Our portfolio company Mekonos announced a new collaboration with bit.bio, a synthetic biology company providing human cells for research, drug discovery and cell therapy. This partnership will combine Mekonos’ novel ex vivo delivery platform with bit.bio’s unique opti-ox™ precision cellular reprogramming technology to accelerate the development of human cells for research, drug discovery and next-generation cell therapies.
“We are excited to partner with the world-class team at bit.bio – leaders in synthetic biology and the engineering of human cells – and to leverage Mekonos’ unique non-viral platform for ex-vivo delivery of reprogramming factors to engineer human cells at unprecedented scale and efficiency” said Jake Lesnik, VP of Business Development at Mekonos.
The development of this approach as an alternative to viral vector delivery will allow bit.bio to precisely engineer stem cells into any mature, functional human cell type with greater efficiency, speed and control.
“We are optimistic this collaboration will help unlock new opportunities for efficiency in the iPSC engineering process that further advance our cell therapy development”commented Dr. Mark Kotter, Founder and CEO of bit.bio.
Access to their full press release here.