A smart, multi-purpose technology for diagnostics, analytics and drug delivery

我们将建立一个技术平台，改变我们诊断和治疗患者的方式。它涉及检测和生产纳米大小的生物颗粒，这些颗粒在自然界中充当通信机器。这些颗粒被称为外泌体，通过对精确捕获和分析它们所需的工程进行大量投资，将有可能创造出一类新的诊断方法，基于特定外泌体的释放和检测，可以比目前更早地检测疾病。还可以区分疾病的不同阶段，这将有助于为个体患者量身定制正确的治疗。该诊断平台还将成为制造分析的基础，使细胞和基因疗法在制造过程中得到仔细监测。细胞和基因疗法目前每剂的成本约为10万至100万英镑，这与生物工艺（用于制造它们的制造方法）是次优的这一事实有关。制造分析的根本性进步将有助于更好地监测和控制制造，这将导致提高产品的一致性，并最终降低制造成本，这将促进NHS中细胞和基因疗法的常规采用。最后，通过使用工业生物工艺生产外泌体，将有可能基于外泌体创造新药，利用他们的交流机制来针对疾病部位进行治疗。这将涉及工程外泌体的组合，以提高效力，或将其装载强力药物并直接靶向病变组织。最终，这将从根本上推动诊断，分析和药物输送的个性化医疗。在30年的时间里，这一技术平台将广泛用于医疗保健领域，使用定制配方进行高保真诊断和治疗疾病。为了推进这一愿景，第一阶段的可行性研究将解决传感器开发中的工程挑战，以不同的灵敏度检测外来体。它还将解决中试规模外泌体的一致生产，以推进外泌体治疗平台。

We will establish a technology platform that changes the way we diagnose and treat patients. It involves detecting and producing nano-sized biological particles that act as communication machinery in nature. These particles are called exosomes and with significant investment in the engineering required to accurately capture and profile them, it will be possible to create a new class of diagnostics that can detect disease earlier than is currently possible, based on the release and detection of specific exosomes. It will also be possible to distinguish between different stages of disease, which will help to tailor the right treatment to an individual patient. The diagnostics platform will also form the basis for manufacturing analytics that will enable cell and gene therapies to be carefully monitoring during manufacture. Cell and gene therapies currently cost in the order of £100,000 to £1,000,000 per dose and is related to the fact that bioprocesses (the manufacturing approaches used to create them) are sub-optimal. A radical advance in manufacturing analytics will help to better monitor and control manufacturing, which will lead to improved product consistency and ultimately drive down cost of manufacturing, which will catalyse the routine adoption of cell and gene therapies in the NHS.Finally, by producing exosomes using industrial bioprocesses it will be possible to create new drugs based on exosomes, exploiting their communication machinery to target therapies to sites of disease. This will involve a combination of engineering exosomes to have increased potency, or loading them with powerful drugs and targeting them directly at the diseased tissue.Ultimately, this will radically advance personalised medicine across diagnostics, analytics and drug delivery. In 30 years' time this technology platform will be widely used in healthcare to diagnose and treat disease with high fidelity using bespoke formulations. In order to advance this vision, phase 1 feasibility studies will address engineering challenges in sensor development to detect exosomes at different orders of sensitivity. It will also address the consistent production of exosomes at pilot scale in order to advance the exosome therapeutic platform.