Hope all is going well. A lot has transpired since the last blog. It was a pretty busy February and March is shaping up to be even busier. February is so busy that we are having to sneak in this blog early in the week versus our usual end of the week posting. We first produced a webcast related to our Bio-Spun™ Cell Chamber. The team did a great job piecing this together. For those of you that haven’t viewed it yet (https://www.biosurfaces.us/single-post/bio-spun-cell-chamber-helping-the-body-help-itself-webcast-6), the webcast gives a good overview about the history of the cell chamber, benefits and path forward for the technology. Since the last blog, we were also excited to announce that Jean Angus joined our business advisory board (https://www.biosurfaces.us/single-post/jean-angus-joins-biosurfaces-business-advisory-board). Jean brings a lot of business growth and leadership experience that fits well with our current advisors. The knowledge that this board collectively has will truly benefit the company as we look to grow the business.
We then posted the Monthly Spin-Off that focused on drug delivery from our Bio-Spun™ materials (https://www.biosurfaces.us/single-post/monthly-spin-off-4-the-future-of-drug-delivery). I hope that you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. It is a big difference writing from a scientific viewpoint versus a personal one like I do in for this blog. I really enjoy both styles, but it is a different mindset. I could have written a book chapter related to all of the data we and others (i.e. partners, academic collaborators) have generated. As you know (and as I am reminded by our marketing team), it is important to try to give you a high-level overview of what we are working on within 2 pages. The scientist in me wants to dive deep since I am proud of what we have accomplished in this area alone. However, keeping it as succinct as possible is the right approach since many of you who read this blog don’t have a ton of time available, which is why I try to keep this blog relatively short.
A couple of questions that we tend to get asked is “Why would someone use our Bio-Spun™ materials?” and “Is there really any difference between what is currently offered and Bio-Spun™?” I think the easiest way to answer these questions are with some visual images. Almost all foreign materials that enter the body elicit a response from the immune system since the body needs to find a way to isolate them so they don’t do any damage. Pretty amazing how this works. Let’s take, for example, something most of us can relate to. A wood splinter (or sliver depending on where you are from). The body’s response is to attack and isolate it. This microscopic (histology) image (credit to Drs. Matthew Franklin and Stephen Somach - https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/skinnontumorforeignbodyreaction.html) shows the body attacking and isolating the splinter (Image A - dark purple area surrounding splinter highlighted in yellow). Current polyester or PET materials (think materials used in clothing) that make up membranes used to grow cells on tissue culture plates (Image B) or as a knitted material in medical devices (Image C) also have this same response, with inflammation (dark purple) around the materials and limited cells (purple circular dots = cell nuclei) from the body. In sharp contrast, Image D shows our Bio-Spun™ has cells growing inside the material (purple dots) and no inflammation (no dark purple ring) around the material. There is a clear difference as to how the body responds to our Bio-Spun™ material. As a matter of fact, images C and D were from the same preclinical model making it all the more striking.
The visual evidence is clear. I guess our main question to potential customers is “Why would you want to use a material that responds in the body like a splinter?” and “Why are the same materials that have been used for decades and have been shown to have issues still continue to be used?” Many cell culture researchers still use porous PET membranes because their cells “appear” normal. Based on how this material responds in the body, are the cells really behaving normally on flat 2D plastic as compared to a 3D structure that our electrospinning technology provides? For our medical device customers and partners, the same material structures continue to be used on “next-generation” devices even though their complications such as clotting, cell overgrowth and infection persist due to a lack of healing.
BioSurfaces does not have a catchy marketing hook (yet) that you hear from other companies trying to oversell their technology. We do not need to oversell on this technology. The benefits can be seen in plain sight. We want to work with potential customers and partners to bring our technology to their applications.
Thanks again for reading the blog and supporting our technology! This coming Friday, March 10th, #FactualFriday will be posted followed by the next Monthly Spin-Off on March 16th. Lots coming your way in March.
Matt
Comments