Commercialisation of neuronal cell co-cultures

Development of various human stem cell derived cell types will be carried out to see the completion of the FETOPEN MESO-BRAIN project. Based on immortal pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), FETOPEN MESO-BRAIN will see the development of techniques for growth of a variety of neural cell types. This provides a unique opportunity for the creation of a marketable product stemming from already intended work. Co-cultured in vitro cell models have the capacity to retain neuronal maturity and functionality for long time periods. Such co-cultures, featuring only two or three different cell types have already been demonstrated as effective models for researching the mechanisms of conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, indicating consistent and reproducible results. As such, complex and consistently reproducible ready-made co-cultures could be easily directed towards pharmaceutical and biotech companies seeking to use iPSC-derived cells as a basis for building cell-based assays and drug screening based on the validated cells. As the FETOPEN MESO-BRAIN project already intends to grow major neuronal cell types, complex, physiologically relevant 2D and 3D co-cultures featuring cortical neurones, astrocytes, interneurons and microglia can be developed within COMMER-CELL and made available for sale. Creation and mass-availability of a 4-cell-type co-culture in an easy-to-use and premade form could not only allow for improved research into CNS-affecting conditions and drug testing, but also expedite such research by circumventing the need for research institutions and industrial organisation to create their own time-consuming cell models. The proposed COMMER-CELL project harnesses results from MESO-BRAIN to deliver concrete added value by raising the technological maturity of the cells to demonstrator level. The fulfilment of the proposition, based upon anticipated positive feedback from the market, will lead to the commercialisation of an innovation derived from FETOPEN MESO-BRAIN.