BioInnovation Spotlight

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies are revolutionizing almost every field. Drug discovery - the process of identifying druggable targets and potential therapeutic compounds - is a long, costly, and often laborious process wherein researchers may sift through thousands of therapeutic candidates for a target looking for a hit.After many decades of experimentation, millions of data points on targets and therapeutic compounds exist for all kinds of disease indications. This is far too much information for even a top team of humans to interpret, but can artificial intelligence algorithms make sense of it all to improve the drug discovery process?In this episode of BioInnovator Spotlight, we speak with Ségolène Martin, CEO and co-founder of Kantify, a company using AI technology to improve drug discovery in a variety of fields such as oncology and neuromuscular disorders.

Mammalian cell culture is difficult to scale up. Many cell types do not grow well in suspension and preferably attach to surfaces like the bottom of their flasks. Currently, researchers examine this growth manually and culture cells by hand in specialized cell culture flasks.Cell culture is critical in many fields of research, from healthcare to future food technology, and scaling this technique using automated processes is the holy grail of manufacturing cell-based products that are both affordable and high-quality.Unicorn Biotechnologies was founded by Adam Glen and Jack Reid to take on this challenge. In this episode of BioInnovator Spotlight, Adam and Jack tell us what motivated them to enter the world of automation, how they met at Entrepreneur First, and what they hope to achieve with Unicorn in the coming year.

Alternative meat products are a simple answer to the challenge of sustainably feeding a growing population worldwide. These foods, often made from plants and fungi, mimic existing familiar meat products like steak and fish fillets, but often lack the same taste, mouthfeel, and even some health benefits of the real deal. Upstream Foods is addressing this issue head-on by creating cultivated fat cells from fish. These cells can be used as an ingredient in alternative fish products, providing healthy omega-3 fatty acids as well as the taste and feel of real fish. We speak with Upstream's co-founder and CEO, Kianti Figler, about her journey from biology to food technology, why she founded the company, and the challenges she faces as a founder today.

Chronic wounds affect over 156 million people worldwide. These are skin wounds that fail to heal or heal slowly but recur. Common causes may include burns, trauma, infection, and cancer, and they can be exacerbated by underlying medical conditions like diabetes. While several technologies are available to treat the myriad types of chronic wounds, the field remains poorly understood. Healiva is working on a personalised approach to chronic wound treatment with a pipeline involving several of these technologies. In this episode, I speak to Priyanka Dutta-Passecker, CEO and founder of the Switzerland-based biotech. We chat about her journey from India to Europe and why she founded Healiva to help patients.

Age-related illnesses have a dramatic impact on quality of life as global populations continue to grow older. Among these conditions, bone health has a significant impact as deterioration can lead to disability and lengthy rehabilitation in the elderly, particularly those who suffer from osteoporosis. Currently, osteoporosis and similar conditions can only be diagnosed using the DEXA bone mineral density scan, which uses radiation. Now, ultrasound technology may open up a new method that improves upon the gold-standard diagnosis.In this episode of BioInnovator Spotlight, we talk to Julia Eschenbrenner, CEO of PoroUS, which is using ultrasound technology to observe the microstructure of a patient's bone surface to determine its health. She also shares her journey into life science and why she decided to take on the CEO role.

Cancer therapies such as chemo and radiotherapy can be extremely aggressive but, for many patients and their clinicians, preserving quality of life is a major factor in choosing their treatment. Today, there are few in-depth diagnostic methods that can distinguish aggressive tumours - which require intense treatment - from mild tumours. DoMore Diagnostics is developing technology that analyses tumour tissue to help determine which patients will benefit from additional therapy. In this episode, we speak to CEO and co-Founder about his journey from consulting firm McKinsey to DoMore Diagnostics.

Thousands of patients require heart valve surgery each year as a result of calcification. Currently, only surgical heart valve replacements are available as treatments - the two major options each having their own drawbacks - and surgical intervention in an often elderly patient group carries further risk. Additionally, the cost of these surgeries on healthcare systems is extremely high and is expected to increase as the global population ages. But what if there was a non-surgical option, such as a drug that prevented calcification in the first place? Arsenii Zabirnyk leads the Calinhib project which is searching for just that, molecules that block heart valve calcification, using cell biology and artificial intelligence (AI). In this episode, we discuss Arsenii's journey as a researcher from Ukraine to Norway and now from an academic to an entrepreneur. We also talk about the Calinhib project, supported by SPARK Norway, and its aims to support this growing patient population.

