Bordeaux, France / April 19th, 2022 – TreeFrog Therapeutics, a biotechnology company aimed at making safer, more efficient and more affordable cell therapies based on induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), today announced the launch of The Stem Cell SpaceShot Grant, a $100,000 research funding in the field of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine.
The Stem Cell Spaceshot Grant is open to PhD-level scientists and PhD students conducting research in stem cell biology, biophysics, gene editing, cell therapy, and bioproduction engineering. With this grant, TreeFrog Therapeutics aims at supporting scientific discoveries with therapeutic impact in 4 areas:
PROGRESSING STEM CELL CULTURE AND CELL THERAPY PRODUCTS THROUGH BIOMIMETIC STRATEGIES
UPGRADING STEM CELL-PRODUCTS AND MANUFACTURING PROCESSES USING NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND SCIENTIFIC APPROACHES
IMPROVING THE QUALITY CONTROL AND SAFETY PROFILE OF STEM CELLS AND STEM CELL-DERIVED TRANSPLANTS
ENHANCING THE ENGRAFTMENT, INTEGRATION AND LONG-TERM SURVIVAL OF STEM-CELL DERIVED TRANSPLANTS
To apply, researchers only need to submit an email, a one-page research project description and a graphical abstract through an online form available on the TreeFrog Therapeutics’ website.
Applications will be opened from May 1st to June 30th 2022. 10 nominees will be selected in August 2022. The winner will be awarded in October 2022 following interviews with an interdisciplinary jury composed of world-class experts in stem cell biology, gene editing and biophysics:
EMERITUS PROF. PETER ANDREWS, UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD, UK – STEM CELL GENOMIC INTEGRITY
PROF. L. MAHADEVAN, HARVARD UNIVERSITY, USA – BIOPHYSICS
MARTA SHAHBAZI, PHD, MRC LABORATORY OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, CAMBRIDGE, UK – DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
JUSTIN EYQUEM, PHD, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO, USA – GENE EDITING
SHIN KAWAMATA, MD, PHD, R&D CENTER FOR CELL THERAPY, FBRI, KOBE, JAPAN – CELL THERAPY MANUFACTURING & QUALITY CONTROL
PIERRE NASSOY, PHD, CNRS, FRANCE – BIOIMAGING & OPTOFLUIDICS
“The technology of TreeFrog Therapeutics emerged at the cross-roads of stem cell biology and biophysics after I met my co-founder, Kevin Alessandri, in an atomic bunker of the Geneva University while we were post-docs. Today, our C-Stem™ technology demonstrated its capacity to mass-produce stem cells and stem cell-derived products with unprecedented scalability and quality, and TreeFrog Therapeutics raised over $82M to advance a pipeline of cell therapies to the clinic and finance the global deployment of C-Stem™.
I believe it’s now our role to encourage the next generation of scientists to make discoveries that will shape the future of regenerative medicine. We designed the grant that we would have liked to apply to: the application process is simple, fast and anonymous – so that it is ideas, rather that resumes that are awarded –, no cumbersome reporting is required, and the intellectual property of scientists is preserved. I can’t wait to read the first projects!”
Maxime Feyeux, PhD, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer, TreeFrog Therapeutics
About TreeFrog Therapeutics
TreeFrog Therapeutics is a French-based biotech company aiming to unlock access to cell therapies for millions of patients. TreeFrog Therapeutics is developing a pipeline of therapeutic candidates using proprietary C-Stem™ technology, allowing for the mass production of induced pluripotent stem cells and their differentiation into ready-to-transplant microtissues with unprecedented scalability and cell quality. Bringing together over 80 biophysicists, cell biologists and bioproduction engineers, TreeFrog Therapeutics raised $82M over the past 3 years to advance its pipeline of stem cell-based therapies in the field of neurodegeneration, cardio-metabolic disorders, and immuno-oncology. In 2022, the company is opening technological hubs in Boston, USA, and Kobe, Japan, to drive the adoption of C-Stem™ and initiate co-development partnerships with leading academic, biotech and industry players in the field of cell therapy.
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