[StartupN] StemExOne and AMO LifeScience Develop Large-Scale Stem Cell Exosome Production Using a Bioreactor

From left: Seo In-yong and In Chi-wook, executives at AMO LifeScience; Ssang-Goo Cho, CEO of StemExOne; and Kang Rin-woo, Vice President of Konkuk University Holdings.
Photo courtesy of StemExOne

Collaboration to Develop Cosmetics and Therapeutics Using Stem Cell-Derived Exosomes
Strong Synergies Expected in the Large-Scale Production of High-Functionality Stem Cell Exosomes

StemExOne, a subsidiary of Konkuk University Holdings and a resident company at Seoul Bio Hub, announced on the 29th that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with AMO LifeScience for joint research and development of exosome technologies.

According to StemExOne, the MOU was signed on June 20 at the KU Technology Innovation Center at Konkuk University. Participants included Ssang-Goo Cho, CEO of StemExOne and professor in Konkuk University’s Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biotechnology; team leaders Geun-Ho Kang and Se-Jong Kim; AMO LifeScience executives In Chi-wook and Seo In-yong; Director Seo Dong-sik; and Kang Rin-woo, Vice President of Konkuk University Holdings, along with other representatives from both companies.

The agreement focuses on the joint development of conditioned media and exosomes derived from human or animal cells.

Established in 2020 as a research institute company within Daedeok Innopolis, StemExOne has been developing stem cell exosome therapeutics based on its proprietary exosome production technologies. The company has participated in multiple government-funded R&D programs, including the Korea Regenerative Medicine Fund (KFRM) and TIPS.

AMO LifeScience, established in 2016 as an affiliate of the AMO Group, has developed and supplied a variety of products and services across the biotechnology, healthcare, and diagnostics sectors.

The laboratory of Prof. Ssang-Goo Cho at Konkuk University’s Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biotechnology has conducted collaborative research with AMO Group companies, including AMO LifeScience and AMOGREENTECH, since before 2014.

Their joint research has included a 2015 technology on a “Composition for Improving the Proliferation and Differentiation Capacity of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells” and a 2021 technology involving an FGF-derived peptide for enhancing the yield of stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles, methods for producing the vesicles using the peptide, and the resulting stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles.

More recently, the partners developed a technology for the large-scale production of stem cell-derived exosomes using AMO LifeScience’s bioreactor and jointly filed a patent application covering a “Method for Large-Scale Production of Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles and Stem Cells for Producing Extracellular Vesicles.”

The two companies are also jointly carrying out a government-funded project focused on the large-scale production of high-functionality exosomes.

Based on the newly signed MOU, StemExOne and AMO LifeScience plan to expand their collaboration in the development of cosmetics and therapeutics using stem cell-derived exosomes.

Representatives from Konkuk University Holdings, StemExOne, and AMO LifeScience said, “Combining StemExOne’s advanced stem cell and exosome mass-production platform with AMO LifeScience’s bioreactor technology, built on its core nanofiber and membrane technologies, is expected to create strong synergies in the large-scale production of high-functionality stem cell-derived exosomes.”

Source: StartupN, a media outlet specializing in startups