While many diseases are now known to have genetic components, many of the specific mutations involved are unknown in 60-70% of patients. Our DNA contains vast non-coding regions that Uirá Melo likens to dark matter in the universe - we know it's there but what does it do in these diseases?Now, thanks to new technologies in genome sequencing, he is working at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin to sort through this DNA dark matter from an array of patients. In this Episode, Uirá explains his work illuminating the darkness in DNA and how he decided to become an entrepreneur on his journey from Brazil to Berlin.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) has been characterised for many years, not just as a disease, but as a syndrome. It affects different phases of the immune system from the brain to the spinal cord and the peripheral nervous system. Throughout the life of an MS patient, the disease has different phases. The most common is the relapsing-remitting stage, usually followed by the secondary progressive stage of multiple sclerosis. Most of the drugs on the market target the relapsing-remitting stage to decrease the number of relapses, but there is a huge need to target the progressive stages when demyelination occurs. In this episode, we talk to Antonis Katsoulas, a PhD student at the University of Zurich who is leading the Innunity project investigating treatments for MS. He tells us about his journey juggling both entrepreneurship and his PhD studies, and how he hopes to make a real difference for later-stage MS patients.

Nearly 900 million women worldwide use reversible contraception, but finding the right method can be difficult. One-third of women stop using contraception due to varying side effects caused by different methods. This challenge requires determining which side effects an individual can tolerate. Contraception is used to treat specific symptoms in many women, such as heavy bleeding and acne. These patients may also have underlying conditions like PCOS or endometriosis that need treatment. Elena Rueda co-founded Dama Health to help patients understand their needs, goals, and risks when using hormonal contraceptives in order to find them a better treatment match.Elena shares her journey from the lab to founding Dama Health and why she is motivated to impact women's health.

Measuring brain activity is a challenge in neuroscience. Unlike other medical fields, we can't directly measure the brain. This makes it difficult to develop drugs and determine their effectiveness. Objective measurements are needed to improve treatment decisions for patients.Improving neuroscience measurements could benefit drug development. Pharmaceutical companies prefer precedents, but personalised treatments for similar patient subgroups may be more effective for brain-related conditions.Dr Jenny Barnett co-founded Monument Therapeutics, a spin-out of Cambridge Cognition where she served as Chief Scientific Officer, focusing on developing personalised therapeutics for these underserved patient subgroups. In this episode, she tells us about her journey from psychology to CEO and we discuss the major unmet needs in the field of neuroscience.

Cell and gene therapies have effectively treated complex indications such as leukaemia. Despite their proven results, the high production cost and lengthy manufacturing time prevent all patients from benefitting from these remarkable technologies.ImmTune Therapies is building a platform that allows for the in-patient generation of cell and gene therapies, radically increasing the potency and reach of these therapies to all the patients who need them by using novel delivery vectors. Dr Bakul Gupta talks about her story as a founder and how she co-founded ImmTune with Dr George Tetley.

Many neurological diseases share similar symptoms, making correct diagnosis difficult and impacting the treatment of patients. While Alzheimer's Disease has made advancements in its diagnostic criteria becoming more based on biology, Parkinson's Disease and other neurological conditions lag behind and remain diagnosed mainly based on clinical presentation.Dr Ruiqing Ni is leading the NeuroPAT project, a collaboration between the University Hospital Zurich, ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich, the University Hospital Bern, and the University of Aachen. They aim to develop a biological definition of neurological diseases, detecting molecular changes in the brain, which will help detect and treat the disease.

Preterm infants are uniquely at risk due to a lack of glucose deposits in their tissue compared to full-term infants. However, monitoring blood glucose is currently only possible by taking blood samples - a process limited to once per several hours due to their low blood volume.The Gluckli Project hopes to make a substantial difference for at-risk preterm infants. The Gluckli team is developing a non-invasive tool to continuously monitor blood glucose levels of preterm infants using microfluidics technology. The Gluckli project is based out of the University of Zurich and University Hospital Zurich, and led by Dr Aldo Di Costanzo Mata, an Entrepreneur Fellow at the University of Zurich. He talks to us about his journey from Mexico to Switzerland and becoming a founder.

Cancer treatment has come a long way in recent decades, but a significant portion of patients remain unresponsive to traditional treatments and novel immunotherapies. Personalised cell therapy may be a new option in treating these patients.Persomed is developing such a platform targeting cancer patients and the company is led by Dr Lien Lybaert. She discusses her journey to the CEO role, Persomed's work on the platform, and her challenges raising funds for their first clinical trial.

Point-of-care imaging is a massive area of unmet need for patients. When neurosurgeon Dr Jinendra Ekanayake first met one of his co-founders, Tim Constandinou, as a PhD student, they found a shared interest in brain-computer interfaces. As years went by, their conversations on the overlap between electronics and biology became ideas about developing surgical innovations to address this unmet need for handheld surgical tools and integrating them with the next generation.Jinendra shares his story of co-founding Quetz at Imperial College London, and the challenges he faces in developing new tools and attracting funding in today's difficult environment. As always, our guest recommends an inspirational book for other founders.

