Matricelf (TASE-MTLF) reported today that it has produced in-house induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC’s) from human peripheral blood cells. The company reprogramed the cells to iPSC’s, which presented specific characteristics of differentiation as pluripotent stem cells.
Induced pluripotent stem cells have the ability to differentiate into different cell types, including neural cells, and by combining the cells with the unique hydrogel, developed by the company, will compose the autologous 3D neural implant for paralyzed patients, following spinal cord Injury.
Matricelf is developing 3D autologous implants for the regeneration of damaged tissues, using a cellular and extra cellular component that are both originated from the patients themselves. The company was founded in 2019 by Alon Sinai and Prof Tal Dvir, who serves as the company chief scientist. Based in Ness Ziona, Matricelf has 11 employees.
The implant manufacturing process combines a proprietary technology to produce a thermo-responsive hydrogel, using the patient’s omentum (intra-abdominal fat tissue) and iPSC’s generated by reprograming mature cells from the patient’s peripheral blood.
The company believes that self-manufacturing of iPSC’s is an important milestone accomplished by the R&D team, as part of the pre-clinical company’s R&D program. The ability to independently produce iPSC’s, in parallel to the completion of the hydrogel development, is a crucial step towards end-to-end independent manufacturing capacity of neural tissue implants.
Matricelf CEO Dr. Asaf Toker said, "Our ability to independently produce human iPSC’s is a huge achievement for the R&D team both in the scientific and business aspects. The ability to produce iPSC’s without the need to rely on external subcontractors positions the company as a central player in the cellular therapy and regenerative medicine industry and will reduce future manufacturing costs. We believe that independent manufacturing capacity of iPSCs is a remarkable economic opportunity in a market worth billions of dollars per year dealing with spinal cord injury, and in the future for a variety of other medical conditions.
Matricelf VP R&D, Dr. Tamar Harel Adar added, "The process of reprograming mature cells into iPSC, that present the potential to differentiate to any cell type is a revolutionary and promising technology in the world of cellular therapy and regenerative medicine. Independent manufacturing capabilities of iPSC’s is a result of intensive work by the R&D team that is based on acquiring and developing applicable know-how and scientific tools. The ability to manufacture iPSC’s from the patients own mature cells is significant since it enables the company to produce new tissues to replace various human damaged tissues in a variety of medical conditions."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on May 1, 2022.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2022.