On December 3, Erganeo and start-up EVerZom signed an exclusive licensing agreement for the development of an innovative extracellular vesicle bioproduction procedure. A technology that aims to provide new industrial production solutions to facilitate and accelerate the development of new therapeutic strategies in regenerative medicine.
A promising alternative for cellular therapies
Extracellular vesicles (EVs), veritable mediators in intercellular communication, were recently used by numerous teams of researchers worldwide to regenerate damaged tissue in the field of regenerative medicine. Instead of directly injecting stem cells, it was their EVs alone that were injected into the patient and that act in damaged tissue. Using EVs will make it possible to overcome part of the risk associated with the administration of stem cells, while preserving the same effectiveness and facilitating delivery to the patient’s bed. At this stage, however, their production remains slow and complex, which is a real obstacle to realising all this potential. There are no less than 150 million patients worldwide (suffering from stroke, myocardial infarction, osteoarthritis, etc.) for whom no effective therapeutic solution to reconstruct their damaged tissue currently exists.
The technology, developed by researchers from the Matière et Système Complexes (MSC) laboratory, makes it possible to produce 10 times more extracellular vesicles in 10 times less time than conventionally-used methods today, while preserving their regenerative properties.
The goal of EVerZom, cofounded by Jeanne Volatron, CEO, Nicolas Rousseau, COO and the researchers at MSC laboratory, is to maximise the value of this innovative technology via an extracellular vesicle bioproduction platform.
Protection of high potential technology
The innovative procedure enabling this mode of production was the subject of intellectual protection obtained by Erganeo on the basis of research carried out at the MSC (CNRS/Université de Paris) laboratory in collaboration with Généthon.
The start-up, EVerZom, founded in September 2019, has already received considerable recognition for its development potential (I-Lab Contest Award, Universal Biotech Award, Felix award, among others), which has been matched by the numerous expressions of interest from industrialists.
With the signing of this licensing agreement, the CEO of Erganeo, Suat Topsu, welcomed the opportunity to, “support an entrepreneur offering a real breakthrough innovation in the field of biotherapies, who is, furthermore, anxious to offer patients a degree of safety and speed of action that are unique today.”
Jeanne Volatron, CEO and Co-Founder of EVerZom responded that, “Erganeo and the supervisory bodies have made it possible to obtain the intellectual property rights for this innovative technology. Their support demonstrates the willingness and support of a number of stakeholders that are keen to maximize the value of this technology and introduce it to a market that still has no effective solution for treating certain illnesses.”
