I-Corps: Tissue reparative cardiovascular disease technology

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a tissue engineering technology that will enable generation of cardiovascular (CV) tissue replacements capable of stretch and recoil, on demand and also on site regenerative repair of blood vessels which are structurally disrupted due to disease. The technology addresses the inability of current tissue engineering approaches to overcome poor ability of adult cells to generate the protein elastin that form the primary component of elastic fibers that provide tissues stretch properties. The proposed innovation is a reparative nanoparticle platform technology comprising antibody-targeted, biodegradable polymer nanoformulations with pro-elastin regenerative and anti-degradative properties. In this project, the technology will be initially validated in the context of treating abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs), which are localized expansions of the abdominal aorta wall resulting from irreversible elastic matrix breakdown. Through this I-Corps project, the team will assess the commercial viability of this technology, understand key market/customer needs and value propositions, explore partnership opportunities and gain regulatory insight towards generating a realistic business canvas for a commercial startup.This I-Corps project provides intellectual merit based on the transformative potential of a novel polymer nanoparticle delivery approach for onsite regenerative repair of disease compromised elastic tissues, which mimic the elastic matrix regenerative effects of stem cell secretions. The technology will first be tested in context of repairing abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA), since there are no FDA-approved pharmacologic treatments for AAAs, and elective surgery and stent grafting on small AAAs have high risk and no treatment benefit. The team will identify a minimum viable product based on regenerative nanoparticles comprising antibody-targeted biodegradable polymer matrices. The pro-elastin regenerative and anti-matrix degradative properties of these nanoparticles are independently provided by both the released active agents (biologic factors identified from adult stem cell derived smooth muscle cells) and chemically functionalized polymer matrix. If successful, the technology will provide realistic prospects to arrest or reverse growth of small AAAs soon after diagnosis, thus reducing need for surgery in these patients.