study, representing another important operational milestone toward clinical initiation. Collaborating with one of Israel's leading spinal cord injury rehabilitation centers provides access to a highly specialized multidisciplinary clinical team and a concentrated population of potential study candidates, supporting efficient patient identification and future clinical execution.
The approval is limited to blood collection and does not authorize implantation in humans or initiation of the clinical trial, both of which remain subject to additional regulatory and ethics approvals, including authorization from the Israeli Ministry of Health.
"This approval is another meaningful step in our systematic transition from advanced preclinical development into the clinic," said Gil Hakim, Chief Executive Officer of Matricelf. "Partnering with Loewenstein Medical Center, Israel's leading spinal cord injury rehabilitation hospital, is strategically important because it allows us to establish the clinical infrastructure and patient identification pathway required for our planned first-in-human study. Together with our recent GLP safety results, GMP manufacturing progress and ongoing regulatory interactions, we continue to systematically reduce execution risk as we advance toward clinical development."
The announcement follows a series of significant milestones achieved by the Company in recent months, including:
Successful completion of its GLP IND-enabling safety study, achieving all predefined safety endpoints.
Initiation of GMP clinical manufacturing activities for the Company's personalized autologous neural implants.
Continued advancement of efficacy studies supporting the therapeutic potential of the platform.
Ongoing regulatory interactions supporting the Company's planned first-in-human clinical program.
Establishment of clinical collaboration with Loewenstein Medical Center, one of Israel's premier spinal cord injury referral centers, supporting patient identification and future clinical execution.