Description du projet
Un nouvel «agent de la circulation» détient une charge intercellulaire présentant une valeur diagnostique et pronostique
Dans les années 1980, les chercheurs ont découvert que les cellules saines libèrent de petites vésicules extracellulaires liées à la membrane, aujourd’hui connues sous le nom d’exosomes. Elles sont chargées d’une cargaison comprenant notamment des protéines, de l’ADN et de l’ARN que l’on pensait à l’origine associés à la communication et à la signalisation intercellulaires. Bien que cela reste vrai et que les exosomes puissent affecter la fonction des cellules distantes, les exosomes et leur cargaison jouent également un rôle dans la croissance et la métastase des tumeurs ainsi que dans d’autres maladies, ce qui en fait des biomarqueurs potentiellement puissants pour le diagnostic et la surveillance. Le projet Vezics, financé par l’UE, rapproche du marché une nouvelle plateforme d’isolement des exosomes en introduisant des améliorations techniques et en évaluant les opportunités commerciales.
Objectif
There is enormous interest in using exosomes in the diagnosis and monitoring of cancer and other diseases, as well as their
use as therapeutical tools. These cell-derived vesicles that are present in most bodily fluids are increasingly considered the
“future of biomedicine”.
However, in terms of clinical applications, we are far from realising exosomes’ full potential. The greatest barrier is the lack of
dependable protocols for their isolation.
Vivoscreen is developing a novel platform for exosome isolation based on size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and immune affinity chromatography (IAC). Capitalising on very promising research results, the Vezics platform intends to offer all the advantages of SEC and IAC, while eliminating its disadvantages with regards to exosome isolation. The Vezics platform utilizes SEC as a first stage for exosome isolation. SEC media are selected according to the properties of the input material. The resulting EV-rich fractions are further purified by (IAC) on columns built for specific scientific needs.
As high quality, by-product free isolation of exosomes is a prerequisite for all exosome applications, we expect our development to have a considerable positive impact across the entire spectrum; from research through diagnostic to therapeutic use of exosomes.
This is a high risk / high reward project targeting an emerging market segment with extremely high growth potential. This proposal aims a Phase 1 feasibility study to better understand the risks and opportunities involved in this exciting venture.
Our proposal was previously submitted to the SME Instrument and received 12.97 points. We hope that in the current proposal we managed to clarify key aspects of our approach to be found worthy for support. Since our last submission, we continued with the development and have built the functional prototype of the Vezics system. Thus, parallel to the feasibility study we can start its experimental validation and refinement as well.
Champ scientifique
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinateur
1031 BUDAPEST
Hongrie
L’entreprise s’est définie comme une PME (petite et moyenne entreprise) au moment de la signature de la convention de subvention.