December 1, 2022

LUND, Sweden – Cellevate, Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital were awarded a grant of 5.25 MSEK in February 2022 from the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (Vinnova) for a collaboration project dedicated to the development of new technologies and techniques for cheaper more effective production of extracellular vesicles (EV) from hematopoietic & mesenchymal stem cells. The project is planned for three years with start in 2022. The project runs through three phases: preparation, implementation and results generation. The preparation phase has been completed in November and the project will now continue to the next phase, where the researchers at the Department of Medicine at Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, are ready to perform next-generation sequencing analysis of donated primary hematopoietic stem cells. First results from the project will be expected in the second half of 2023.

Extracellular vesicles have revolutionary potential as a novel treatment for numerous diseases including myocardial infarction, stroke, wound healing, and as a delivery vector for gene therapy. However, there is a lack of established production methods. This project aims to generate a feasible GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) accepted culturing concept for stem cells for production of high-quality extracellular vesicles.

This project is based on the concept that researchers at the Department of Medicine at Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, first analyzes the extracellular environment of hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells using advanced transcriptomic methods. Stem cells are provided by Clinical Immunology and Transfusion Medicine at Karolinska University Hospital. Then a synthetic extracellular matrix based on Cellevate’s proprietary nanotechnology, Cellevat3d™, is designed based on the results to create a relevant environment for physiological cultivation/expansion of stem cells with the goal of producing large amounts of regenerative extracellular vesicles.

“We are grateful for receiving funding from Vinnova for this project and we are looking forward to the collaboration with Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital to generate results for the subsequent introduction in the production processes. Culturing stem cells in larger quantities with regenerative potential will accelerate clinical trials at lower costs which could have a great impact not only on the industry but also on the society since diseases that previously were untreatable could be treated.”, says Laura Chirica, CEO Cellevate.

Read more about the project on Vinnova’s website (in Swedish).

For more information, please contact:
Laura Chirica, PhD
CEO Cellevate
Email: laura.chirica@cellevate.com

About Cellevate
Cellevate is a spin out from NanoLund – a world leading nanomaterial academical center. The company founded in 2014, develops and markets products based on a proprietary nanofiber-based platform – the Cellevat3d™ – a game-changing, green and sustainable, deep-tech innovation for the biopharmaceutical industry. This platform allows for an industrial-scale production of microcarriers with unparalleled surface area for cell growth, reproducibility and customization. Cellevat3d™ microcarriers products are designed for laboratory testing of cell lines as well as pilot and large-scale batch production of novel classes of biological therapies, including cell- and gene therapies and vaccines. Cellevat3d™ microcarriers have a commercial launch and sales start planned for 2024.

For more information, please visit www.cellevate.com.