Cell-based therapies have yet to reach their full potential in repairing damaged tissue because of the hostile environment the cells face once injected into the body. A patient’s inflammatory response normally causes the majority of these therapeutic cells to die or migrate away from the area in need of repair.

To address this problem, a startup company based on technology developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology is creating an efficient, safe and repeatable delivery method that protects cells from death and migration from the treatment site. Using microbead technology developed in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, SpherIngenics is producing protective capsules for the delivery of cell-based therapies.