Pre-Clinical Development of an Organoid-Derived Exosome Product for Treatment of Osteoarthritis

Our goal is to develop a therapeutic product that can arrest or reverse the progress of osteoarthritis of the knee, delay or obviate the need for total knee preplacement, alleviate the debilitating pain associated with osteoarthritis, and improve the quality of life for millions of patients suffering from this condition. Our product will consist of nano-sized vesicles called exosomes that carry regenerative and anti-inflammatory cues to promote cartilage healing and also alleviate inflammation.

Sarcio Inc.
Timothy O'Brien, DVM, PhD
2021-2022

Performance of a viral clearance study for the development and characterization of a pathogen reduced human platelet lysate to safely and efficiently expand therapeutic stem cells

The central goal of this proposal is to conduct a viral clearance validation study. To meet the growing demand of pathogen reduced hPL used in clinical applications and remain competitive among other platelet lysate manufacturers, we need to adapt our production process to include a pathogen reduction step. The validation of this product is on its final stages. However, it is necessary to perform a viral clearance study to prove that the gamma irradiation applied to the hPL inactivates potential pathogens. The study will be outsourced to Charles River Laboratories, INC.

Mill Creek Life Sciences, LLC
Vanesa Alonso-Camino, PhD
2021-2022

Development of BIO 300 as a regenerative therapy for triple negative breast cancer

The primary goal of the proposed work is to produce preclinical data to support the use of BIO 300 in patients with triple negative breast cancer receiving radiotherapy to improve patient survival by preventing metastasis to the lungs. The secondary goal is to further characterize the mechanism by which BIO 300 is able to protect normal tissues from the harmful side effects of radiotherapy.

Humanetics Corporation
Artur Serebrenik, PhD
2021-2022

The Isthmus Foundation commercialization of Rapidly Endothelialized Vascular Bypass Grafts and Liquid-Nitrogen Free Cryopreservation Storage System

Our goal is focused on developing the commercial pathway for two translational stem cell related projects in Minnesota, one creating Rapidly Endothelialized Vascular Bypass Grafts, a non-clotting blood vessel product for bypass surgeries and a second project, where TIF is the Managing Partner, building a novel low power, liquid nitrogen-free, cryogenic storage solution for the ultra-low temperature biologics in supply chain.

The Isthmus Foundation
Ross Dunbar
2021-2022

Regenerative Medicine for the Durable Remission of HIV, Plasmid Infrastructure

We are developing a one-time treatment for durable remission of HIV in the absence of antiretroviral treatment. This treatment is a regenerative medicine therapy of autologous HIV-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells that target B cell follicles, an immune protected site that permits viral replication. Here, we propose to develop the infrastructure to produce GMP-ready plasmids, which will be used as starting materials for GMP manufacture of gammaretrovirus and CAR-T cells for the IND-enabling primate study and for the Phase 1 clinical trial.

MarPam Pharma, LLC
Maria Athanasiou, PhD
2021-2022

Bioengineering of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells for Regenerative Medicine

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have intrinsic immunosuppressive and regenerative properties. We seek to engineer MSCs with artificial receptors to enhance these properties and improve therapeutic efficacy for the treatment of autoimmune disease. We will use mouse models of colitis to test the benefits of these engineered MSCs over unmodified MSCs. We aim to broaden treatment options for patients living with ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, and other autoimmune disorders.

Elizabeth Siegler, PhD

Epigenetic inhibition of inflammation in alcoholic hepatitis

Public Health Relevance: Alcoholic Hepatitis (AH) is a severe liver disease and is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States of America, with no approved therapies. Neutrophils (a type of infection-fighting white blood cell) collect in the liver and go away in AH causing liver injury leading to impaired liver regeneration. Preventing neutrophils from collecting in the liver in AH is a new, previously untested approach to treating this disease.

Enis Kostallari, PhD

First-in-class pharmacotherapies for arthrofibrosis

Joint stiffening (arthrofibrosis) is a debilitating complication with limited treatment options that is observed in a substantial subset of patients (approximately 5%) following total knee replacement (arthroplasty), a very high volume procedure (approximately 1 million performed per year). Despite significant advancements in TKA procedures and orthopedic implant devices, there are no preventative treatments to avoid joint stiffness and only surgical options to treat existing stiffness.

Matthew Abdel, MD