Censo Biotechnologies (Axol Bioscience Ltd.)

Axol Bioscience is at the 5th Annual Dry AMD and GA Therapeutics Summit, flying the flag for human iPSCs. We are at the 5th Annual Dry AMD and GA Therapeutics Summit and are proud to be an Exhibition partner at this year's event. As you may have already seen, Phenocell recently joined the Axol Bioscience family. This enables Axol to extend the existing product portfolio into ophthalmology, by offering iPSC-derived Retinal Pigment Epithelial (RPE) cells and high-throughput screening services for dry AMD research and drug testing. Our presence at important events like these shows the great value we place on collaboration by meeting with existing partners and fostering new relationships with future collaborators. Attending this meeting also enables us to keep abreast of new developments and present our progress to the Dry AMD community. Our team is at Booth #1, ready to share how we're supporting the drug discovery market for Dry AMD. Dr. Florian Regent will be presenting a poster showing some of our work in the field: Harnessing the Potential of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells to Accelerate Drug Discovery for Age-Related Macular Degeneration Our CEO Liam Taylor and Head of Ophthalmology Dr. @Florian Regent are in attendance. Come and talk to us if you are interested in hearing about how you can fuel your in vitro dry AMD models with our iPSC-derived RPE cells, to build a robust and relevant tool for your drug screening campaigns and Hit/Lead validation. Alternatively, you can also email us at operations@axolbio.com. #DryAMD #RPEcells

Phenocell joining the Axol Bioscience family is not just a story of an acquisition but one about uniting people and innovation for greater impact. We are thrilled to have announced our recent acquisition of Phenocell, a strategic move that significantly expands both of our product portfolios and reinforces our joint commitment to building better human models of disease using iPSCs. This partnership goes beyond just adding new products and services; it’s about uniting two teams that share a vision for advancing the development of better human disease models across multiple disease areas. One of the key reasons for this acquisition is the talented scientific team at Phenocell and their commitment to delivering high-quality science. By bringing together our expertise, we can accelerate innovation and drive meaningful advancements in our field. We are also highly aligned in our values and this shared commitment of these values of Performance, Accountability, Transparency, Acting with Integrity, Diversity and Inclusivity and Collaboration will enhance our collaborative efforts and drive innovation forward. Moreover, this acquisition demonstrates our values in action even further as highlighted below: • Performance: Through combining our innovative capabilities in the neuroscience, pain and touch, cardiovascular, ophthalmology and dermatology areas with, we are enhancing our ability to deliver high-quality solutions more effectively. • Accountability: We take responsibility for this strategic decision, ensuring that our collaboration meets the highest standards and delivers value to our community. • Transparency: Throughout the process, we have been committed to maintaining open lines of communication, fostering trust and clarity. • Acting with Integrity: This acquisition reflects our commitment to ethical practices, ensuring that our partnership aligns with our principles and mission. • Diversity and Inclusivity: We recognize the unique strengths of the Phenocell team and this acquisition shows our dedication to creating an inclusive environment where diverse perspectives drive innovation. • Collaboration: This partnership represents a collaborative effort to combine our talents and resources, working together towards shared goals that benefit our customers and the broader community. Together, we are able to drive innovation and deliver even greater value to our customers and stakeholders. This acquisition marks a significant step forward, enhancing our ability to meet the evolving needs of the market. We look forward to leveraging our combined strengths and working together with urgency to support the industry in developing better human models of disease using iPSCs. If you have any questions concerning this acquisition or about our new products and services, contact us at operations@axolbio.com. #collaboration #humaniPSCs #AcquisitionNews #DrugDiscovery

It's #techtuesday and as always we are here to help you, our community, with any technical questions you may have. At Axol, we've spent more than a decade at the forefront of iPSC technology, developing expertise in using iPSC-derived cells for drug discovery and research. Our straightforward workflows and simple to read protocols ensure you get the best from your cells, and we are always on hand to support you in achieving your goals. In order to provide more support we have ran dedicated Tech Help Clinics to create another means by which our community can get the help they need. So, if you are wondering if we have some specific data about cells, what co-culture studies we have done or how long our cells can be cultured, take a look at one of our Tech Help Clinics related to the topic you are after. These clinics are titled: • iPSC Tech Help Clinic: Human iPSC Derived Sensory Neurons [presented by Dr. Stuart Prime] • iPSC Tech Help Clinic: Human iPSC Derived Cardiomyocytes [presented by Dr Jamie Bhagwan] • iPSC Tech Help Clinic Microglial Cells [presented by Dr. Jessica Tilman] To watch any of these Tech Clinics, visit https://hubs.la/Q02W6q-M0. Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions operations@axolbio.com. #iPSCs #DrugDiscovery #StemCells #biopharma #techtuesday

