Posted: 20 May 2022
19th May 2022; Melbourne, Australia: VivaZome Therapeutics Pty Ltd (VivaZome) today announced that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The University of Queensland (UQ) focussing on improved therapies for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and post-traumatic epileptogenesis (PTE). TBI afflicts close to 69 million people globally.
Under the MoU, VivaZome will collaborate with Professor David Reutens – Director of the Centre for Advanced Imaging (CAI) at UQ – and his colleagues to investigate exosomes for the treatment of TBI and PTE. VivaZome will provide exosomes from different cells types and culture conditions to the Reutens laboratory for testing in mouse models of TBI. In addition, VivaZome and UQ will engineer exosomes to enable enhanced targeting to the brain and to increase their anti-inflammatory properties. The aim is to modulate the inflammatory response in TBI using bioengineered exosomes to modify or prevent susceptibility to PTE, reduce brain damage, and improve recovery of motor and cognitive functions.
Research activities through to in vivo proof-of-concept have been agreed and initiated. The parties have also agreed to jointly apply for grants and other forms of funding to support the project.
David Haylock, CEO of VivaZome, said: “We are excited and honoured to be working with the team at UQ in this area of highly significant medical need. Professor Reutens and his team at UQ are internationally recognised for their work in TBI and post-TBI epilepsy, including previous grant funding from the US Department of Defence. VivaZome will supply its proprietary exosomes and provide its expertise in exosome biology and analytics.”
Professor David Reutens of UQ said: “Patients with severe TBI are at highest risk of developing postTBI epilepsy, as well as being the group with the poorest prognosis for functional recovery. They also incur the highest costs for rehabilitation and care.
“An exosome therapeutic that reverses the inflammation arising from TBI would provide a profound improvement in outcome for both individual patients and the healthcare system. We are delighted to be working with VivaZome as industry leaders to advance this work.”
Contacts:
VivaZome Therapeutics Pty Ltd
Dr David Haylock, CEO
david.haylock@vivazome.com
Phone: +61 0439 617 657
