Sistemic announce the initiation of ground breaking exosome research in Cell Therapy following grant award by Scottish Enterprise
Sistemic Ltd. Announced today that it has been successful in securing funding from Scottish Enterprise, under the SMART: SCOTLAND grant scheme, that will aid and accelerate the company’s plans to develop a range of exosome-based products and introduce them into the cell therapy market in the latter part of 2015. Exosomes have recently become of major scientific and commercial interest due to their ubiquitous presence in a range of prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms, where they have been found to be secreted from cells and play a role in cellular communication thus having an impact on a range of physiological and pathological processes. Their unique ability to provide a snapshot of the current state of the cell and documented presence in a wide range of body fluids and cell culture media highlights their potential to advance the fields of cell characterisation and non-invasive disease diagnostics.
Sistemic recognises the rapidly emerging importance and commercial potential of exosomes and wishes to utilize its expertise in miRNA expression analysis to develop exosome-miRNA-based tools to support the advancements in Biomarker Discovery and Diagnostics but also support research into the use of exosomes in the field of Regenerative Medicine.
Dr Daria Olijnyk, Senior Scientist and Business Development Associate of Sistemic said “As a leader in the use of miRNA-based profiling tools for cell characterisation and quality control for the Regenerative Medicine market we are fully committed to the development of novel tools that will advance and accelerate the adoption of cell-based therapies. Based on the emerging potential of exosomes, their promise to reflect the cellular state or even act as therapeutic effectors in their own right, we believe them to be the ‘next generation’ of nanoparticles to watch in Cell Therapy and Biomarker Discovery. We are therefore very excited to announce our commitment to exosome research and the development of miRNA-based exosome tools. These exosome-focused tools are a part of the ambitious miRNA-based product development programme that Sistemic is looking to advance in 2015 and thus the support from Scottish Enterprise is a great boost to Sistemic and will assist us in achieving our commercial goals.
Julia Brown, Director of Life and Chemical Sciences, Scottish Enterprise, said: “Congratulations to Sistemic for securing this funding, allowing the company to accelerate its development of cell characterisation for cell-based therapies and disease diagnostics. Our support through SMART: SCOTLAND, allows ambitious Scottish businesses to realise their strategic growth plans more quickly and to ensure that companies have access to the right support at the right time – helping them to reach their full potential.”
Sistemic’s primary business is focused on providing innovative microRNA-based problem-solving services and kit-based products to areas of unmet need within Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology and the Cell Therapy research, development and manufacture markets. MicroRNAs are seen as the master controllers of a cell and as such Sistemic believe that they are providing instructive information on effects on a whole cell or organism rather than an isolated pathway. This system approach means that the data produced is more indicative of the biology and more diagnostic of actual effect. Their extensive suite of tools for the Cell Therapy community includes SistemQC™ which is used to characterise cells including stem cells (Cell Identity, Purity, Potency, and Safety) as well as monitoring the QC of production. Furthermore, cell products in the later stages of clinical development benefit from SistemQC™ miRNA-based profiling approach in facilitating patient stratification and monitoring the response to the treatment. In addition, the drug development markets are served through a range of products which include SistemTOX™ , SistemKB™ and SistemRNA™ . Sistemic has a worldwide customer base and a strong intellectual property portfolio.
For more information contact: press@sistemic.co.uk