Esphera SynBio, a startup company founded by researchers at The Ottawa Hospital/University of Ottawa and McMaster University, has secured US$ 2 million in seed funding to support the development of personalized cancer vaccines. 

The company’s unique synthetic biology approach harnesses exosomes, tiny pinched-off pieces of cells that can travel around the body and deliver messages to other cells. Typically, cancer cells produce exosomes that help the cancer grow and hide from the body’s immune system, but Drs. Carolina Ilkow, John Bell and Brian Lichty  discovered a way to modify these exosomes so that they attract immune cells and stimulate them to attack the cancer. This innovative technology could be delivered directly to patients or to a patient’s cancer cells growing in the lab. 

The new investment is from GKCC and FACIT. OHRI and Esphera have also signed an agreement to allow the startup to make use of OHRI space during its early development. OHRI and all its researchers follow a Responsible Innovation Framework for developing and commercializing innovations with transparency and integrity.