[VentureSquare] StemExOne and AMO LifeScience Sign MOU for Joint Exosome R&D

StemExOne, a subsidiary of Konkuk University Holdings and a resident company at Seoul Bio Hub, has signed a memorandum of understanding with AMO LifeScience for joint research and development of exosome technologies.

Under the agreement, the two companies will collaborate on the development of cosmetics and therapeutics using stem cell-derived exosomes.

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. The company has participated 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, has provided a variety 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 developments include a 2015 technology involving a “Composition for Improving the Proliferation and Differentiation Capacity of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells” and a 2021 technology concerning an FGF-derived peptide for enhancing the yield of stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles, methods for producing the 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.”

The two companies are also jointly conducting a government-funded project focused on the large-scale production of high-functionality 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.”

VentureSquare — Reporter Kang Jin-hee — June 29, 2023