Periodic Reporting for period 2 - FGFSTAB (Industrial Production of Stable Fibroblast Growth Factors for Regenerative Medicine and Related Research Areas)
Période du rapport: 2018-03-01 au 2019-02-28
In summary, two members of the FGF family, FGF7 and FGF10, were successfully stabilized and characterized. Both proteins have been shifted from the development phase to the commercialization phase. Big progress has been made to make Enantis an expert in recombinant production of FGF proteins. The combination of high stability with a cost-effective manufacturing process significantly increases the practical applicability of these proteins. Moreover, the possibilities for GMP-compliant and cost-effective production of FGF2-STAB were carefully considered. Various FGF2-STAB formulations have been developed. The FGF2-STAB-enriched scaffolds were evaluated in vivo using animal models of chronic wounds. Besides that, activities in the project were dedicated also to in vitro testing of efficacy and safety of FGF2-STAB, including, for example, determination of cytotoxicity, FGF2-STAB-induced mRNA expression of selected wound healing markers and scratch assay mimicking the wound healing process. Furthermore, Enantis was intensively engaged in dissemination and commercial exploitation of the project’s results. The dissemination was done through several channels, such as the company’s website, social media (Twitter, LinkedIn), newsletters and active participation at international events (seminars, workshops, conferences, trade fairs). Several exploitable results for further commercialization have been achieved in the course of the FGFSTAB project. The main benefits for Enantis include new knowledge, increase of market share, increase of revenues, and cost savings.
The FGFSTAB project brings not only economic benefits for Enantis but also social ones. It can ensure a better quality of life to patients and a more efficient healthcare organization within European countries. According to a recent article from Nature Biotechnology titled “Wanted: biotech for an ageing population”, the over-60s represent one in eight people today, but they will be one in five by 2050 (around 2 billion people). Obviously, the burden of age-related diseases increases concomitantly; more than 70% of people over 65 suffer from two or more chronic conditions which place a growing and substantial pressure on healthcare budgets. Several recent studies show that approximately 1–2% of the population of the EU is affected by chronic wounds, requiring a financial commitment of 2–4% of total health budgets from governments and an average of 6000–10,000 EUR per patient per annum. In this scenario just rely on the actual state-of-the-art treatments is simply unrealistic.
In the course of the project, Enantis created 9 new job positions of which 6 in the R&D unit and 3 in the management and administration. We have also successfully attracted people from abroad which allowed us to embed in our organization knowledge and experience from different cultural environment, and this ultimately boosts the development of a very collaborative working place.