Research & Developement
At Terasom, we conduct innovative, complex research to help overcome cancer. Our research team uses an interdisciplinary approach, including bioinformatics, proteomics, three-dimensional biological testing models, and state-of-the-art techniques to develop novel methods to assist those with the terrible disease. We have initiated and grown three projects, which support our company’s vision, based on our “all-in-one” cancer support system.
Diagnose
Current lung cancer diagnostics rely on imaging and invasive procedures, which are both costly and time-consuming. Therefore, there is a strict eligibility criterion where only the highest-risk individuals are screened. As a result of the long wait times and lack of mass screening, many cases progress to metastasis before diagnosis, minimising survival rates. Our detection method will enable all high-risk patients to be screened by providing a point-of-care early detection system.
New Biomarkers
Our detection system starts with five new biomarkers, found on the surface of exosomes. These exosomes can be extracted from a simple liquid biopsy from blood, saliva or urine. Three of these five biomarkers are able to indicate early lung cancer stages.
IVD diagnostic unit
Our diagnostic unit consists of two parts: our electric biomarker detection device and our novel EV isolator. The entire detection process takes no more than 20 minutes, so no one has to wait at home for test results nervously.
This detection platform can also be used for the early detection of prostate cancer and has prospective applications in the early diagnosis of other conditions such as breast cancer, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and various cardiovascular diseases.
Treat
Immunotherapy Vaccine
We have developed an exosome-based vaccine that functions both as an immunotherapy for lung cancer patients and as a prophylactic vaccine for at-risk individuals. By engineering exosomes to display cancer-specific antigens on their surface, we intend to stimulate an adaptive immune response that eliminates existing cancer cells to prevent any possible future occurrence.
This approach leverages three distinct tumour-associated antigens (TAAs) that are surface-loaded onto isolated immune cell-derived exosomes. This method surpasses others due to its ability to kill cancerous stem cells, which is the cause of ~80% of recurrence rates within cancer patients. The treatment also causes a 'tumour softening' effect, allowing the immune system to better reach cancer cells compared to other therapies.
Regenerate
Regenerative Medicine
Exosomes' main responsibility within the body is to transmit signals between cells. We have found a method to re-engineer isolated human stem cell exosomes to target damaged tissue by stimulating elastin biogenesis.
