FDA shifts stance on Longeveron (LGVN) ELPIS II HLHS trial but keeps future path open
Rhea-AI Filing Summary
Longeveron Inc. reported outcomes of a recent Type C meeting with the U.S. FDA on its Phase 2b ELPIS II trial of laromestrocel (LOMECEL-B) for hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). The FDA stated that the trial’s current primary endpoint, right ventricle ejection fraction (RVEF), is not appropriate to demonstrate efficacy and, without an agreed primary endpoint, no longer refers to ELPIS II as a pivotal study.
The FDA highlighted objective measures such as all-cause mortality, cardiac transplant-free survival, cardiac transplantation events and major adverse cardiac events as more informative, and Longeveron is collecting these in ELPIS II. The company plans to submit a Sponsor Statistical Analysis Plan with a composite primary endpoint and secondary endpoints for FDA review, ahead of anticipated top-line ELPIS II results in August 2026 and a potential future Biologics License Application.
Positive
- FDA engagement and future meeting commitment: The Agency acknowledged the high unmet need in HLHS, outlined objective outcome measures it considers informative, and agreed to meet again after ELPIS II completion to discuss results and a potential regulatory path forward.
Negative
- ELPIS II no longer viewed as pivotal by FDA: Because right ventricle ejection fraction is considered an inadequate efficacy endpoint and a new primary endpoint cannot be set mid-trial, the FDA no longer refers to ELPIS II as a pivotal study, introducing added regulatory uncertainty for the HLHS program.
Insights
FDA no longer calls ELPIS II pivotal but leaves room for a future path.
The update explains that the FDA views right ventricle ejection fraction as an insufficient primary endpoint for demonstrating efficacy in ELPIS II, so it no longer labels the trial as pivotal. This shifts the regulatory status of the HLHS program compared with earlier discussions.
The FDA did, however, recognize HLHS as a serious rare disease with high unmet need and pointed to hard clinical outcomes like mortality, transplant-free survival and major adverse cardiac events as most informative. Longeveron is already capturing these outcomes in the trial, which supports future analyses.
Longeveron plans to submit a Sponsor Statistical Analysis Plan proposing a composite primary endpoint and secondary endpoints for agency review, and it remains optimistic about ultimately filing a Biologics License Application after top-line data expected in August 2026. Actual regulatory progress will depend on FDA feedback on the SAP and the strength of ELPIS II results.
8-K Event Classification
Key Figures
Key Terms
Type C meeting regulatory
Biologics License Application regulatory
Sponsor Statistical Analysis Plan technical
Orphan Drug designation regulatory
Rare Pediatric Disease designation regulatory
Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation regulatory
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Item 8.01. Other Events.
On May 8, 2026, Longeveron Inc. (the Company) issued a press release announcing that a constructive Type C meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) was held in late March, with the FDA providing their meeting summary in late April, to discuss the ongoing development of laromestrocel (LOMECEL-B®), a proprietary, scalable, allogeneic, investigational cellular therapy currently being evaluated in a Phase 2b clinical trial (ELPIS II) for hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). Top-line results from the randomized, controlled Phase 2b ELPIS II clinical trial are anticipated in August 2026.
In the Type C meeting, the FDA acknowledged that HLHS is a rare disease associated with significant morbidity and mortality with a high unmet medical need for safe and effective therapies, but also asserted that the primary endpoint of right ventricle ejection fraction (RVEF) in the ELPIS II trial is not an appropriate endpoint to demonstrate efficacy. While Longeveron agreed with the FDA regarding the insufficiency of RVEF as the primary endpoint, and was prepared to discuss other potentially appropriate endpoints sufficient to demonstrate efficacy, the FDA indicated that given the interim analysis mandated and conducted by the National Institute of Health (NIH) during the trial (to which the Company was and remains blinded), a new primary endpoint could not be agreed to while the trial is still ongoing. Without an agreed upon primary endpoint sufficient for efficacy, the FDA no longer refers to the ELPIS II trial as pivotal, as had been specifically discussed in the Company’s Type C meeting in 2024.
Nevertheless, the FDA expressly agreed that it is willing to meet with Longeveron again when the ongoing ELPIS II study is completed to discuss the study results and align on a potential path forward. The FDA further indicated that only the most objective measures, including, all-cause mortality, cardiac transplant-free survival, event of cardiac transplantation, and well-defined major adverse cardiac events (MACE), could be informative of efficacy in ELPIS II, and in that regard, the Company is capturing all of these measures in ELPIS II along with some additional key measures to support an efficacy determination. The Company intends to submit to the FDA a Sponsor Statistical Analysis Plan (SAP) for ELPIS II with a composite primary endpoint and secondary endpoints for the FDA’s review and approval, and remains optimistic that the trial results and other available evidence will be sufficient to support filing a Biologics License Application (BLA) following the readout of top-line results of the ELPIS II data.
