October 2021

Producing lab-grown meat – made with animal cells grown in bioreactors – is a promising avenue for sustainable meat production. However, scaling up this process to produce tons of meat at a reasonable cost is going to be difficult. One of the main hurdles in the scaling process is producing the large quantities of growth factors required for culturing muscle and other cells.

Growing evidence regarding the side effects of currently available anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, antibiotics, etc.) and concerns around their appropriate role during cytokine storms has triggered a new era of innovation in the treatment of immune-mediated diseases. Owning to the ubiquitous nature and expanding role of cytokines in the various biological phenomena, anticytokine therapies have gained a leading role in this context.

Why COVID-19 pathogenesis varies so widely between different in SARS-CoV2 infected individuals has remained somewhat of a mystery. However, cytokines have served as a prognostic marker for COVID-19 disease course and outcome and their involvement is closely connected with the development of Long COVID.

Exosomes represent a potential sweet spot between small molecules, biologics, and cell therapies for a future as highly potent multifaceted biopharmaceuticals. Studies that are leading towards clinical applications have raised expectations that exosomes will eventually provide treatment for a wide range of orphan diseases. From basic research to clinical application, the ability to stably store exosomes whilst maintaining their unique characteristics is fundamental to their research and therapeutic development.