Engineered extracellular vesicles as a revolutionary inflammation resolving therapy

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EVolution Therapeutics is spin-out company from Aston University which has a vision to transform the treatment of a wide range of inflammatory diseases, through development of a revolutionary new therapy.Inflammation is a normal defence mechanism used by the immune system to help protect from infection and to repair damage caused by injury. However, the benefits of inflammation are only realised when the response is turned off and the infected or damaged tissue is returned to normal, in a process known as resolution. Why is this important? A failure to control inflammatory responses can lead to chronic inflammation and is the root cause of many of the inflammatory diseases, notably non-healing (chronic) wounds.Non-healing wounds often become stalled in their healing in the so-called 'inflammatory phase', the phase where the innate immune system should promote a repair response but does not. The switch to the resolution phase relies on immune cells (that have done their protective job) being removed. To allow their removal these unwanted cells die, and as they do so, they release small membrane bags called extracellular vesicles (EVs). Pioneering research in our lab has shown that these EVs carry specific biomolecules that help to control inflammation and signal to activate the tissue repair response. We have used this knowledge to design our own EVs, which are loaded with these inflammation-modifying biomolecules, in order to 'kick-start' this stalled process by pushing the immune system toward normal function again.Non-healing wounds have now become a major crisis within our healthcare system. It is estimated that 3.8 million patients are managed by the NHS for wounds each year at an annual NHS cost of £8.3 billion, of which £5.6 billion is associated with managing non-healing wounds (the same cost as managing obesity). Non-healing wound treatment predominantly relies upon wound dressings and leading wound care clinicians agree that there is now a vital need for advanced therapies.Our innovation aims to create a paradigm shift away from passive wound management and towards active wound treatment. If successful, our therapy could limit the considerable clinical and economic burdens to patients, thereby helping to improve their quality of life, whilst also helping reduce the high cost attached to long term treatment for healthcare systems worldwide. Significantly, the benefits outlined for our therapy in the treatment of non-healing wounds, may potentially be applied to other inflammatory diseases in the future.