Wayfinder Startup Receives $800,000 Small Business Innovation Research Grant

Wayfinder startup Biopico Systems Inc. recently received a two-year, phase two Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant for $800,000 from the National Institutes of General Medicine Sciences for development of their closed automated system for stem cell culture. Biopico’s fluidic system automates the cell culture process for cellular therapies, like stem cell, and develops a protocol for therapeutic cellular manufacturing.

“The era of cell therapy to cure human diseases has come,” said John Collins, Ph.D., Biopico president and CEO. “More and more of cell therapy procedures will be integrated into standard treatments.”

Cellular therapies, which use a specific type of stem cells to repair damaged tissues, involves reprogramming of a patient’s skin cells or blood cells before injecting the therapeutic cells back into the patients. Currently, to reprogram cells for therapeutic benefits, cells are at high risk for contamination when therapeutic cells undergo maintenance. Biopico’s technology significantly reduces the risk of contamination using their automated closed cell culture system.

Biopico plans to use the SBIR grant to commercialize this system.

“Our past, present and future plans are continuous customer discovery and marketing,” said Collins. “We are marketing our system to unique customers in the different cell manufacturing area and we will grow the company with multiple biofluidic applications.”

Learn more about Biopico.

Main Graphic: Kate Wokowsky, UCI Beall Applied Innovation

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