Ottawa's life sciences sector continued to grow Wednesday with the launch of StemPath Inc., a company that will attempt to develop new treatments for damaged hearts and degenerative muscle diseases.

The company is being spun out of the Ottawa Health Research Institute, an affiliate of the Ottawa Hospital.

Genesys Capital Partners is providing $1 million of seed financing through its Ottawa Biotechnology Innovation Fund.

The company is launching with a team of six under founding scientists Michael Rudnicki and Lynn Megeney. It will operate from the OHRI's labs.

Genesys is also helping the founders identify and assemble the management talent needed to build the company, Rudnicki said.

Stem cells are the "master" cells from which every other cell in the body originate. In normal biological processes, stem cells differentiate into specialized cells such as those found in heart, bone and muscle tissue.

Megeney and Rudnicki's research team has identified cells in adult human heart tissue that have the properties of stem cells. The hope is that these so-called "pluripotent" cells can be stimulated to grow into new cardiac cells and repair tissue damaged by an enlarged heart or heart attack.

StemPath will also attempt to develop the same potential in similar cells found in skeletal muscles to treat degenerative diseases such as muscular dystrophy.

Rudnicki said the objective of the first year will be to conduct proof of concept experiments and identify the molecules that can provoke the desired response from these cells.

If the experiments work out as planned, Rudnicki said StemPath will return to the markets in about 18 months for more financing.