Award details

Commercial opportunities for an automated extracellular vesicle biofoundry

Reference	BB/T017147/1
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Paul Freemont
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	Imperial College London
Department	Dept of Medicine
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	150,081
Status	Completed
Type	Research Grant
Start date	01/06/2020
End date	30/09/2021
Duration	16 months

Abstract

unavailable

Summary

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.

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Industrial Biotechnology
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	Follow-On Fund (FOF) [2004-2015]
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

I accept the terms and conditions of use (opens in new window)

export PDF file

back to list new search