Austrianova Information

Austrianova encapsulates living cells in tiny cellulose beads. The beads act as a microenvironment for living cells, allowing them to be metabolically active and divide, whilst being protected from the environment both in vivo (immunoprotection) and in vitro (sheer force, freezing stress protection). Cell-in-a-Box® enables allogenic or xenogenic mammalian cells to be protected from rejection by the immune system, but their porous nature allows therapeutic bioproducts to be released and encapsulated cells to survive for long periods. Cell-in-a-Box® has many advantages e.g. 1) clinically proven safety and efficacy upon implantation of encapsulated cells in patients 2) cells can grow within the capsules in bioreactors and are thus protected from shear forces - especially useful for fragile cells such as stem cells 3) freezing and storage of encapsulated mammalian cells at -80C for more than 5 years and then revival with greater than 90% viability, thus cells can be easily transported on dry ice. Bac-in-a-Box® enables probiotic bacteria and yeast to be encapsulated to protect them from harsh environments. Bac-in-a-Box® has a number of advantages e.g. 1) it is based on a natural polymer which is digestible 2) it totally protects probiotics from low pH as found in the stomach for extended periods (hours), allowing almost 100% of ingested probiotic cells to reach and be released in the lower intestine 3) it allows freeze drying of probiotics without appreciable loss of viability so they can be easily stored and transported at room temperature. We offer cell encapsulation R&D and cGMP production for both - mammalian cells (stem cells, engineered cell lines etc) all the way from the lab to clinical trial material (Cell-in-a-Box®) and for - bacteria and yeast encapsulation for excellent long term storage at ambient temperatures as well as 5 to 7 logs better protection from acid degradation in the stomach and later release in the large intestine (Bac-in-a-Box®).