Stemora receives Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) award to engineer controlled-release formulations for STM-01

Stemora, Inc., a Maryland-based regenerative medicine company, announced today that it has been awarded a $100,000 matching grant from the Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) program to support a collaborative research project with Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Professor Srinivasa Raghavan of the University of Maryland. The funded project, “Biopolymer Gel to Regenerate Cartilage,” will focus on early-stage formulation engineering to enable controlled, sequential release of the biochemical cues used in STM-01, Stemora's lead therapeutic candidate.

STM-01 is designed to modulate endogenous skeletal stem cells (SSCs) to promote cartilage regeneration. To function effectively, STM-01 requires a delivery system capable of releasing its components in a precisely timed two-step profile. The MIPS project will develop and refine hydrogel-based formulations that support this release behavior.

“We are excited to receive this MIPS award and to collaborate with Professor Raghavan's team. This project focuses on foundational formulation engineering that will allow STM-01's biochemical cues to be delivered in a controlled and predictable manner.”

The work will include optimizing hydrogel composition, evaluating shear-thinning and injectability properties, and characterizing release-profile behavior under laboratory conditions. These studies represent the first step in establishing a robust delivery system for STM-01 and complement Stemora's broader development efforts.

“Our lab has extensive experience designing hydrogel-based biomaterials and controlled-release systems. We look forward to applying that expertise to support Stemora's development of STM-01.”

About Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS)

The Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) program pairs the inventive minds of Maryland's public universities (faculty, and the graduate students who research alongside them) with companies building new products. Companies bring the product problem. Researchers bring the science. MIPS and companies co-fund the projects. All MIPS funding goes to participating faculty. For more information on MIPS, visit https://mips.umd.edu.