SYLVATICA BIOTECH INC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: A16-050

Description

While millions of patients are affected by the inability to bank many types of cells, tissues and vital organs, the demands on optimal preservation modalities for mass casualty contexts are higher and not well met. In this context, solutions need to be transport-friendly and field ready. Our innovations allow indefinite storage of living biological matter at high subzero temperatures that enable transportation and storage without the need for cumbersome use of liquid nitrogen. The approach is universal and will enable stockpiling of (i) bone marrow (and cord blood/peripheral blood-HSCs), natural and bioengineered (ii) skin, (iii) veins and arteries, and eventually also (iv) VCA and (v) vital organs. Importantly our approach does not suffer the CPA toxicity, osmotic injury or ice damage inherent in all current preservation modalities. We propose a novel approach to biopreservation that combines recent advances in nature inspired, non-toxic cryoprotective and stress tolerance enhancement strategies with a novel isochoric (constant volume) thermodynamically-advantaged storage system that enables indefinite storage at high subzero temperatures. The commercial potential for this approach, embodying both novel techniques of biobanking and enabling devices, targets a large addressable market currently of the order of $50 billion for cell, tissue and organ units worldwide.