The business incubator of the Institut Pasteur, Biotop, welcomes a new start-up company: CELOGOS, founded in June 2001 by two researchers from the Institut Pasteur *, focusing on cell therapy using adult stem cells. This type of therapy is the way forward for the treatment of various diseases, but its main limitation today is obtaining quality cell cultures. CELOGOS has innovative technologies (Rational Cell DesignTM) which enable this significant hindrance to be lifted. The new company is already assessing the therapeutic effectiveness of skeletal muscle cells in animals.
Armed with twenty years' experience in cellular engineering, the CELOGOS scientists have perfected a technology called Rational Cell DesignTM (RCD) which combines bioinformatics with cellular technology and enables cultures of highly qualified human stem cells to be obtained. The RCD appears to be particularly promising in a context where the culture of such cells still requires empirical procedures which do not ensure the safe conditions essential for their therapeutic use.
Cell therapy with adult cell transplants, although still in its early stages, has already been successfully used to repair the skin in patients with major burns and is beginning to enable the repair of bones and ligaments in particular.
Celogos has chosen to focus on adult stem cells from the skeletal muscle. Easy to access and genetically stable with a strong potential for differentiation and growth, they are excellent tools for cell therapy. Transplanted, they can be used to repair the muscles. Genetically modified and then transplanted into the body, they permit long term therapeutic protein delivery . Last but not least , these cells are major tools for pharmacological screening.
CELOGOS is the seventh start-up company established by the Pasteur Institute. It is developing partnerships with the Quantitative Imaging Analysis Laboratory headed by Jean-Christophe Olivo-Marin, and Philippe Brulet's Molecular Embryology Laboratory from the Institut Pasteur. A partnership is also underway with the Généthon (Olivier Danos).
* Celogos SA was co-founded by Christian Pinset and Didier Montarras, who co-managed the Cellular Development laboratory at the Institut Pasteur. Christian Pinset, Managing Director of Celogos, is Medical Doctor and Research Director at the CNRS. Celogos combines scientists and experts in the formation of biotechnology start-ups.
Since 1997, the Institut Pasteur has been involved in the creation of start-up companies : Hybrigenics (1997), Diatos (1999), Cellectis (1999), Evologic (2000), PasteurMed (2000), Theraptosis (2001) and Celogos (2001). Since December 2000, new biotechnology start-up companies are settled in its incubator called Pasteur BioTop. Each company benefits, during two years, with the different facilities from the campus (lawyers, Patent Office, Technology platforms, Scientific environment etc…) as well as common services and equipment.
Contacts:
- Christian Pinset, CELOGOS:
Tel: +33 1 45 68 89 61 - Fax: +33 1 45 68 86 57 - Email:
cpinset@pasteur.fr
- Press Department, Pasteur Institute:
Tel: +33 1 45 68 81 46 - Fax: +33 1 40 61 30 30 - Email:
presse@pasteur.fr