Got milk? Exolitus has and is using it for exosomes

From Bioprocess International by by Millie Nelson

The use of both animal and human milk as materials for pharmaceutical design is gaining attention in the life sciences space, says Exolitus.

Exolitus, a startup founded in 2020 as a spin-off from the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, focuses on the large-scale manufacturing of native and engineered exosomes and other cell-derived nanovesicles from human and animal cells.

This includes milk, mushrooms, and plants for medicinal, nutraceutical, and cosmeceutical use. According to the firm, exosomes can be defined as nanovesicles made by cells and used by them to deliver bioactive cargo exchange.

“Milk is no exception” to this process, a spokesperson for Exolitus told BioProcess Insider,  as “it contains numerous exosomes from milk-secreting cells. Exosomes from various sources, including bovine, ovine, goat, and human milk, are gaining more and more attention from life scientists and biotechnologists as a novel material for designing pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and cosmetics. However, cell and extracellular biology scientists mostly work on human cell-derived exosomes, focusing on their role in human physiology and pathology.”