Michael Hunt is CEO of the Imperial College London-based start-up NK:IO. In this episode, he tells us about his journey from accounting into the life sciences and how he became involved in the cell therapy space. We discuss the challenges facing innovative start-ups like NK:IO in this competitive field and why their technology presents a unique solution to fighting solid tumours. Michael also shares his reasons for taking on the CEO role in an early-stage company where risk is prevalent.

Aslak Christiansen is the co-founder of Myco4Food a new company based at the BII in Copenhagen, Denmark. We discuss the future of food, sustainability, and the challenge of plant-based products for meeting nutritional needs - and why fungi may be the answer.Aslak also discusses his motivations for becoming a founder and putting a PhD on hold. As always, we ask him for a book recommendation (or two!) that made an impact on his journey so far.

In today's episode, we speak with Dr Emiel Michiels, Entrepreneur in Residence at VIB in Belgium. He discusses his journey to found a company and the translation of his academic research on protein aggregation to practical therapeutic use. Protein aggregation diseases occur when clumps of protein are deposited in specific organs. Two of the most widely known are Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease, caused by protein aggregation in the brain, but there are several rarer diseases caused by a similar phenomenon. Emiel's future company aims to investigate if its technology can impact these aggregates and create a beneficial effect for patients.

Dr Alain Segers discusses his journey into life science which took him into medical devices and setting up his own consultancy. We also talk about why he decided to become a founder now and return to the therapeutics space. Alain joined the Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie in Belgium as an entrepreneur in residence and is currently working on starting a company. His focus will be on proteins and he hopes to incorporate new developments in artificial intelligence in the protein biology space.

In this episode of BioInnovator Spotlight, we speak with Simon Lajboschitz who is developing a virtual reality solution for mental health applications with his company Heka VR.Heka VR is currently working with clinicians treating schizophrenia, using the power of VR to put a shape and a voice to the hallucinations commonly experienced by patients.Simon's company is a spinout of his other virtual reality company, Khora VR. Simon is the co-founder and CEO of both organisations based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Heka VR is currently based at the BioInnovation Institute, supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

Dr Federico Paoletti tells us why he founded Exogene and his hopes for innovating T-cell receptor-based cancer immunotherapies using AI. He also discusses the challenges he faces today, having raised a seed round earlier this year.Federico also recommends a book every founder should read as well as a series that sheds unusual insight into the life of a start-up. Exogene is based in Oxford UK and supported by the Oxford BioEscalator.

Dr Zahra Jawad talks about how her experience in the pharma industry helped shape her thinking on innovation in the sector, and how her career led to founding her creative antibody solutions company https://www.creasallis.com/ (Creasallis). Based in Cambridge, UK, Zahra was supported on her journey by Accelerate @Babraham. She also recommends a book every founder should read - listen in to find out!

Adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) has long been used to optimise microbes for industrial processes, such as chemical production. But this process is costly, lengthy, and labour intensive, requiring expensive equipment and laboratory space. Joe Price founded Evolutor as a next-generation approach to microbe optimisation based on ALE, but using a proprietary method that leverages automation and precision fermentation technology. In this episode of BioInnovation Spotlight, Joe discusses the potential value-add for microbial fermentation across multiple industries and the challenges facing researchers developing more sustainable biotech solutions to today's problems. Evolutor is a spin-out from the labs of Dr Tuck Seng Wong and Dr Kang Lan Tee at the University of Sheffield, UK. The company is supported by Innovate UK's Innovation to Commercialisation of University Research (ICURe) programme and the Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellowship.

Cellular agriculture or cultivated meat - often mistakenly called "lab-grown meat" - is now coming into its own with the first products nearing market readiness. Many of these companies now face the daunting task of scaling their innovation. Because most CDMOs for animal cell growth are geared toward the health sector, costs are much higher for bioprocessing than they need to be for the relatively less-stringent food sector when it comes to regulatory needs. Will Milligan founded https://www.extracellular.com/ (Extracellular), based in Bristol in the UK, as the first CDMO and innovation partner for cellular agriculture. With a background in mechanical engineering - and coming from a family of farmers - Will believes the solution to making cellular agriculture affordable, sustainable, and available requires innovation partnership for scaling up product development within the sector. In this episode of BioInnovation Spotlight, Will discusses the unmet needs underlying the cellular agriculture sector and the challenges faced by cultivated meat products in scaling up and getting to the market. Extracellular is based at and supported by https://sciencecreates.co.uk/ventures/ (Science Creates) in Bristol.

