Likarda, a leading biotech company specializing in the development of enabling technologies for the delivery of both cell therapies and large molecule biologics, announced a new peer-reviewed publication that demonstrates a promising improvement in the effort to develop liver cell-based therapies for patients with chronic liver disease. Likarda’s proprietary Core-Shell Spherification (CSS) hydrogel encapsulation successfully extended hepatocyte viability in vivo without causing the inflammatory and fibrotic immune responses seen with a more common alternative approach. Results of the study, published today in Tissue Engineering, support the use of CSS for delivering cell therapies for liver disease and suggest the approach will be useful for other cell types, such as islet cells for type 1 diabetes.
Despite its prevalence, end-stage liver disease remains difficult to treat, relying heavily on liver transplantation – which is limited by the availability of donors and challenged by immune rejection. Researchers and drug developers have sought to transplant healthy hepatocytes as an alternative treatment approach, but any positive effects have been transient as most cells are lost within a month. One promising approach to extend durability has been encapsulating cells in a scaffold, and an alginate-encapsulated therapy reached clinical trials, but development was shelved after it induced an immune response.
Using its Likarda’s CSS platform to develop hydrogel microspheres made from poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) instead of alginate, researchers led by Dr. Stephen Harrington compared the durability and immunogenicity of the two approaches. They found that the hepatocytes delivered in PVA microspheres were superior to alginate encapsulation in metabolic activity, viability, and function, in vitro and in vivo. In addition, the PVA microspheres did not produce the fibrosis seen in mice receiving alginate microspheres.
“These promising results further support the versatility of hydrogel-based encapsulation, especially when added to previous studies demonstrating safety and durability of CSS-encapsulated stem cells, as well as successful and durable in vivo islet delivery in a model of diabetes,” said Lisa Stehno-Bittel, an author on the paper and co-founder of Likarda.
On the strength of these findings, we are exploring opportunities to partner with liver cell therapy developers to deliver a treatment for this devastating disease. We look forward to additional demonstrations of CSS to deliver cell-based therapeutics, as well as other biologics, and small molecules.”
Lisa Stehno-Bittel, Co-founder, Likarda
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