Pandorum Technologies has closed on $11 million following a pre-Series B funding round in support of clinical advancement for its flagship product.
Give me the rundown on Pandorum.
Based in Bangalore, India—with U.S. operations in San Carlos, California—Pandorum is a biotechnology company focused on developing therapeutics via tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
The target: corneal dystrophies, lung-related disorders, and liver diseasesNotably, the company currently has two research and development lab sites located in the United States:
- Charleston, South Carolina (Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC))
- San Carlos, California (MBC BioLabs)
Let’s talk financing.
This latest round of fundraising was sourced from Everest Finance Investment and Acebright Pharmaceuticals, to name a few.
Existing angel investors included former Hero Enterprise chairman Sunil Kant Munjal and the Indian Angel Network.
How will it be used?
According to Pandorum, the funding will be used to advance its tunable technology platform (more on that in a moment) that has reportedly already demonstrated regenerative potential.
Specifically, the company will be looking to progress towards a first-in-human (FIH) study on its flagship product for corneal blindness.
Gotcha. So how is the company targeting these diseases?
The company has developed “deep proprietary platform technologies” in order to regulate stem cell-derived exosomes and prime them to deliver therapeutics cargos.
This platform is designed to “develop functional human tissues, such as bio-engineered cornea and liver, intended for medical research and therapeutic applications,” Pandorum stated.
Explain these technologies.
Per Pandorum, they include:
- Biomaterial
- Bioengineered extracellular matrix mimic designed for tissue regeneration and scarless wound healing
- Cornea focus: a proprietary “Bio-Ink” features native tissue-like transparency with similar mechanical and chemical properties to that of avascular tissue.
- Cellular engineering
- Involved in stem cell expansion from different tissue sources
- Includes scalable 2D and 3D environment for mesenchymal stem cell (MSc) cultures
- Involved in stem cell expansion from different tissue sources
- Exosome and nanotherapy (regenerative cell modulators)
- First: Exosomes are cell-produced lipid nanovesicles containing protein, mRNA, and miRNA molecules.
- How it works: Incorporates stem cells with cell-framing technology and proprietary culture methods so the cells produce therapeutically-enriched exosomes that are specifically designed to promote accelerated regeneration of certain tissues.
- Example: corneal avascular tissue
- Biofabrication (4D bioprinting approach)
- How it works: uses a bioprinter to mimic the microenvironment and architecture of human tissues.
- Inclusion of “time” as the fourth dimension can change the tissue’s structure to express specific functionalities (such as for avascular tissue).
- How it works: uses a bioprinter to mimic the microenvironment and architecture of human tissues.
Gotcha. Now let’s zero in on the cornea.
Pandorum’s bioengineered cornea is a class of products powered by the company’s technology platforms—tissue regenerative exosomes and tissue-mimetic biomaterials, to be specific—in order to advance the potential regeneration of a healthy, functional cornea.
Go on…
The company has used its biofabrication technology platform to biologically engineer bioprinted lenticules that could be deployed to support epithelium growth on the surface as well as cell viability in the matrix.
The intent: an alternative solution to corneal transplants featuring patient-specific exosomes for scarless regeneration of corneal tissue.
Which leads us to their flagship candidate?
At long last… yes.
Kuragenx, known as “Liquid Cornea,” is formulated to possibly restore an ulcerative cornea to its healthy state. The product consists of exosomes that have been specialized to advance cornea regeneration and combined with the company’s proprietary biopolymeric solution.
So how does it work?
Kuragenx is applied to the cornea as a topical drop (two drops, to be exact), in each eye of a corneal blind patient which then spreads and solidifies after application in less than 10 minutes using visible light.
The result: Ideally, these drops might help the patient regenerate scarless cornea tissue in less than 1 year, according to Pandorum.
Watch the video below.
Any clinical data on this?
As of yet, not on humans. In an April 2023 Fortune India article, it was reported that the Kuragenx has “worked on hundreds of rabbits.”
What’s next?
Stay tuned for further updates on this FIH trial that’s in the works!