Cirsium Biosciences

This year has given us so much to be thankful for, and our team potluck was a great reminder of the milestones we’ve achieved together. 🍽️ From securing the ARPA-H grant to expanding our team and continuing to drive innovation in gene therapy manufacturing, every success is a testament to our team’s hard work and dedication. 🌿 Here’s to building on that momentum and achieving great things together. Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃

Next month, Jake Connors, our Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder, will take the stage at MEDTEX Summit Asia 2024 to showcase our groundbreaking platform and its impact on traditional gene therapy manufacturing methods. We’re thrilled to share our latest advancements with industry leaders from around the globe. #MEDTEX #MEDTEX24 #GeneTherapyManufacturing #PlantScience

Gene therapy has shown tremendous potential to address an array of diseases. Yet patients seeking access to curative treatments face major access barriers driven by lengthy product development timelines and astronomical price tags once treatments are commercially available. We’re here to change this reality for patients waiting for a cure. Our proprietary manufacturing platform reduces production costs by over 10x and cuts development timelines from over a year to just two months. Speed to market and a lower barrier to commercialization will dramatically expand patient access to this transformative class of treatments.  👉 Swipe through to see how we’re breaking down barriers and bringing hope to those who need it most. #PatientAccessibility #PlantScience #GeneTherapyManufacturing #ViralVector #AAV

🌟🌱 Employee Spotlight: Qingqing Xie, Principal Scientist 🌱🌟 Qingqing always envisioned a career that makes a meaningful impact, which led her to plant science. "Using plants to produce AAV for gene therapy is an exciting frontier," she says, "and it aligns perfectly with my dream of leveraging plant science for a better future." As our Plant Science Team Lead, Qingqing refines plant health, advances molecular design, and coordinates weekly research—all to support AAV production. Recently, she even implemented a new vector design system. She’s especially proud of our team's strength. "Working in a small, dynamic team means we communicate directly, support each other, and tackle challenges head-on," Qingqing says. Every member brings dedication, a strong work ethic, and a supportive spirit, making it a truly rewarding place to work." Thank you, Qingqing, for your vision, commitment, and collaboration! We are thankful to have you on our team!

Yesterday, our team decked out in spooky style and even had a few "spirited" helping hands in the lab. Happy post-Halloween from all of us! 👻 🎃

We’re excited to welcome some outstanding talent to our team! 🌱 Adam Roose joins us as Vice President of Business Development. He will play a key role in expanding strategic partnerships and driving new opportunities. With over seven years of experience in cell and gene therapy business development and a background as a bench scientist, Adam brings a powerful blend of scientific and business expertise. We’re thrilled to welcome his knowledge and leadership to the team! 🌱 Logan Trimble is our newest Scientist I—Downstream Processing. With more than 10 years of experience in AAV and biologics downstream process development, Logan will play a key role in our research projects, focusing on optimizing AAV production. Collaborating with cross-functional teams, he’ll ensure the efficient, cost-effective production of high-quality products that meet regulatory standards. 🌱 Taylor Mazur joins us as a Senior Research Associate on our Plant Science Team, where she will contribute to plant genetics and molecular biology, driving innovation within our platform. Taylor’s expertise will be instrumental in advancing critical research initiatives. 🌱 Rhett Hughes officially joins us as a Research Associate I. Rhett is on our Plant Science team, assisting with greenhouse duties such as germination of seeds, transplanting, and monitoring plant growth, as well as contributing to our research efforts through lab processes like Colony PCRs and GFP imaging. We’re excited to see the incredible contributions Adam, Logan, Taylor, and Rhett will bring to our team and mission! #GeneTherapyManufacturing #PlantScience

What a time at #CGMesa24! Our team had a great time connecting with industry leaders and exchanging insights. Here are a few of our key takeaways: 1. Reducing AAV Immunogenicity: Addressing the challenge of redosing through platform innovation is crucial for the long-term clinical and commercial success of AAV gene therapies, and this will remain a top priority in R&D as treatments continue to evolve. 2. Rare Disease Strategy: Tackling rare and ultra-rare diseases requires a strategic balance of payer clarity, regulatory convergence, and cost reduction. The industry is dedicated to finding sustainable solutions, and we're excited about how we can contribute to these efforts. 3. Driving Down Costs in Cell & Gene Therapy: High costs in R&D, process and analytical development (PAD), and manufacturing continue to pose challenges. While there's growing momentum to address cost drivers across the value chain, further innovation and platform standardization are crucial to achieving a sustainable commercial model. This is a key motivator for our platform. 4. Evolution in Automation: Automation is transforming cell and gene therapy manufacturing by lowering costs and accelerating product development timelines. Our platform harnesses the proven automation of industrial agriculture to make therapies more accessible and scalable. We're eager to drive this innovation forward for the industry's benefit. #CellandGeneTherapy #CellTherapy #GeneTherapy

Our team took a well-deserved break to celebrate some big accomplishments with a day at the San Diego Zoo and a team dinner. 🦏 🐼 Spending quality time outside the lab was a great way for our team to recharge and fuel up for exciting things ahead!

Partnering with Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) for our VECTORS project grant is a significant milestone in realizing our vision for the future of gene therapies. While the benefits of expanding our capabilities and infrastructure are countless, here are four transformative ways this grant allows us to accelerate innovation. 1. Reducing Costs & Speeding Timelines: Through our work with ARPA-H, we will rapidly advance critical research initiatives, including refining our plant-based bioreactor technology to increase efficiency further and reduce production costs for AAV at 10x compared to current methods. 2. Scaling Production Capabilities: Expanding our production facility increases our capacity by more than 5x, allowing us to meet the growing demand for gene therapy products. This scale-up is essential to support large-scale manufacturing as we move toward commercialization. 3. Driving Strategic Collaboration: The grant resources provided through the grant open doors for partnerships with leading experts and organizations seeking innovative approaches in AAV development to launch new therapeutic programs at a lower cost and with shorter timelines. 4. Advancing Patient Access: Our ultimate mission is to improve global access to life-saving gene therapies. This grant allows us to significantly reduce the cost and time to deliver gene therapies to patients, making these treatments more affordable and accessible to those in need. We’re thrilled to share this exciting journey with you and look forward to continuing to transform gene therapy innovation. Stay tuned for updates on leveraging this grant to drive progress! #PlantScience #GeneTherapyManufacturing #ARPAH #ViralVector #AAV

Cirsium is gearing up for the 2024 Cell & Gene Meeting on the Mesa in Phoenix next week! ☀️ We’re excited to dive into the latest advancements in gene therapy and showcase our unique platform, which uses plants as bioreactors to drive innovation. 🌱   This past month has been especially exciting for us. We’ve secured significant funding from ARPA-H for our groundbreaking VECTORS project, which creates new opportunities to accelerate our platform’s development.   Daniel G. and Jake Connors will attend, along with our incoming VP of Business Development, Adam Roose. If you’re attending, let’s connect! We’d love to share how we use this momentum to expand our platform’s technology and explore collaboration opportunities. #CGMesa24 #CellandGeneTherapy #CellTherapy #GeneTherapy Alliance for Regenerative Medicine