Like the legend of the phoenix
All ends with beginnings
What keeps the planet spinning
The force from the beginning

– Daft Punk, featuring Pharrell Williams & Nile Rodgers

Good luck sneaks up on us in many forms. Way back in 2013, Daft Punk might actually have been electrifying your headphones with an ode to finding luck in Science Land. (Incidentally, that was also the year of RoosterBio’s founding.) Perhaps you tapped your foot to that lively tune around the incubators and BSCs, late one night. Or maybe, you pondered the mysterious (and testy?) relationship between your science and Lady Luck. Evidently, luck cannot be hunted down like prey—that’s not how science works! But neither should she be ignored, lest you get caught unprepared for her gifts. The finest of these treasures are reported as breakthroughs that the public yearns to read about with every sunrise.

RoosterBio strives to understand the kind of “luck” its customers and partners get, proactively and retroactively. That’s because we don’t want you to rely on luck, alone. We’d prefer that you’re best equipped to harness good fortune when the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), extracellular vesicles, exosomes, regenerative medicines, and advanced therapies are ready to “level up.” Looking back at the publication trail of peer-reviewed studies since 2015 that cite our catalog products, services, and expertise, what do you see? [1, 2, 3, 4] By the end of 2025, RoosterBio has assisted over 500 publications to earn recognition across a broad spectrum of topics ranging from cell culture bioprocess to tissue engineering to gene editing (Figure 1). Currently, between 65 and 74 of such articles are published each year, not including the numerous pre-prints, review articles, grey lit/whitepapers, conference abstracts, and graduate theses.

Figure 1. Bars, cumulative publications in peer-reviewed science research articles citing RoosterBio products, services, or expertise

RoosterBio products and expertise also bring new PIs, grad students, post-docs, scientists, and technicians recognition as authors across this interdisciplinary knowledge domain. In the group of peer-reviewed science articles that give attribution to RoosterBio, at least 2500 unique individual authors have published for the first time (Figure 2). Each year, 300 to 350 more join this growing tribe. More than 650 such authors are named on two or more of such publications, and 79 authors have been found on more than five. With many scientists who return to us regularly, it appears that they are set up for future success. RoosterBio is proud of the careers that it has helped to establish with the aim to help others work smarter, but not necessarily harder. For some, these studies will be the basis for future clinical trials in humans. Thus, simplicity, robustness, and scalability are factored into the decisions to adopt RoosterBio’s product system.

Figure 2. Bars, cumulative first time authors of peer-reviewed science research articles citing RoosterBio products, services, or expertise.

Although there are too many to count, here are five examples where investigators were able to reap some good fortune in 2025 with a combination of inspiration, hard work, and RoosterBio’s knowledge and toolsets.

• Kim, et al. (1038/s41467-025-57133-w, Nature Communications). Dual-mode action of scalable, high-quality engineered stem cell-derived SIRPα-extracellular vesicles for treating acute liver failure [5]

When the liver suddenly fails, a lot of liver cells die in a way that causes inflammation. The immune system must clean up these dead cells, but the dying liver cells express a “don’t eat me” signal called CD47, which blocks cleanup and makes the damage worse. Scientists from ShiftBio, Inc., Korea University, KIST, Seoul National University Hospital, Portrai, Inc, Dongguk University, and RoosterBio prepared extracellular vesicles (EVs) from MSCs that were molecularly engineered to display SIRPα on their surfaces (SIRP-EVs) to block that CD47 “don’t eat me” signal. These particles worked two ways. They allowed macrophages to clear away dead cells in a mouse model of acute liver failure, and they also communicated pro-regeneration signals to the organ that appear to be MSC-specific. With this treatment, the mice survived far better, and with much less damage.

To prepare the engineered EVs, the scientists used bone marrow-derived MSCs from RoosterBio, along with RoosterBio expansion medium (RoosterNourish™), genetic engineering medium (RoosterGEM™), and EV collection medium (RoosterCollect™-EV). AgentV™-DSP was used to reduce filtration challenges during downstream purification of the EVs (-/+ SIRP). The authors concluded, “…this strategy holds potential for application across a range of inflammatory conditions. In addition, the scalable and high-purity production process of these engineered MSC-derived EVs establishes a solid foundation for further research and development. This groundwork aims to facilitate clinical translation, potentially revolutionizing the management of acute in inflammatory diseases…”

• Stein & Braid (1101/2025.04.17.649452, BioRxiv preprint enroute to peer review). An animal-free bioprocess to synthesize 3D human matrix scaffolds using mesenchymal stromal cells [6]

Most lab-grown tissues use gels made from mouse tumors. Yet these aren’t very human-like, are of non-uniform composition, and introduce artifacts. In this study, scientists from Simon Fraser University showed that human mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) can reliably build their own real human tissue scaffolds when grown as little 3D spheres. Different MSC sources (umbilical cord, placenta, fat, bone marrow) made different kinds of matrix, meaning researchers can tune the scaffold depending on what tissue they want to model. RoosterBio’s bone marrow MSCs contributed some of the cellular material for this work, alongside umbilical cord MSCs and placental MSCs.

• Bikorimana, et al. (1186/s13287-025-04465-5, Stem Cell Research & Therapy). ARM-X: an adaptable mesenchymal stromal cell-based vaccination platform suitable for solid tumors [7]

Most people like to imagine MSCs as cells that throw a wet blanket on overheated immune responses. Yet they have a surprise trick up their sleeve. Scientists from Université de Montréal, Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Centre, Defence Therapeutics Inc., and Queen’s University discovered that MSCs can be rewired to behave like potent antigen presenting cells (APCs). In effect, they can morph into cellular vaccines using a small molecule called AccuTOX® and tiny amounts of tumor antigen material, yielding a product known as ARM-X cells. Strong CD8+ and CD4+ T cell responses were observed in vivo via this platform, along with shrinking solid tumor models in vivo. RoosterBio’s MSCs and cell expansion medium were used in this study.

