Summit Pharmaceuticals International (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Chief Executive Officer: Katsuya Okuyama; hereinafter “SPI”) has signed an exclusive distributorship agreement in Japan with EVERZOM, SAS*. (hereinafter “EVERZOM”), a France-based company providing exosome manufacturing service.

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Exosomes are vesicles of thirty to hundreds of nanometers in size, surrounded by a lipid bilayer membrane secreted from cells, and contain proteins, microRNAs, and other substances inside. Exosomes are known to play important role as a communication mediator between cells, and have been found to have certain effects on the human body, exemplified in likes of tissue repair. Focusing on this function, exosomes are beginning to be studied/used by multiple universities, bio-tech, and pharmaceuticals for several purposes such as for the prevention of skin sagging, as well as for the treatment of joint injury, with its goal set to be established as one of the main therapeutic modalities for the next generation of breakthrough biotherapeutics. SPI has focused on the market potential of exosomes from early on, and has provided various services based on the keywords like “cells for exosome production” and “analysis and exploration of molecules encapsulated in exosomes,” etc. Now, with the addition of EVERZOM’s exosome production service, SPI is able to further support research and development of exosomes from various aspects especially for exosome manufacturing, engineering, quality control and regulatory advices.

EVERZOM is a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) specialized in exosomes, which spun out from the CNRS Laboratory at the University of Paris Cité in 2019. Only few CDMOS in the world are capable of producing exosomes, and EVERZOM is one of them, with having its strength in the patented technology to produce large quantities of exosomes in a short period of time by stimulating cells with turbulence, and the company is already working with several European companies on joint development with a view to future use in pharmaceutical applications. In addition, a GMP-certified manufacturing facility is scheduled to begin its operations in the fall of 2023.

SPI is committed to working with EVERZOM to further promote and develop exosome research in Japanese market.

*EVERZOM Website: https://everzom.com/

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