Defymed wants to target other chronic pathologies with Mailpan

No longer focus on type 1 diabetes to target other chronic pathologies with its solution.This is the goal pursued by the company Strasbourg Defymed with the creation of the Consortium Decapes, announced Thursday, which brings together a Strasbourg research unit of the CNRS (ICPEES) and the manufacturer of state medical devices, in Besançon.

Created in 2011, Defymed has developed a bioartificial pancreas, the Mailpan, a kind of pocket which allows the implementation of stem cells secreting insulin.What avoid the risk that they proliferate after transplantation and anti -rejection treatments.But also to replace regular insulin injections with more physiological treatment, continuously delivered and in the right place in the body.

Reduce incision size

The implementation of the device now requires an opening of the abdominal cavity of 29 centimeters.The objective is to go to a mini-invasive surgical procedure to reduce this incision to "one or two centimeters", explains Delphine Sigrist, president of Defyme.

This will go through foldable and winding membranes made thanks to the electrospinning technique, a method of producing fibers under electric field controlled by the icpees and industrializable by statice.One of the key technological challenges is linked to semi-permeability.

Diabetes, which requires regular and restrictive injections for patients, is not the first application targeted for this new version of Mailpan.Rather, it will target hemophilia, certain cancers - notably peritoneum -, Alzheimer's disease or lysosomal diseases.

The consortium gives itself a three -year target to achieve the project, which represents a joint investment of around 1.6 million euros, including 990.000 euros of aid from the Investment Program for the future and the call for structuring projects for competitiveness - Regions n ° 2.Entry into clinic is not expected before five years.