Commercial opportunities for an automated extracellular vesicle biofoundry

我们的细胞产生和分泌微小的细胞外小泡，称为外体，本质上是细胞相互发送的分子信息。外切体由许多不同的分子组成，包括包裹在脂肪双层中的蛋白质。外切体有助于保持我们的健康，并且在身体中有许多不同的角色。正在进行的研究还表明，外切体可能被用作治疗包括癌症在内的疾病的疗法。不幸的是，目前的外切体制造方法存在局限性，这使得很难生产出足够的外切体来进行更大规模的研究。从本质上讲，很难产生足够的外切体来开始安全测试和开发外切体所需的更大规模的实验和临床试验。几年来，我们一直在开发制造治疗用外切体的新方法。然而，我们仍处于相对早期的发展阶段。有了额外的支持，我们达到了开发阶段，我们可以更容易地与制药公司合作，加速这一前景光明的新治疗类别。

Our cells produce and secret tiny extracellular vesicles, called exosomes which are essentially molecular messages that cells send to each other. Exosomes are composed of many different molecular components, including proteins, that are encased in a lipd (fat) bilayer. Exosomes help to keep us healthy and have many different roles in the body. Ongoing research has also shown that exosomes could potentially be used as therapies to treat diseases including cancers. Unfortunately, there are limitations with current exosome manufacturing methods which are making it difficult to produce enough exosomes for larger studies. Essentially, it is difficult to generate enough exosomes to begin the larger scale experiments and clinical trials needed to safely test and develop exosomes. For several years we have been developing new methods to manufacture therapeutic exosomes. However, we are still at a relatively early stage of development. With additional support we reach a stage of development where we can more easily collaborate with pharmaceutical companies to accelerate this promising new therapeutic class.