Layered Islet Delivery Scaffold (27154, 27090)
Northwestern University has designed a multilayered functional delivery system for islet cell transplantation. The layered polymer advances the opportunity for glycemic control in diabetic patients through tissue engineering.Key Design Innovations:
Layered design isolates protein/gene delivery from cell seeding and angiogenesis Optimal mechanical and chemical properties are obtained for each functional layer Enables controlled local delivery of key islet cell growth factors (e.g. Exendin-4) May significantly reduce donor cells required for transplantation State of Development:
Successful in–vivo animal trials Controlled Exendin-4 release achieved Stable glycemic levels at 50 days Market Opportunity The diabetes market is enormous and growing. In 2005 10% of the US healthcare budget was spent on diabetes and its complications, affecting 20.8 million children and adults. In today’s standard of care patients self-monitor their glucose levels. This practice is prone to patient error and costly secondary complications. In contrast, cell therapy through islet cell transplantation has been successful in achieving the management of hypoglycemia in diabetic patients. However, a major hurdle in the use of cell therapy in diabetes treatment is the limited number of donor cells available as well as the high level of cell loss with transplantation. Northwestern’s layered scaffold for cell and drug delivery has the opportunity to significantly reduce the required numbers of cells for transplantation and bring new hope to diabetic disease treatment.
Target Market
The layered scaffold has potential for both Type I and Type II diabetes. As a treatment for Type I diabetes, the scaffold will serve to replace missing insulin cells In treatment of Type II, will enhance reduced beta cell function Value Proposition
The number of Americans with diabetes is growing annually at 8%. Blood glucose monitoring sales exceed $6 Billion globally, growing 8-10% annually. Northwestern’s layered islet cell delivery scaffold has the opportunity to capture this rapidly growing market.
Type of Offer: Licensing
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