Injectable hydrogels – three-dimensional networks of polymers engineered to be stable in liquid form at room temperature – are attractive for their utility in soft tissue repair. One of their main features is the ability to enhance the delivery and uptake of active drugs and biomolecules. Their utility as carriers of bioactive molecules has, in recent
Researchers at MIT’s Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Draper Laboratory – a not-for-profit research and development company focused on development of technical solutions for health, energy, national security and space – have recently announced the development of microfluidic platforms to accelerate the manufacturing of CAR-T therapies. The current focus is on two platforms: one for enrichment
On 16 December 2016, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), together with the European Biopharmaceutical Enterprises (EBE) held the fifth annual “Optimizing the development of ATMPs to meet patient needs” regulatory conference on the optimization of the development of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) to meet patient needs in London, UK. The conference featured a group of international pharmaceutical
The science of developing nanoparticles as delivery tools for various biologically active agents – genes and drugs – has come a long way. Material science advances have allowed for the construction of nanoparticles with different physicochemical properties, which has, in turn, resulted in remarkable advances, particularly in the area of nucleic acid delivery for the
A few weeks ago, we reported on the creation of microengineered particle-based cardiac tissue function by functionalizing PLGA microparticles with cardiac cell-extracted growth factors. This week, a new manuscript took this concept even further: The lab of Dr. Muhammad Yousaf at the Department of Chemistry and Biology at York University in Toronto described the generation
Exosomes – small membrane-bound vesicles typically below 100 nm in diameter- are secreted by cells under normal and pathological conditions, and they serve a number of functions depending on the type of cell they originate from. This relationship has been exploited to advance exosomes as therapeutic agents. They contain both protein and RNA, the nature
Following an eventful week at Phacilitate’s Cell and Gene Therapy World Forum in Miami, Akron just unveiled its new website, which can be accessed at www.akronbiotech.com. The new website sports a brand new look alongside a refreshed logo, which features Akron’s recognizable image that has been updated for the new year. Since 2006, Akron gone through multiple changes, and the
If the development of genetic editing approaches to induce functional changes to cell behavior to enhance their efficacy has led to remarkable advances in gene-engineered cell therapy, the development, on the other hand, of synthetic systems for tissue engineered and regenerative medicine-based therapies has made inroads as a robust, fully-controllable bottom-up approach to cell and gene
