[BioTimes] StemExOne and AMO LifeScience Advance Large-Scale Stem Cell Exosome Production Using a Bioreactor

StemExOne and AMO LifeScience signed a memorandum of understanding on June 20 at the KU Technology Innovation Center at Konkuk University for the joint development of conditioned media and exosomes derived from human or animal cells. From left: Seo In-yong, Executive Director of AMO LifeScience; In Chi-wook, Executive Director of AMO LifeScience; Ssang-Goo Cho, CEO of StemExOne; and Kang Rin-woo, Vice President of Konkuk University Holdings.
Photo courtesy of StemExOne

Collaboration to Develop Cosmetics and Therapeutics Using Stem Cell-Derived Exosomes
Strong Synergies Expected in Large-Scale Production of High-Functionality Stem Cell Exosomes

[BioTimes] StemExOne, a subsidiary of Konkuk University Holdings and a resident company at Seoul Bio Hub, signed an MOU with AMO LifeScience on the 20th for joint research and development of exosome technologies.

The signing ceremony was attended by Ssang-Goo Cho, CEO of StemExOne and professor in Konkuk University’s Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biotechnology; team leaders Geun-Ho Kang and Se-Jong Kim; AMO LifeScience executives In Chi-wook and Seo In-yong; Director Seo Dong-sik; Kang Rin-woo, Vice President of Konkuk University Holdings; and other representatives from both companies.

Established in 2020 as a research institute company within Daedeok Innopolis, StemExOne has been developing stem cell exosome therapeutics based on its proprietary exosome production technologies while participating in multiple government-funded R&D programs, including the Korea Regenerative Medicine Fund (KFRM) and TIPS.

AMO LifeScience, established in 2016 as an affiliate of the AMO Group, develops and provides a range of products and services across the biotechnology, healthcare, and diagnostics sectors.

The laboratory of Prof. Ssang-Goo Cho at Konkuk University’s Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biotechnology has conducted collaborative research with AMO Group companies, including AMO LifeScience and AMOGREENTECH, since before 2014.

Their joint research has included a 2015 technology on a “Composition for Improving the Proliferation and Differentiation Capacity of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells” and a 2021 technology involving an FGF-derived peptide for enhancing the yield of stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles, methods for producing the extracellular vesicles using the peptide, and the resulting stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles.

More recently, the partners developed technology for the large-scale production of stem cell-derived exosomes using AMO LifeScience’s bioreactor and jointly filed a patent application covering a “Method for Large-Scale Production of Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles and Stem Cells for Producing Extracellular Vesicles.” They are also jointly conducting a government-funded project focused on the large-scale production of high-functionality exosomes.

Building on the MOU, the two companies plan to collaborate on the development of cosmetics and therapeutics using stem cell-derived exosomes.

Representatives from Konkuk University Holdings, StemExOne, and AMO LifeScience said, “Combining StemExOne’s advanced stem cell and exosome mass-production platform with AMO LifeScience’s bioreactor technology based on its core nanofiber and membrane technologies is expected to create strong synergies in the large-scale production of high-functionality stem cell-derived exosomes.”

BioTimes / Reporter Kim Soo-jin
sjkimcap@biotimes.co.kr