The startup specializes in producing gene therapies using whole plants as a platform for viral vector manufacturing technologies. This approach addresses high production costs, limited capacity, and slow scalability in the gene therapy market.
Funding
$10.6M raised to dateRaised to date based on public sources. This may differ from the amount the company actually raised and is based only on what is publicly available on the internet.
Founders
Product
Problem
The gene therapy market faces challenges related to high production costs, limited manufacturing capacity, and difficulties in achieving rapid scalability, hindering widespread access to these potentially life-saving treatments. Traditional manufacturing methods often struggle to meet the increasing demand for clinical-grade viral vectors.
Solution
Cirsium Biosciences addresses these bottlenecks by leveraging whole plants as bioreactors for viral vector production. Their platform utilizes a controlled environment agriculture (CEA) system and transient gene delivery to manufacture high-quality adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors. This approach enables a linear scale-out production model, facilitating swift and reproducible scaling without extensive process development. The plant-based system simplifies the supply chain, reduces batch failures, and expedites process development, achieving up to a 70% reduction in manufacturing lead times compared to traditional methods.
Target Audience
Cirsium Biosciences targets gene therapy companies and research institutions seeking to reduce manufacturing costs and accelerate the production of AAV vectors for clinical trials and commercial applications.
Features
- Plant-based bioreactors utilizing whole plants for AAV vector production
- Transient gene delivery for rapid AAV vector manufacturing
- Linear scale-out production model for highly scalable manufacturing
- Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) to ensure consistent production conditions
- Upstream non-GMP and downstream GMP processing
- Plant-specific helper plasmids to enhance AAV vector production
- AAV construct design and validation
- Streamlined process achieving AAV assembly in approximately one week