ARMI will build brain cell models for Evinco tests
Evinco Therapeutics and the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Monash University have started a research collaboration on a natural killer cell-derived extracellular vesicle therapy for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological conditions.
Under the agreement, ARMI will generate human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived brain cell models, while Evinco will test its NK-EV platform against them. Researchers will use the work to study neuroinflammation linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
Those models will include microglia, astrocytes and cortical neurons. ARMI will generate and validate the cells before Evinco evaluates how its NK-EVs affect them.
For Evinco, the collaboration is part of its proof-of-concept program. The company aims to study both the effects of the therapy and its possible mechanism of action in brain cells tied to neuroinflammation.
Saurat lab to model neuroinflammation
At ARMI, Dr Nathalie Saurat is leading the project. She is a group leader and senior research fellow whose work focuses on how ageing in the brain contributes to neurodegenerative disease.
Her lab uses human stem cells to grow different brain cell types and build 2D and 3D models. These systems can recreate key features of the ageing human brain.
Saurat said: “Bringing together Evinco’s NK-EV platform with our human stem cell models of Alzheimer’s disease creates an exciting opportunity to investigate the mechanism of action of this novel therapeutic approach, while also gaining broader insights into the role of neuroinflammation in AD progression.”
Meanwhile, ARMI will apply its stem cell platforms to an industry drug development program. That gives the institute a translational use for research tools developed in stem cell science and regenerative medicine.
ARMI is based at Monash University and is Australia’s only research institute dedicated to stem cell science and regenerative medicine. Evinco is a Melbourne-based biotechnology company developing immune-based therapies for neurological disorders.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia. In Australia, dementia is now the leading cause of death.
Because of that burden, both groups are targeting a disease with a substantial unmet need for treatments that address its underlying biology and offer practical, accessible care. The work now moves into development of the cell models and testing of Evinco’s NK-EV platform against them.