Fuel your in vitro dry AMD models with our iPSC-derived RPE cells Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness worldwide, and the therapeutic options for dry-AMD, the most common form accounting for 80-90% of cases, remain limited. A major challenge in developing effective treatments is the absence of reliable in vitro AMD models, which has slowed drug discovery efforts. The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is the cell type primarily affected in AMD. While primary and immortalized RPE lines have provided valuable insights into RPE functions under normal and pathological conditions, they exhibit limitations for drug discovery. To address this pressing need for dry AMD therapies, we at Axol are doing our part in developing faithful in vitro dry AMD models through the production of functionally relevant RPE cells. We have extensively characterized our iPSC-derived RPE cells for phenotypic and functional relevance. Key highlights include: • Expression of key markers (MITF, ZO-1, PMEL17) by immunostaining • Typical pigmented and cobblestone morphology • High purity, with >95% PMEL 17 expression on flow cytometry • Outer retinal barrier resistance measured via volt/ohm meter • Functional relevance in phagocytosis assay We’re also applying our extensive technical expertise and operational excellence to offer iPSC products and a range of outsourced services for dry AMD research such as High-throughput screening services. To find out more about our products and services to support drug discovery and research for AMD, download our new brochure here: https://hubs.la/Q02VZkSX0 Contact us at operations@axolbio.com, if you have any questions or for a quotation. #dryAMD #RPECells #iPSCs

We have created the first in vitro model that captures key mechanisms involved in RPE atrophy in age-related macular degeneration using human iPSCs. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness worldwide, and the therapeutic options for dry-AMD, the most common form accounting for 80-90% of cases, remain limited. A major challenge in developing effective treatments is the absence of reliable in vitro AMD models, which has slowed drug discovery efforts. The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is the cell type primarily affected in AMD. While primary and immortalized RPE lines have provided valuable insights into RPE functions under normal and pathological conditions, they exhibit limitations for drug discovery. In a recent poster titled "Harnessing the potential of induced pluripotent stem cells to accelerate drug discovery for age-related macular degeneration", we at Axol Bioscience sought to establish a highly relevant in vitro AMD model by developing a protocol for the large-scale differentiation of multiple iPSC lines into RPE cells. The cells were then treated with chronic low doses of A2E, and exposed to blue light, simulating lipofuscin accumulation, an aging mechanism implicated in AMD. Our results demonstrated that this combination of stressors induced AMD hallmarks in iPSC-derived RPE cells, including increased oxidative stress, complement pathway activation, increased pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion, and RPE atrophy. As such we have been able to create the first in vitro model that faithfully recapitulates key mechanisms involved in RPE atrophy associated with AMD. Moreover, we collected multiple patient cell lines to be able to account for the impact of genetic backgrounds on the efficacy of potential treatments. Dr. Florian Regent, Head of Ophthalmology at Axol, will be presenting this poster at the 5th Dry AMD & GA Therapeutics Summit, 28-30 October in Boston, USA. If you will be at the Summit, come over to Booth #1 to find out more. Alternatively, you can download our Dry AMD Brochure here https://hubs.la/Q02VQgjD0 or email us at operations@axolbio.com. #dryAMD #humanIPSCs #iPSCCommunity

iPSC—MEA data alert! Axol has published a new whitepaper showing characterization data of a human iPSC-derived motor neuron disease model for ALS drug discovery using Axion BioSystems' Maestro Pro. We have recently published a new whitepaper where we collaborated with Axion BioSystems by using their Maestro Pro to characterize a human iPSC-derived motor neuron disease model for ALS drug discovery. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease, characterized by the progressive loss of motor neuron function, of which there is currently no cure. With current treatment aimed mainly at symptomatic relief, there is a need for better treatment options for patients with this debilitating disease. Key to this, is having better in vitro models of ALS that are more translational relevant. At Axol, our work in the iPSC space aims to support the industry's journey towards this through the production of iPSC-derived motor neurons fit for disease modelling. We understand the importance of characterizing these cells to ensure that are functionally relevant. This is essential for establishing reliable disease models, as it ensures that the cells accurately reflect the key pathological features of ALS, such as hyperexcitability. In this whitepaper, we characterized motor neurons morphologically and functionally, via multielectrode array from 4 different lines. The data illustrated in the whitepaper demonstrated how the ALS phenotype lines displayed a reproducible loss of synchronous firing and different degrees of hyperexcitability. This is in accordance with expected ALS clinical pathology and supports the case for the use of these cells in experimental in vitro models to study ALS pathology and potential therapeutics. Read the full whitepaper here: https://hubs.la/Q02VQ3TC0 Learn more about axoCells Motor Neurons: https://hubs.la/Q02VQ3tv0 If you have any questions, contact us at operations@axolbio.com. #iPSCs #MotorNeurons #MEA #ALS