• de Janon, et al. (1016/j.isci.2025.114548, iScience). Free-floating long-term vascularized mesenchymal organoids. [8]

In this study, researchers from Georgia Tech and Emory University School of medicine built tiny, free-floating “mini tissues” that grow their own long-lasting blood vessels by combining human endothelial cells (HUVECs) with MSCs. Using a small amount of Matrigel, the cells organized themselves into round organoids that stayed alive and healthy for up to 60 days. This is much longer than previous spheroid models. These organoids formed credible vessel-like networks, made their own human extracellular matrix, and maintained diverse types of MSCs, including cells that act like pericytes and fibroblasts. Such technology could be used to more realistically model tumor-stroma microenvironment, even in 384-well HTS drug screening formats. RoosterBio MSCs and RoosterNourish cell culture medium were used in this investigation.

• Pan, et al. (1126/scitranslmed.adn3993, Science Translational Medicine). Extracellular vesicle–mediated gene editing for the treatment of nonsyndromic progressive hearing loss in adult mice [9]

If you thought that using EVs to deliver therapeutic CRISPR toolkits were far away from clinical translation, you might want to take a second look at the literature. Researchers from University of Florida, University of Kansas School of Medicine, and Hannover Medical School used EVs to deliver CRISPR gene-editing tools directly into the inner ear in a mouse genetic model of human deafness. Instead of using viruses, the team loaded CRISPR proteins and guide RNAs into EVs made by MSCs. Loading EVs with artificial cargoes like Cas9 RNPs can be a major stumbling block. However, this team overcame the issue with a novel microfluidic droplet-based electroporation system (μDES). The CRISPR-loaded EVs then preserved hearing in the mice as a potential proof of concept for future hearing loss treatments in human patients. To obtain these EVs, the researchers used RoosterCollect-EV for conditioned media specifically tailored for EV production, which helped produce clean, stable EVs suitable for advanced testing.

Can we agree that 2025 was an amazing year for MSCs, their secretomes, and their “sibling cells” for direct therapeutic translation? It bore fruition in major late-Phase trials (e.g., Deramiocel) and even FDA-approved product launches (Ryoncil). Casual observers might imagine it was just luck, but really…we all know that no small amount of grit was involved.  “Like the legend of the phoenix / All ends with beginnings,” says Daft Punk in Get Lucky. 2025 brought times to many in bioscience who could use a little good luck—yet many also found new beginnings, perhaps with the aid of a fiery Rooster heralding the end of a long night.

To learn more about some of the latest work being done—still warm off the press—check out our roster of publications that report the use, expertise, or influence of RoosterBio cell and media systems and services.

To learn more about our “RoosterBio Development Awards,” where select recipients get over $100K in combined products, stay tuned! We are proud to be useful for the thriving regenerative medicine community in many ways. [10]

 

References

1. Candiello, Joseph. RoosterBio Products Continue to Expand Presence in Major Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cell (MSC)-related Regenerative Medicine Peer Reviewed Publications. 2018; Available from: https://www.roosterbio.com/blog/roosterbio-products-continue-to-expand-presence-in-major-mesenchymal-stem-stromal-cell-msc-related-regenerative-medicine-peer-reviewed-publications/.
2. Candiello, Joseph. RoosterBio Products Continue to Support hMSC-Related Peer-Reviewed Publications in a Growing Number of Applications. 2020; Available from: https://www.roosterbio.com/blog/roosterbio-products-continue-to-support-hmsc-related-peer-reviewed-publications-in-a-growing-number-of-applications/.
3. RoosterBio. “Holmes-work” & Scientific Publications Featuring RoosterBio: Authority of Evidence Before Evidence of Authority. 2024; Available from: https://www.roosterbio.com/blog/holmes-work-scientific-publications-featuring-roosterbio-authority-of-evidence-before-evidence-of-authority/.
4. RoosterBio. RoosterPubs in 2024 & Beyond: Catalyzing Bio-Research to “Publish & Flex”. 2025; Available from: https://www.roosterbio.com/blog/roosterpubs-in-2024-beyond-catalyzing-bio-research-to-publish-flex/.
5. Kim, S., et al., Dual-mode action of scalable, high-quality engineered stem cell-derived SIRPalpha-extracellular vesicles for treating acute liver failure. Nat Commun, 2025. 16(1): p. 1903. 10.1038/s41467-025-57133-w
6. Stein, Shaianne N. and Lorena R. Braid, An animal-free bioprocess to synthesize 3D human matrix scaffolds using mesenchymal stromal cells. bioRxiv, 2025: p. 2025.04.17.649452. 10.1101/2025.04.17.649452
7. Bikorimana, J. P., et al., ARM-X: an adaptable mesenchymal stromal cell-based vaccination platform suitable for solid tumors. Stem Cell Res Ther, 2025. 16(1): p. 369. 10.1186/s13287-025-04465-5
8. de Janon, A., et al., Free-floating long-term vascularized mesenchymal organoids. iScience, 2026. 29(1): p. 114548. 10.1016/j.isci.2025.114548
9. Pan, X., et al., Extracellular vesicle-mediated gene editing for the treatment of nonsyndromic progressive hearing loss in adult mice. Sci Transl Med, 2025. 17(824): p. eadn3993. 10.1126/scitranslmed.adn3993
10. RoosterBio. Winners of RoosterBio’s 2024 Development Award. 2025; Available from: https://www.roosterbio.com/blog/winners-of-roosterbios-2024-development-award/.