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Ibidi is a Verona, WI-based company in the Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, and Biotech sector.
BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. (www.biorestorative.com) develops therapeutic products using cell and tissue protocols, primarily involving adult stem cells. Our two core programs, as described below, relate to the treatment of disc/spine disease and metabolic disorders: • Disc/Spine Program (brtxDISC™): Our lead cell therapy candidate, BRTX-100, is a product formulated from autologous (or a person`s own) cultured mesenchymal stem cells collected from the patient`s bone marrow. We intend that the product will be used for the non-surgical treatment of protruding and bulging lumbar discs in patients suffering from chronic lumbar disc disease. The BRTX-100 production process involves collecting a patient`s bone marrow, isolating and culturing stem cells from the bone marrow and cryopreserving the cells. In an outpatient procedure, BRTX-100 is to be injected by a physician into the patient`s damaged disc. The treatment is intended for patients whose pain has not been alleviated by non-invasive procedures and who potentially face the prospect of surgery. We have received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration to commence a Phase 2 clinical trial using BRTX-100 to treat chronic lower back pain due to degenerative disc disease related to protruding/bulging discs. • Metabolic Program (ThermoStem®): We are developing a cell-based therapy to target obesity and metabolic disorders using brown adipose (fat) derived stem cells to generate brown adipose tissue (“BAT”). BAT is intended to mimic naturally occurring brown adipose depots that regulate metabolic homeostasis in humans. Initial preclinical research indicates that increased amounts of brown fat in the body may be responsible for additional caloric burning as well as reduced glucose and lipid levels. Researchers have found that people with higher levels of brown fat may have a reduced risk for obesity and diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is a chronic, life-threatening disease that affects millions of people worldwide. In the United States, 30,000 new cases are estimated every year with half of those cases diagnosed in young children. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the patient`s immune system goes awry and attacks and destroys the pancreatic beta cells. Beta cells are responsible for regulating blood sugar (glucose) levels by producing precise amounts of the essential hormone insulin. The discovery of injectable insulin in the 1920s changed T1D from a uniformly fatal disease with a life expectancy of months to one that could be carefully managed for decades through multiple daily blood glucose measurements and insulin injections. However, insulin injections are not a cure and patients face a lifetime of difficult disease management and serious complications including kidney failure, blindness and nerve damage. Despite nearly a century passing since the discovery of insulin, insulin injection remains the only treatment available to patients. Semma Therapeutics was founded to develop transformative therapies for patients who currently depend on insulin injections. Recent work in the laboratory of Professor Douglas Melton led to the discovery of a method to generate billions of functional, insulin-producing beta cells in the laboratory. These cells develop in islet-like clusters grown from stem cells. Initial preclinical work in animal models of diabetes has shown that transplantation of these cells are sufficient to control blood glucose levels. This breakthrough technology has been exclusively licensed to Semma Therapeutics for the development of a cell-based therapy for diabetes. Ongoing research at Semma Therapeutics is focused on combining these proprietary cells with a state-of-the-art cell delivery and immune protection strategy that can protect these cells from the patient`s immune system and allow the beta cells to function as they do in non-diabetic individuals. Implantation of the beta cell-filled device has the potential to provide a true replacement for the missing beta cells in a diabetic patient and would not require patient immunosuppression. Semma Therapeutics is working to bring this new therapeutic option to the clinic and improve the lives of patients with diabetes.
Castle Biosciences, Inc. specializes in diagnostic tests for cancers. Founded in 2008, the company goal has been to help advance the care for cancers through objective testing. Our team works with outstanding members of the oncology community throughout the discovery, development and utilization of these tests. Currently, Castle Biosciences has tests to help doctors treat glioblastoma, uveal melanoma, low grade gliomas. We anticipate tests for thymoma and esophageal cancer to be on the market in the near future (1Q-1H, 2012) as they are going through final validation.
Engage Therapeutics was founded by Greg Mayes, President and CEO; and Jouko Isojarvi MD, PhD Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. Engage`s founders bring a combination of strong biopharma pedigrees and personal, family connections to epilepsy. Greg’s son has epilepsy, while Jouko has spent his entire career taking care of epilepsy patients as well as developing and commercializing approved treatments for this condition.