Each year, the stem cell industry gathers together to share cutting edge research, create partnerships that change the industry, and have some fun at the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Annual Meeting. Companies from across the globe come together to discuss the accomplishments of the previous year and the goals for the next. This year, the conference was in Boston, Massachusetts from June 14th to 17th. Luckily for those who didn’t make it, you still have a chance to find out what happened. This ISSCR summary is brought to you by StemCultures, a biotechnology company based in Rensselaer, New York that attended ISSCR 2023 earlier this month.
Behind the scenes
Over the course of the conference, companies went above and beyond with their displays, and titans of the industry came to discuss advancements and new methods in the field. Companies like Corning and Miltenyi Biotec showed their products to the attendees through interactive displays. Their commitment and investment in stem cell research has moved the field forward. They also encouraged other companies to develop novel methods and procedures. Dr. Taylor Bertucci, a member of the Neural Stem Cell Institute, gave a detailed talk on recent advancements in the development and growth of organoids. More information on her work and the Neural Stem Cell Institute can be found in their company spotlight below or on their webpage. Other companies that had fantastic booths were Thrive Bioscience and 3Brain, which will also be discussed later.
There are also some big announcements coming out of ISSCR23. The biggest and likely most impactful is the new update to the ISSCR standard for karyotyping iPSCs. While the previous standard was a karyotypic analysis of the stem cells approximately every 20 passages, the new standard is every 10 passages. More information on this is in section 3.2.2 of the ISSCR Standards for Human Stem Cell Use in Research, available for download here. Some other announcements included releases of product teasers from a number of companies, including STEMCELL Technologies. These new products will hopefully be coming to the market over the next few months. Additionally, Thermo Fisher Scientific provided more details about their recent acquisition of PeproTech and greater expansion into stem cell research.
Company Spotlights
Companies from around the world were able to attend ISSCR23. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough space to include them all. Over the course of the conference, the StemCultures team met with representatives from biotechnology companies working on cutting edge research and techniques that can help revolutionize healthcare.
Neural Stem Cell Institute
The first organization that stands out is the Neural Stem Cell Institute. Their representatives at ISSCR spoke both on their own work and clinical trials but also on general topics such as tools for applied stem cell biology. As mentioned before, Dr. Taylor Bertucci’s presentation on organoids was a hit. Her focus was on increasing the growth efficiency and yield of organoids through a newly developed split-well method developed by coworker, Steve Lotz. Her presentation included detailed evidence of high quality and will hopefully lead to continued advancements in the use of organoids. Dr. Jeffrey Stern, the StemCultures CEO and co-founder and Neural Stem Cell Institute Director of Translational Research, also spoke on behalf of the Neural Stem Cell Institute. He discussed their ongoing Phase 1/2a clinical trial “Retinal Pigment Epithelial (RPE) Stem Cell-derived RPE Progenitor Cell Implantation for Dry Age-related Macular Degeneration” and spoke about the broader industry from his position as an expert in the field.
3Brain
Another organization that stood out at ISSCR23 was 3Brain. They are developing a first-in-class 3D-CMOS chip for biomarker discovery, phenotypic screening and cellular assays. These chips will also be useful in the analysis of organoids and their signaling. Their representatives, including Dr. Marco Aquila, Vice President of Global Sales, were able to speak on the many applications of their products. The data these products provide position the users to advance their work significantly.
StemCultures
Finally, one biotech company from Rensselaer, New York stood out. StemCultures LLC focuses on developing controlled-release growth factors for a variety of applications. Their newest product line, DISC Devices, is a new method for the release of their growth factor. They enable the user to allow their cells to grow for 1-2 weeks without needing to add or change the growth factor. This significantly reduces the time and effort needed. They announced the beta testing of BDNF and GDNF DISCs. Please contact StemCultures if you are interested in beta testing any products. Additionally, a number of growth factors are in the pipeline, including interleukins and cytokines. Some of these include IL-34 and TGFBeta-1, and more information on these products will be announced in the coming months.
—-
Note: Opinions and accounts expressed herein are those of the author(s) or interviewee(s). They may not reflect those of ISSCR23, StemCultures, its officers, or directors.