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STRM.BIO, a start-up biotechnology company pioneering non-viral delivery technologies for in vivo cell and gene therapy, today announced that it has been awarded a contract from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) through its Engineering of Immune Cells Inside the Body (EMBODY) program. EMBODY is led by ARPA-H Program Manager Daria Fedyukina, Ph.D. The award includes up to $8.4 million in funding to support the first phase of this project, focused on developing and leveraging STRM's proprietary megakaryocyte-derived extracellular vesicle (MV) delivery platform for in vivo immune cell engineering.
STRM.BIO's MV platform represents a novel, cell-derived delivery modality with the potential to overcome many of the key barriers limiting current viral and synthetic in vivo delivery systems.
"This award marks an important milestone for STRM.BIO in our mission to unlock the potential of extracellular vesicles for in vivo cell and gene therapy," said Michael Luther, Ph.D., CEO of STRM.BIO. "Funding from ARPA-H provides us an extraordinary opportunity to accelerate the development of our MV platform and genetic medicines pipeline to enable precise, efficient, and safe delivery for complex genetic cargos directly to the bone marrow in vivo, with multiple dosing potential when needed."
STRM.BIO will act as lead for the project, bringing their novel MV platform and expertise in bone marrow-targeted in vivo delivery. As the Prime Awardee, STRM will collaborate with Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), the University of British Columbia (UBC), and Advanced Bioprocess Services (ABS) to develop in vivo CAR-T therapeutics. The partnership will leverage Ginkgo's expertise in RNA construct design and immune cell engineering, UBC's expertise in the design and biology of self-amplifying RNA (saRNA), and ABS's expertise in vesicle production and bioprocessing to advance the novel in vivo immune cell engineering approach.
"This funding from ARPA-H is transformative for high-impact projects like this," said David Raiser, Ph.D., COO of STRM.BIO. "We're fortunate to be able work with partners who share our vision and drive for a new generation of in vivo cell and gene therapies enabled by innovative, non-viral delivery technologies."
CEO Mike Luther further added, "The insights gained from this effort will expand the potential of our MV platform, opening new pipeline opportunities for in vivo engineering of immune and hematopoietic cells to address unmet medical needs, and advance the broader field of cell and gene therapy."
About STRM.BIO
STRM.BIO is a biotechnology company developing a novel, non-viral, cell-derived delivery modality that enables safe, targeted, and scalable in vivo delivery of genetic medicines. The company's megakaryocyte-derived vesicle (MV) technology is designed to address the challenges of traditional viral and synthetic delivery systems, unlocking new therapeutic opportunities across gene editing, RNA therapeutics, and immune cell engineering. STRM.BIO is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Learn more at www.strm.bio.
This research was funded, in part, by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Government.
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SOURCE STRM.BIO
