Immunaeon Joins Winston-Salem’s Regenerative Medicine Hub
A New York-based immunotherapy company is the latest firm to establish a presence in Winston-Salem’s growing regenerative medicine community, marketed as the RegenMed Hub.
Immunaeon, headquartered in Buffalo, has secured space in the RegeneratOR Innovation AcceleratOR, a technology incubator in the city’s downtown Innovation Quarter district that supports innovation by companies developing emerging technologies in regenerative medicine.
There, the company will have access to state-of-the-art biomanufacturing equipment, cutting-edge technologies, industry expertise, talent, a training program and potential strategic partners.
Banking healthy cells for future use
Immunaeon is focused on storing healthy immune cells as a preventative strategy against potential future cancers or other diseases. The company describes it as “taking command of your cellular army.”
People’s immune systems weaken as they age or are attacked by cancer, but collection and cryopreservation of healthy immune cells can enable personalized cell therapy if and when needed.
“The promise of immunotherapy is in providing curative strategies for cancer patients,” said Adam Utley, founder and chief executive officer of Immunaeon. “By allowing every person to access the most effective cellular starting material, we can help patients live longer, healthier lives.”
Utley said that partnering with the RegeneratOR program and the Wake Forest Institute for Medicine (WFIRM) would allow his company to “achieve our goals faster and make a real difference in the immunotherapy landscape.”
The advantages of cryopreserving healthy immune cells for later use against cancer or other diseases are outlined in a two-minute video featuring Tom White, M.D., Immunaeon’s chief medical officer.
“We are looking forward to supporting Immunaeon through access to our Test Bed, where they are already working with an end-to-end modular biomanufacturing facility and exploring collaborations with other Innovation AcceleratOR companies,” said Joshua Hunsberger, Ph.D., chief technology officer of the Regenerative Medicine Development Organization (ReMDO), a non-profit organization that sponsors the Innovation AcceleratOR.
The Test Bed helps companies with prototyping and initial product development.
More companies joining community
“Immunaeon joins a strong roster of companies in the Innovation AcceleratOR,” said Anthony Atala, M.D., director of WFIRM. “We believe this region has a lot to offer in terms of helping these companies be successful, and, at the same time, we can advance the regenerative medicine field nationally.”
Immunaeon’s arrival at the Innovation AcceleratOR comes only one month after three other companies announced their presence at the facility.
They are Tokyo-based PHC Group, a diversified diagnostics, life sciences and medical device conglomerate formerly known as Panasonic Health Care, and two related companies, Epredia and Aiforia Technologies, both specializing in advanced pathology tools.
“"Immunaeon is the latest company to see the great value of being part of Winston-Salem's growing regenerative medicine community,” said Nancy Johnston, executive director of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s Piedmont Triad Office. “It joins more than 30 other companies and organizations that are benefitting from the RegeneratOR Innovation Accelerator and other resources for advancing new technologies that will improve human health."