Our goal with this grant is to push innovation to increase yield and lower production cost for targeted proteins, using molecular farming. Reducing the cost of these proteins, will open new markets that are unattainable today due to the high cost. PLAP's use in regenerative medicine has been stalled due to the high cost. We aim to scale from bench top level production to commercial level production and achieve a lower cost by 100 fold.

LEAH Labs is an innovative biotech startup headquartered at Mayo Clinic's 'Hatchery Lab' developing regenerative cell therapies, first focused on cancer and autoimmune disease in dogs. Not only is there an unmet need for biotech innovation for our furry family members, but they are also afflicted by the same types of diseases as humans. At LEAH Labs, we aim to develop therapies that can help our pets while also informing human regenerative cell therapy trials.

This project aims to develop and implant a preclinical model of a regenerative tissue tube for nerve repair. The TRUE™ Tissue allogeneic biomaterial is completely biological, non-immunogenic and regenerates by the host. Demonstrating these benefits in a preclinical nerve injury model will greatly advance the field of peripheral nerve injury and offer a promising alternative to current treatments that often lack complete and functional nerve repair.

1) Build and test a customer demonstration model of the liquid nitrogen-free cryogenic storage system. This system will allow storage and transportation of biological materials down to -196° Celsius without the cross-contamination risks.  The device is intended to have low power consumption, improved ergonomics, and a reduced physical difficulties inherent with liquid nitrogen and other available alternatives.

We are developing a one-time treatment for durable remission of HIV, after which patients will no longer need to take traditional antiretroviral medications. This treatment is a regenerative medicine therapy of autologous HIV-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells that equips a patient's own T cells with the ability to seek out and destroy HIV-producing cells in a "hidden" viral reservoir located in B cell follicles, a hiding spot in the immune system where viral replication can occur unabated.