Based on immortal pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), the FETOPEN MESO-BRAIN project was to develop techniques for growth of a variety of neural cell types. This provided a unique opportunity for the creation of a marketable product stemming from work done under FETOPEN MESO-BRAIN. Co-cultured in vitro cell models have the capacity to retain neuronal maturity and functionality for long periods of time. Such co-cultures, featuring only two or three different cell types have already been demonstrated to be effective models for researching the mechanisms of diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and others, indicating consistent and reproducible results. As such, complex and consistently reproducible ready-made co-cultures could be easily directed towards pharmaceutical and biotech companies seeking to use iPSC-derived cells as a basis for building cell-based assays and drug screening based on the validated cells. As the FETOPEN MESO-BRAIN project already intends to grow the major neuronal cell types, complex, physiologically relevant 2D and 3D co-cultures (featuring cortical neurones, astrocytes, interneurons and microglia) can be developed within COMMER-CELL and made available for sale. The creation and mass-availability of an upto four-cell-type co-culture in an easy-to-use and pre-made form could not only allow for improved research into CNS-affecting conditions and drug testing, but also expedite such research by circumventing the need for research institutions and scientific industrial organisation (such as pharmaceutical and biotech companies) to create their own time-consuming cell models. COMMER-CELL is designed to harness results from MESO-BRAIN and explore the commercialisation potential of the innovation derived from that project.
COMMER-CELL has three major objectives: 1) a market analysis and assessment, 2) business model development and 3) determination of patentability/patent applications. In the course of the FETOPEN MESO-BRAIN project, cell cultures derived from stem cells will be produced in high quantities. These cells can be additionally grown together in premade, co-cultures. As co-cultures have already exhibited their effectiveness as potential models within various fields such as neuroscience and pharmacology, it is important to assess the need for such physiologically relevant co-cultures to research groups, pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Expected target markets would be groups unable to grow their own cultures or groups looking to expedite research by avoiding undertaking culture growth themselves. However, the specifics of what clients would want and how it can be delivered must be researched. Following a market analysis and assessment looking into the needs for stem-cell-derived neural cell co-cultures, an effective business model must be designed for the development, marketing and distribution of the intended products in the future. This follows on from the market analysis, as this business model development will be based upon what the market requires. Finally, the presentation of pre-made co-cultures for marketability outside of the ongoing FETOPEN MESO-BRAIN project will need to be assessed for patentable products. The main objective of this stage is to identify the patentable products and secure IP protection.
As a final report on this project, not all the tasks were able to be fully accomplished. The combination of output changes in FETOPEN MESO-BRAIN and the outbreak of the COVID19 global pandemic deeply impacted the progress of COMMER-CELL. The limited form of co-cultures from the parent project put a heavy burden on COMMER-CELL, preventing the marketing project from having a strong demonstrable product to conduct market analysis with. This was further compounded by the target markets being either distracted or limited by the global pandemic. Though marketing data based on a hypothetical product was gathered, it was not comprehensive enough to see the completion of all the originally established objectives such as business plan development and IP identification.
