Maryland-based company working to advance medical synthetic biology
COLUMBIA, Md., (August 26, 2024) — 
TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, announced a recent $200,000 Pre-Seed Builder Fund investment in Simmbion, LLC. Businesses receiving an investment from TEDCO’s Pre-Seed Builder Fund, housed under TEDCO’s Social Impact Funds, receive access to a variety of benefits designed to nurture business growth.
“The promise of biologic drugs has been hampered by the need for frequent injections and cold-chain logistics,” said Derese Getnet, CEO of Simmbion. “Through the assistance of TEDCO, Simmbion is working to eliminate the need for recurrent needle-based administration of these drugs (and all the associated cold-chain). In success, our approach will transform adherence to treatment for diabetes, obesity, rare genetic diseases and cancer.”
Nonadherence to therapy in chronic disease leads to poor outcomes and high cost. It is estimated that the rate of adherence to chronic medications is only in the range of 50%, which is responsible for half of all treatment failures and up to 25% of US hospitalizations each year. Because of this reality, Simmbion, LLC, located in Baltimore, Md., is working to develop a long-term cellular factory approach for the delivery biologics similar to insulin and GLP-1 to hopefully deliver safer treatments and reduce the cost and time of care. This synthetic cell technology possesses features such as being disease-agnostic, tunable and universally immune-compatible and requires only minimal cold-chain logistics.
Currently, Simmbion plans to commercialize this in-vivo therapy expression system for companion animals like cats and dogs that depend on biologics, building a robust safety and efficacy product profile while advancing the rare orphan disease treatment for Gaucher’s in humans.
“Simmbion’s innovative thinking could allow for continued advancement in the creation of synthetic cell technology and biologics,” said Jean-Luc Park, senior director of Social Impact Funds. “We look forward to seeing how their research and development support the continued growth of Maryland’s ecosystem and would like to extend the invitation to other technology start-ups from all industries to apply for TEDCO’s Funds.”
TEDCO’s Social Impact Funds were created to support underrepresented entrepreneurs throughout Maryland. For information about the fund, visit https://www.tedcomd.com/funding/social-impact-funds.
About Simmbion
Simmbion, The Living Medicine Company™, is a veteran-owned company specializing in the development of symbiotic synthetic cells for the treatment of chronic diseases. Based in Baltimore, Maryland, Simmbion is dedicated to revolutionizing healthcare with its innovative therapeutic solutions designed to improve quality of life and reduce healthcare costs. Simmbion has engineered Trypanosomal symbionts to secrete specific therapeutic proteins. The company’s Simmbions™ are designed to be implanted within a patient via a single injection that provides sustained release of medication for up to one year or more. If necessary, Simmbions can be reversed with antimicrobials - offering unprecedented control over disease management. As a result, the sustained release of biologics and other therapeutic agents, drastically minimizes the need for conventional recurrent needle-based delivery methods and seamlessly integrates with many lifestyles and curtails the complexities of cold-chain logistics. Simmbion has support from the National Science Foundation, TEDCO, Velocity Biofund, and LifeBridge Health.