Cellames Co., Ltd. (CEO Cho Sang-jun) announced that it will participate in ‘BIO KOREA 5 (Bio Korea 10)’, which will be held at COEX in Seoul for three days from Wednesday, May 12th to Friday, May 3th.
Selames is a bio- and electronics-based startup that develops cell chips and systems for cytotoxicity assessment. By using human cells rather than animals for hazard assessment of vaccines, new drugs, and test substances, ethical issues can be overcome and preclinical costs and periods can be shortened. The ambition is to contribute to the development of the country and human society by developing and domestically producing a system that confirms the life and death of cells by analyzing the impedance value that changes depending on the state of the cell, and a system that analyzes the state of cells using potential differences, such as myocardial cells.
CIMS-16, which will be exhibited at this exhibition, is a non-destructive real-time cell impedance analysis system that can observe and analyze the differentiation, growth, and death processes of cells in real time without staining. The cell chip used in the CIMS-16 system is cultureware using transparent electrodes, allowing microscopic observation at any time during or after the experiment.
CFPS-32 is a product developed to evaluate human cardiotoxicity. Human-derived cardiomyocytes are cultured on a cell chip, bioelectric signals (field potential) generated from the cells are measured, and analyzed using CFPS-32 S/W. The presence or absence of abnormalities in myocardial cells according to the administered drug can be confirmed. The official explained that through this, cardiovascular-related pharmacological safety evaluation of candidate drugs can be performed quickly and at low cost.
A Cellames official said, “The existing cell analysis technology was a method of checking the condition of cells by injecting a dye into the cells, but there were disadvantages and problems in that the dye could not be used again after confirming the condition of the cells.” He added, “The cells developed by our company “The analysis technology has the great advantage of measuring the impedance (resistance value according to frequency) of cells in real time, allowing the differentiation and growth of cells to be observed while the cells are alive through impedance values and microscopic observation,” he explained.
In addition, in early 2023, the U.S. FDA removed the mandatory animal testing provisions, making it possible to replace non-clinical testing, which was essential for new drug approval, with human cells rather than animal testing. Accordingly, a cardiac toxicity evaluation system using cardiomyocytes was developed and released. Selames will launch its first product in December 2022 and is promoting the product to domestic university labs, national organizations, and research institutes, and is pursuing partnerships with American and Japanese companies to enter overseas markets.
An official said, “The company has developed a cell chip and system that can monitor and analyze the status of cells in real time, and is preparing for product promotion and animal replacement testing. The product can be applied to various fields (new drugs, vaccines, bio, cosmetics, etc.) “I decided to participate in the exhibition to check whether or not it was possible,” he said.
He continued, “In order to analyze many cells at the same time, we are planning to develop a 96-channel cell analysis system and a system for 3D cell analysis. “We plan to conduct a cytotoxicity evaluation service in accordance with the time when the product lineup is completed and replacement of animal testing with human cell testing becomes active,” he said, announcing his future business plan.
Meanwhile, ‘BIO KOREA 18’, which celebrated its 2023th this year, is hosted by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute and Chungcheongbuk-do. Since 2006, BIO KOREA, which has been striving to promote the global status and continuous growth of the Korean health industry, has been strengthening its position as Korea’s representative bio-health international convention with world-renowned scholars and business experts participating every year. BIO KOREA 2023, together with domestic and foreign companies related to the health industry such as bio, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, cosmetics, and food, as well as companies and institutions of interest such as consulting, academia, and related organizations, offers various programs such as conferences, business partnering, exhibitions, and invest fairs. It goes on.