Mill Creek Life Sciences Receives Grant for Development of Dendritic Cell Vaccine

Mill Creek Life Sciences has received a one-year $100,000 grant from Regenerative Medicine Minnesota (RMM) titled: "Development of Technology for the Large-scale Production of a Novel Dendritic Cell Vaccine for the Treatment of Glioblastoma."

The grant work will be led by Mill Creek's Senior Scientist, Dr. Vanesa Alonso-Camino, and CEO, Bill Mirsch. Mill Creek will transfer technology from the Mayo Clinic, adapt it for large scale production of the vaccine, and analyze molecular markers that can be used to guide decisions on treatment. The project constitutes the first step in the big picture of developing and commercializing a dendritic cell vaccine (DCV) for the brain cancer glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), one of the most lethal and untreatable human tumors.

The DCV uses the body's own defenses to attack the cancer. Patient's dendritic cells, an important component of the immune system, are produced in large numbers in vitro and then exposed to proprietary proteins from glioblastoma cell lines. Once primed, the dendritic cells can be frozen in doses for later administration to the patient.  They are used to train the immune system to attack and destroy the glioblastoma tumor.

"We are grateful to Regenerative Medicine Minnesota for this grant which enables us to develop the DCV work that was initiated at the Mayo Clinic," said Bill Mirsch, CEO of Mill Creek Life Sciences. "This marks the first steps toward commercialization. Our focus is on moving this therapy forward to offer a real hope to those diagnosed with GBM."

When Mill Creek was founded, it licensed a number of technologies from the Mayo Clinic, including human platelet lysate (hPL) and the DCV cancer therapy. Mill Creek currently manufactures and sells PLTMax® and PLTGold®, 2 forms of hPL used to grow MSCs and other primary cells in cellular therapy all around the world. Through the work of this grant, Mill Creek's operations will establish the protocols to transfer the technology from the Mayo Clinic and adapt it for large scale production of the DCV.

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