With facilities in Cambridge MA and in Kansas City, MO., Liakada is enabling technologies to transform the way cell therapies are delivered and optimized - with the goal being to provide patients with sustainable reversal for their chronic or fatal diseases. Likarda is a several years established (2012) biotech company employing revolutionary methods to coat cells with stealth hydrogels. Called Core Shell Spherification® (CSS), these coatings protect cells from destruction, keeping them viable while maintaining them in the intended location within the body. Likarda has developed a library of 50+ different hydrogel formulations that work with Core Shell Spherification® - effectively yielding the ability uniquely to tailor coating molecules to the specific requirements of the therapeutic cells themselves. From durable and long-term coatings to degradable coatings that deliver cells over days, weeks, or months, the firm is able to create exclusive hydrogel formulations tailored for each therapeutic application. The principals had orginally developed the 3D cell culture platform at the University of Kansas Medical Center where they focused on discovering and providing next-generation treatments for diabetes. The founders discovered the power of miniaturized islets, called Kanslets, for secondary drug testing and have published multiple studies in support of the technology. It should be noted that Likarda started out as a contract research organization, conducting research for others: large international pharmaceutical companies down to small startups. The principals were among the first able to screen for new drugs using 3D clusters of cells in a high throughput format. Revenues from the contract research were re-invested back into Likardas R&D programs for the firm's own cell therapy technologies. Eventually their advanced cell therapy platforms demanded the companys full attention and the pivot was made from contract research efforts to creating new encapsulation approaches for cell therapies being developed by Likarda and by outside company partners.