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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Current Report on Form 8-K and certain of the materials filed herewith contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which reflect management’s current expectations, assumptions, and estimates of future operations, performance and economic conditions, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those anticipated, expressed, or implied by the statements made herein. The forward-looking statements in this Current Report on Form 8-K are made on the basis of the views and assumptions of management regarding future events and business performance as of the date this Current Report on Form 8-K is filed with the SEC. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about our business, the industry in which we operate and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, and these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or development. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause actual events, results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this Current Report on Form 8-K or the materials furnished or filed herewith. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements in this release include, but are not limited to, the ability of our clinical trials, including our ELPIS II trial for HLHS, to demonstrate safety and efficacy of our product candidates, and other positive results; the willingness of the FDA to deem the ELPIS II trial as pivotal following-completion of the ELPIS II trial or to otherwise reach alignment with the Company on a potential path toward regulatory approval; receipt of FDA approval, following review, of the Company’s Sponsor Statistical Analysis Plan (SAP) for ELPIS II; receipt of trial results and other available evidence sufficient to support the Company filing a BLA following the readout of top-line results of the ELPIS II data; the timing and focus of our ongoing and future preclinical studies and clinical trials, and the reporting of data from those studies and trials; our cash position and need to raise additional capital, the difficulties we may face in obtaining access to capital, and the dilutive impact it may have on our investors; our financial performance, and ability to continue as a going concern; the period over which we estimate our existing cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund our future operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements; the size of the market opportunity for certain of our product candidates, including our estimates of the number of patients who suffer from the diseases we are targeting; our ability to scale production and commercialize the product candidate for certain indications; the success of competing therapies that are or may become available; the beneficial characteristics, safety, efficacy and therapeutic effects of our product candidates; our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of our product candidates in the U.S. and other jurisdictions; our plans relating to the further development of our product candidates, including additional disease states or indications we may pursue; our plans and ability to obtain or protect intellectual property rights, including extensions of existing patent terms where available and our ability to avoid infringing the intellectual property rights of others; the need to hire additional personnel and our ability to attract and retain such personnel; and our estimates regarding expenses, future revenue, capital requirements and needs for additional financing.
These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this Current Report on Form 8-K and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions described in greater detail in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 17, 2026, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, any forward-looking statements represent the Company’s views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. These statements are inherently uncertain, and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation, other than imposed by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future, events or otherwise occurring after the date this Current Report on Form 8-K is filed.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits.
| Exhibit No. | Description | |
| 99.1 | Press Release issued by the Company on May 8, 2026 | |
| 104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document) |
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SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| LONGEVERON INC. | ||
| Date: May 8, 2026 | /s/ Stephen H. Willard | |
| Name: | Stephen H. Willard | |
| Title: | Chief Executive Officer | |
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Exhibit 99.1
Longeveron Announces Constructive Type C Meeting
with U.S. FDA Ahead of Data Readout for
ELPIS II Phase 2b Clinical Trial Evaluating Treatment for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome
(HLHS)
MIAMI, Fla., May 8, 2026 -- Longeveron Inc. (NASDAQ: LGVN), a clinical stage regenerative medicine biotechnology company developing cellular therapies for life-threatening and chronic aging-related conditions, today announced that a constructive Type C meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) was held in late March, with the FDA providing their meeting summary in late April, to discuss the ongoing development of laromestrocel (LOMECEL-B®), a proprietary, scalable, allogeneic, investigational cellular therapy currently being evaluated in a Phase 2b clinical trial (ELPIS II) for hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). Top-line results from the randomized, controlled Phase 2b ELPIS II clinical trial are anticipated in August 2026.
In the Type C meeting, the FDA acknowledged that HLHS is a rare disease associated with significant morbidity and mortality with a high unmet medical need for safe and effective therapies, but also asserted that the primary endpoint of right ventricle ejection fraction (RVEF) in the ELPIS II trial is not an appropriate endpoint to demonstrate efficacy. While Longeveron agreed with the FDA regarding the insufficiency of RVEF as the primary endpoint, and was prepared to discuss other potentially appropriate endpoints sufficient to demonstrate efficacy, the FDA indicated that given the interim analysis mandated and conducted by the National Institute of Health (NIH) during the trial (to which the Company was and remains blinded), a new primary endpoint could not be agreed to while the trial is still ongoing. Without an agreed upon primary endpoint sufficient for efficacy, the FDA no longer refers to the ELPIS II trial as pivotal, as had been specifically discussed in the Company’s Type C meeting in 2024. Nevertheless, the FDA expressly agreed that it is willing to meet with Longeveron again when the ongoing ELPIS II study is completed to discuss the study results and align on a potential path forward. The FDA further indicated that only the most objective measures, including, all-cause mortality, cardiac transplant-free survival, event of cardiac transplantation, and well-defined major adverse cardiac events (MACE), could be informative of efficacy in ELPIS II, and in that regard, the Company is capturing all of these measures in ELPIS II along with some additional key measures to support an efficacy determination. The Company intends to submit to the FDA a Sponsor Statistical Analysis Plan (SAP) for ELPIS II with a composite primary endpoint and secondary endpoints for the FDA’s review and approval, and remains optimistic that the trial results and other available evidence will be sufficient to support filing a Biologics License Application (BLA) following the readout of top-line results of the ELPIS II data.
