Hemera was selected to present its scientific and entrepreneurial journey at the European Deeptech Week in Paris, one of Europe’s leading events dedicated to scientific and technological innovation, organized by Bpifrance and co-hosted with European initiatives such as EIC Scaling Up and the InvestEU portal. The event brings together deeptech startups, institutional investors, and innovation ecosystem leaders with the goal of accelerating the transition from research to industrialization.
Cristiana Vignoli, CEO of Hemera, was invited to speak in the Women in Biotech panel, presenting the development of REMaST®, a regenerative cell therapy platform designed for the treatment of spinal cord injuries.
Spinal cord injury represents one of the most complex challenges in contemporary medicine, with more than 15 million people worldwide living with this condition and with still limited therapeutic options available. In this context of significant unmet medical need, REMaST was developed with the objective of providing a concrete therapeutic solution, transforming years of scientific research into a potential regenerative medicine strategy.
The platform is based on more than ten years of academic research and on an innovative discovery in the field of immunology: the reprogramming of macrophages, immune system cells, to activate regenerative processes in damaged nervous tissue. Preclinical studies have demonstrated promising results, including the ability to support functional recovery in experimental models of spinal cord injury, with scientific validation through publication in the international journal Immunity.
The distinctive feature of REMaST is its multi-mechanism mode of action, which acts systemically on the injured area through six coordinated biological processes. This integrated approach not only supports nerve tissue regeneration in spinal cord injury, but also positions the technology as a therapeutic platform potentially applicable to other tissue-damage-related conditions, such as ischemic stroke and traumatic brain injury.
The validation of this approach and its further development now require progression into the clinical phase. The next milestone is the initiation of a first-in-human clinical study, a critical step to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the platform in humans and to advance the technology toward real-world therapeutic application.
Within this clinical translation pathway, the invitation-only participation in the European Deeptech Week in Paris represented both recognition of the innovation behind the research and an important opportunity for dialogue with investors and stakeholders within the European deeptech ecosystem. Engaging with scientific and financial leaders is a strategic step to support clinical development and to transform scientific discovery into a therapy available to patients.