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_{April 15, 2025}

‘Milestone’ discovery may unlock the true biomedical might of exosomes

The Gourdie laboratory had a problem of its own making. The lab at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC has spent years exploring how microscopic containers naturally found in raw cow’s milk — called exosomes — can be used to carry medicine through the body.

Robert Gourdie and his team improved the process for extracting them from milk so dramatically that they suddenly had a new problem: how to store the huge quantities they were producing. Freezing worked for only a few days, and it damaged the exosomes.

“Ice crystals are like a woodchipper on anything biological,” said Gourdie, the Heywood Fralin Professor and director of the research institute’s Center for Vascular and Heart Research.

Now, the lab has found a solution by improving a freeze-drying process that keeps exosomes stable for up to a year at room temperature. It’s a game changer, allowing them to be consumed in capsule form and shipped without a costly cold-supply chain. It could vastly expand their use in drug delivery, including by Tiny Cargo Co., the startup Gourdie’s lab launched for that purpose.