About ELPIS II
ELPIS II is a multicenter, randomized, controlled Phase 2b clinical trial evaluating laromestrocel as a potential adjunct therapy in infants with HLHS undergoing Stage II surgical palliation. The clinical trial enrolled 40 pediatric patients at twelve premiere infant and children’s treatment institutions across the country. ELPIS II is being conducted in collaboration with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) through grants from the NIH.
The laromestorcel HLHS program has received three FDA designations: Orphan Drug designation, Fast Track designation and Rare Pediatric Disease designation. Under the Rare Pediatric Disease designation, if Longeveron were to receive FDA marketing approval for laromestrocel for HLHS, the Company could be eligible to receive a Priority Review Voucher.
About Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS)
HLHS is a congenital birth defect in which the left ventricle (one of the pumping chambers of the heart) is either severely underdeveloped or missing. As a consequence, infants born with this condition have severely diminished systemic blood flow, which requires them to undergo a complex, three stage heart reconstruction surgery process over the course of the first 5 years of their lives. Although surgical advances have enabled survival into adulthood for some patients, early mortality remains substantial in this population, due to right ventricular failure. As such, there remains an important unmet medical need to improve right ventricular function in these patients in order to support both short-term and long-term outcomes.
About Longeveron Inc.
Longeveron is a clinical stage biotechnology company developing regenerative medicines to address unmet medical needs. The Company’s lead investigational product is laromestrocel (Lomecel-B™), an allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy product isolated from the bone marrow of young, healthy adult donors. Laromestrocel has multiple potential mechanisms of action encompassing pro-vascular, pro-regenerative, anti-inflammatory, and tissue repair and healing effects with broad potential applications across a spectrum of disease areas. Longeveron is pursuing four pipeline indications: hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), Alzheimer’s disease, Pediatric Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) and Aging-related Frailty. Laromestrocel development programs have received five distinct and important FDA designations: for the HLHS program - Orphan Drug designation, Fast Track designation, and Rare Pediatric Disease designation; and, for the AD program - Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation and Fast Track designation. For more information, visit www.longeveron.com or follow Longeveron on LinkedIn, X, and Instagram.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which reflect management’s current expectations, assumptions, and estimates of future operations, performance and economic conditions, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other important factors that could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those anticipated, expressed, or implied by the statements made herein. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expects,” “intend,” “looks to,” “may,” “on condition,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “preliminary,” “project,” “see,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would,” or the negative thereof or comparable terminology, or by discussion of strategy or goals or other future events, circumstances, or effects. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements in this release include, but are not limited to, the ability of our clinical trials, including our ELPIS II trial for HLHS, to demonstrate safety and efficacy of our product candidates, and other positive results; the willingness of the FDA to deem the ELPIS II trial as pivotal following-completion of the ELPIS II trial or to otherwise reach alignment with the Company on a potential path toward regulatory approval; receipt of FDA approval, following review, of the Company’s Sponsor Statistical Analysis Plan (SAP) for ELPIS II; receipt of trial results and other available evidence sufficient to support the Company filing a BLA following the readout of top-line results of the ELPIS II data; the timing and focus of our ongoing and future preclinical studies and clinical trials, and the reporting of data from those studies and trials; our cash position and need to raise additional capital, the difficulties we may face in obtaining access to capital, and the dilutive impact it may have on our investors; our financial performance, and ability to continue as a going concern; the period over which we estimate our existing cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund our future operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements; the size of the market opportunity for certain of our product candidates, including our estimates of the number of patients who suffer from the diseases we are targeting; our ability to scale production and commercialize the product candidate for certain indications; the success of competing therapies that are or may become available; the beneficial characteristics, safety, efficacy and therapeutic effects of our product candidates; our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of our product candidates in the U.S. and other jurisdictions; our plans relating to the further development of our product candidates, including additional disease states or indications we may pursue; our plans and ability to obtain or protect intellectual property rights, including extensions of existing patent terms where available and our ability to avoid infringing the intellectual property rights of others; the need to hire additional personnel and our ability to attract and retain such personnel; and our estimates regarding expenses, future revenue, capital requirements and needs for additional financing.
Further information relating to factors that may impact the Company’s results and forward-looking statements are disclosed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Longeveron’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 17, 2026, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and its Current Reports on Form 8-K. The Company operates in highly competitive and rapidly changing environment; therefore, new factors may arise, and it is not possible for the Company’s management to predict all such factors that may arise nor assess the impact of such factors or the extent to which any individual factor or combination thereof, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release based on information available as of the date of this press release, are inherently uncertain, and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation, other than imposed by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Investor and Media Contact:
Derek Cole
Investor Relations Advisory Solutions
derek.cole@iradvisory.com
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