Platelets are necessary for blood to clot and stop bleeding. They are generated from giant cells called megakaryocytes that reside in the bone marrow, inside bones. When bone marrow is unable to produce enough platelets, the body bruises and bleeds more easily, for example, blood won’t clot when you get a cut, and the chance of internal bleeding during surgery or after a big trauma increases.
Millions of platelet transfusions are needed each year to treat people suffering from hematological diseases, viral infections, or chemotherapy. Today the main source of platelets is from healthy donors and immunological matches are a big issue. Platelet shortage is common when donation rates are down, mainly during summer, or during public health emergencies, such as pandemics.
Platelets cannot be stored for more than a few days and only at room temperature. Given their short shelf lifespan, platelets must be screened for bacteria and viruses quickly and delivered immediately to individuals who need them. This translates into a recurring shortage worldwide.
SilkPlatelet is focused on solving this demand with a novel 3D solution for large-scale ex vivo platelet production by engineering a groundbreaking platform that combines the use of silk biomaterial and modular flow chambers to recreate the environment of the human bone marrow where platelets are produced.
SilkPlatelet can program lab-grown megakaryocytes to believe they are inside a human body and make them produce platelets on-demand, in greater quantities, with better control of quality, safety, and compatibility with recipients than with donor platelets.
As it gets scaled up and industrialized, SilkPlatelet could have systems generating personalized platelets or systems generating universally compatible platelets.
