Io-EMP · Tissue-derived acellular micro-scaffold technology reducing or eliminating diabetics’ dependence on insulin therapy

Betalin’s mission is to provide a tissue-derived acellular micro-scaffold that will extend the life and the insulin-producingperformance of transplanted beta cells in order to reduce or eliminate the dependence of some diabetics on insulin therapy.Type 1 Diabetes is a chronic disease that results from the autoimmune destruction of the insulin-producing beta cells in thepancreas. Its cause is still uncertain and there is no known way to prevent its onset. With~70,000 new cases diagnosedeach year, it is estimated that ~17 mn people worldwide are afflicted with T1DM. In the US alone, T1DM results in $14.4 bnin medical costs and lost income annually. Type 1 diabetics face a lifetime regime of insulin therapy and very careful lifestylemanagement in an attempt to mitigate the long-term complications associated with T1DM such as cardiovascular disease,damage to the eyes, kidneys and nerves, and premature death. In recent years islet transplantation has been researched asa treatment for T1DM. The procedure involves injecting millions of islets (the pancreatic cell clusters that “house” theinsulinproducingbeta cells) harvested from cadavers, followed by immunosuppression therapy. Islet transplantation is a promisingapproach but the naked islets are very unstable: they must be transplanted almost immediately after harvesting and up to80% of the transplanted islets stop functioning within 24hrs. The result is that, after five years, less than 10% of therecipients are free of daily insulin treatment. Betalin’s technology is based on the premise that in order for beta cells tofunction properly it is necessary to provide an appropriate stromal (connective tissue) micro-environment. The proprietaryplatform technology is a method to prepare acellular organ-derived micro-scaffolds that preserve the architecture and thebasic composition of organ stroma and ensure that no seeded cell will be more than 150 microns from a source of nutrientsand gases.