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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.
Quellis was founded to deliver best-in-class therapies to patients suffering serious rare diseases – and underserved by current treatment options. The Company is based in Boston, and is led by partners from the biotech incubator Viridian LLC in collaboration with team at biotech accelerator Xontogeny LLC, and with funding from the Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund. The Quellis team has deep experience in mAb discovery and development, company creation, and private and public biotech investment. Our shared goal is to create meaningful medicines for every disease we target.
Translate Bio is a leading mRNA therapeutics company developing a new class of potentially transformative medicines to treat diseases caused by protein or gene dysfunction. Our proprietary mRNA therapeutic platform (MRTTM) is designed to develop product candidates that deliver mRNA carrying instructions to produce intracellular, transmembrane and secreted proteins for therapeutic benefit. We believe that our MRTTM platform is applicable to a broad range of diseases caused by insufficient protein production or where production of proteins can modify disease, including diseases that affect the lung, liver, eye, central nervous system, lymphatic system and circulatory system. Our two lead programs are being developed as treatments for cystic fibrosis (CF) and ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency.
PT Development (PTD) is a Louisville-based operational management firm that specializes in providing operational efficiencies such as accounting, customer service, marketing, compliance, and human resource services to privately held physical therapy practices. Founded by Dr. Larry Benz in 1994, PTD’s primary goal is to help our clients achieve clinical excellence through aligning business strategies, streamlining processes, and building equity through quality customer service.
Avellino Lab USA is the first and only lab in the United States performing commercial genetic testing for Avellino Corneal Dystrophy.