Axol Bioscience Scientific Group Leader, Dr. Jamie Bhagwan presented on the subject of chamber-specific pharmacology in iPSC-derived cardio models today at the 2024 Nanion Technologies User Meeting, Munich. Jamie's presentation was entitled, "Chamber-specific pharmacological responses of axoCells™ hiPSC-derived Atrial and Ventricular Cardiomyocytes on the FLEXcyte96 platform" and shared data generated in partnership with innoVitro using Nanion's FLEXcyte96 platform. The study sought to investigate the base characteristics and pharmacological differences between commercially available chamber-specific atrial or ventricular human iPSC cardiomyocytes seeded onto ultrathin, flexible PDMS membranes to simultaneously measure contractility in a 96 multi-well format. The study also investigated the effects of GPCR agonists (acetylcholine and carbachol), a Ca2+ channel agonist (S-Bay K8644), an HCN channel antagonist (ivabradine) and K+ channel antagonists (4-AP and vernakalant). Overall, they were able to gain valuable insights that illustrated the key pharmacological differences between chamber-specific cardiomyocytes and their application on a multi-well contractility platform. This in turn provides further insight for in vitro cardiac liability studies and disease modelling. Be sure to catch Dr. Jamie Bhagwan at Nanion Technologies HQ today to learn more. Interested in using our axoCells Cardiomyocytes to support your cardiovascular research? Contact us at operations@axolbio.com, let's have a conversation. #iPSCs #Cardiomyocytes #UserMeeting #Collaboration

Building functionally relevant in vitro models of Alzheimer’s Disease with patient-derived iPSCs... Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) embodies the complex coordination of neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation, and neurotoxic mediator responses of a multitude of neural cell types. Current animal models are limited in their representation of an in vivo human response, cell numbers, and reproducibility. Therefore, the use of AD patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) alongside reliable and reproducible differentiation methods allows for large-scale generation of more physiologically relevant in vitro disease models to facilitate drug discovery research progression. At ELRIG Drug Discovery 2024, one of the posters that was presented (Poster #244) was by Helena Raine, one of our Research Assistants here at Axol titled: Building a functionally relevant in-vitro model of Alzheimer’s Disease with patient-derived iPSCs. In this body of work, we utilized our extensive library of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) patient donor lines to generate multiple neural cell types. The preliminary data shown in this poster represents some of the characterization and functional data that we can generate across multiple cell lines with different AD-related mutations, and across multiple neural cell types. Also, observed differences in patient cell line neuronal responses demonstrates that patient stratification could aid development of AD treatments. This initial work suggests that physiologically representative, reproducible, and reliable in vitro disease modelling and drug screening is possible with patient derived cells. To read more, you can download the full poster here: https://hubs.la/Q02VrYJ_0 Also if there is anything you would like to follow-up with us on from ELRIG, be sure to get in contact with us at operations@axolbio.com, we'd be happy to have a conversation. #iPSCs #ELRIG #DrugDiscovery2024 #NeurodegenerativeResearch #AlzheimersDisease #DrugDiscovery

Building iPSC-models for Dry AMD. Axol Bioscience will be at the 5th Annual Dry AMD and GA Therapeutics Summit and is proud to be an Exhibition partner at this year's event. The event takes place from 28th-30th October at the Hilton Boston Back Bay. As you may have already seen, Phenocell recently joined the Axol Bioscience family. This enables Axol to extend their product portfolio into ophthalmology, by offering iPSC-derived Retinal Pigment Epithelial (RPE) cells and high-throughput screening services for dry AMD research and drug testing. Our presence at important events like these shows the great value we place on collaboration by meeting with existing partners and fostering new relationships with future collaborators. Attending this meeting also enables us to keep abreast of new developments and present our progress to the Dry AMD community. Our team will be on Booth #1, flying the flag for human iPSCs and explaining how we're supporting the drug discovery market for Dry AMD. Dr. Florian Régent will be presenting a poster showing some of our work in the field: Harnessing the Potential of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells to Accelerate Drug Discovery for Age-Related Macular Degeneration Our CEO Liam Taylor and our Head of Ophthalmology Dr. Florian Régent will be in attendance. Come and talk to us if you are interested in hearing about how you can fuel your in vitro dry AMD models with our iPSC-derived RPE cells, to build a robust and relevant tool for your drug screening campaigns and Hit/Lead validation! Alternatively, you can also email us at operations@axolbio.com. #iPSCs #DryAMD #RPEcells

Struggling with media volume consistency in your cell plates? Well, it's #TechTuesday which means it's time for another technical tip from one of our scientists here at Axol to help you! Helena Raine, one of our Research Assistants at Axol that works on cellular differentiations and assays, shares her top technical tip to help you avoid media volume inconsistencies that can arise from evaporation that can take place during cellular incubation. Her top tip is to add some Phosphate-buffered saline on the outer plates beside the cells to stop evaporation in the outer well. This will help ensure that the volume in the plates remain s consistent. Media volume consistency is very important especially when performing compound screening as inconsistencies could adversely effect results. Additionally, evaporation from cell culture plates can cause culture problems since the medium components, can then reach concentrations that can become harmful to the cells. At Axol, we've spent more than a decade at the forefront of iPSC technology, adding to our bank of expertise in using iPSC-derived cells for drug discovery and research. As such, we're always ready to help. If you are interested in using human iPSC-derived cells in your work, contact us at operation@axolbio.com. #TechTuesday #iPSCs #StemCells #Microglia