City Researchers Use Regenerative Therapy To Reverse Liver Damage
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Hyderabad: In a landmark achievement, a Hyderabad-based research team developed a regenerative therapy that reversed liver damage in animals with 100 per cent survival — something no laboratory in the world has managed so far.
Tulsi Therapeutics, a biotech startup incubated at the University of Hyderabad’s ASPIRE-BioNEST, tested a new treatment called Tulsi-28X on animals with chronic liver failure. The results were striking — All animals which received treatment recovered, while nearly half of those which did not receive treatment died.
The therapy combines stem cells and their exosomes which are tiny, naturally secreted bubbles containing healing proteins and signals. While stem cells have been used in liver research before, this is the first time both stem cells and their exosomes from the same source (umbilical cord tissue) were tested together. It worked far better than either could alone.
“This is not just a medical breakthrough, it’s a step toward making regenerative medicine available where transplants aren’t an option,” said Dr Sairam Atluri, founder of Tulsi Therapeutics.
Chronic liver disease, often caused by alcohol, fatty liver, or hepatitis, contributes to one in five liver-related deaths globally, with many patients in India unable to access costly liver transplants.
However, Tulsi-28X could change the dreaded scenario. It repairs damaged liver cells by delivering natural growth factors to the organ, like rebooting its healing system. The treatment was entirely developed in Hyderabad over three years, in collaboration with experts from the US and Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh.
The research findings were presented at the 2024 Liver Conference (AASLD) in San Diego and accepted by the Journal of Regenerative Medicine. Human trials are next, in partnership with the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (Nims) here.
Dr Ravi Bonthala, chief scientific officer, said the goal is to make affordable biologics for serious illnesses with few options. “This could help lakhs of Indians who otherwise wait endlessly for donor organs,” he said.
University Vice Chancellor Prof. B.J. Rao said the work reflects how Indian science can set global standards when startups and academic labs work together. Tulsi-28X is also the world’s first therapy of its kind to enter trial stages, placing Hyderabad on the map of cutting-edge regenerative research.