Our immune system is like an army, constantly fighting to keep invaders at bay. When faced with solid tumours, that army is at a major disadvantage. Tumours can build walls around themselves making it hard for the immune cells to penetrate and subsequently target the cancerous cells. https://www.neobetherapeutics.com/ (Neobe Therapeutics), a spinout of https://deepscienceventures.com/ (Deep Science Ventures) and https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/ (Cancer Research UK), is looking to an old idea of using bacteria to treat solid tumours by coupling this with the precision tools of synthetic biology. Their bacteria aim to slip behind the walls of these solid tumours and, like a Trojan horse, precisely attack them from within - tearing down the walls for the army of the immune system In this episode of BioInnovation Spotlight, we chat with Neobe founder Dr Pedro Correa de Sampaio about why he moved from academia to entrepreneurship to tackle problems in cancer treatment, and why he believes this technology could be the solution.

Since 2014, the Nagoya Protocol has protected the intellectual property of genome sequences by ensuring their countries of origin are entitled to full ownership. Rather than triggering a wave of global genome sequencing and licensing deals, the Protocol seems to have done the opposite - genome exploration for the bio-industry has been stymied for fear of getting bogged down in red tape and legal issues. One company aims to change this. Basecamp Research, co-founded by long-time friends Dr Glen Gowers and Dr Oliver Vince, was established to work with the Nagoya Protocol. They aim to build a massive sequencing library that will not only help bio-businesses and researchers gain new insights but also help biodiversity guardians in their conservation work. In this episode of BioInnovation Spotlight, we talk to Glen and Ollie about their unique business model, how they get around the legal minefield of an international treaty, and their method of managing as co-founders, co-CEOs, and friends.

Solid tumours can be roughly classified into two groups - hot and cold. Hot tumours experience inflammation and are susceptible to drugs like checkpoint inhibitors, and so are more treatable than cold tumours. Cold tumours are just the opposite - they actively dampen the immune system, reducing the effectiveness of cells like macrophages by turning them from the pro-inflammatory M1 type to the anti-inflammatory M2 type. https://www.usz.ch/team/simon-bredl/ (Dr Simon Bredl) discovered a unique feature of macrophages in a mouse model of HIV. Their macrophages behaved strangely, switching to the pro-inflammatory M1 type when given an anti-inflammatory signal. While investigating their potential for HIV treatment, Simon realised these cells could be used to target cold solid tumours - and potentially turn them hot. In this episode of BioInnovation Spotlight, Simon tells us the story of how an HIV research model led him to pursue cancer treatment and the potential impact these cells could have in cell therapy treatments for hard-to-treat cancers like Triple Negative Breast Cancer. Simon's work is in collaboration with https://www.usz.ch/en/ (University Hospital Zurich) and the https://www.usz.ch/en/clinic/comprehensive-cancer-center-zuerich/ (Comprehensive Cancer Center Zurich), and supported by Gebauer Stiftung, Lotte und Adolf Hotz Sprenger-Stiftung, the Claudia von Schilling Foundation for Breast Cancer Research, OPO-Stiftung, Stiftung zur Krebsbekämpfung, and http://www.stiftungmedbiol.novartis.com/index.html (Novartis Foundation for medical-biological research).

In-vitro fertilisation is a costly treatment involving a long patient journey where patients must receive regular injections of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). The dosage of FSH is critical to treatment success - too much or too little can result in failure. Currently, the method for calculating each patient dose varies between clinics, with no clear standard or objective diagnostic tool. IVF Fit was founded by Dr Ana Lobato Pascual from the University of Oslo, where she and her clinical research group developed a blood test to help accurately inform how much FSH should be administered to a patient based on biomarkers. This personalised approach to IVF treatment resulted in OptimOva®, a diagnostic decision-making tool for clinicians. Ana shares her story and the journey of IVF Fit so far. IVF Fit is supported by https://www.innovasjonnorge.no/en/start-page (Innovation Norway) and https://www.uio.no/english/research/strategic-research-areas/life-science/innovation/spark/ (SPARK Norway).

Despite the successes of therapies like Kymriah and Yescarta against blood cancers, solid tumours remain difficult to treat. Finding appropriate molecular targets such as cancer-specific receptors is an ongoing challenge, while the physical environment of a solid tumour also plays a role in suppressing immune responses within it. That said, immunotherapy/cell therapy, like chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and T cell receptor (TCR) therapies, has shown amazing promise in treating cancer patients where traditional therapies have failed. https://pancancer-t.com/ (Pan Cancer T) is a spinout from https://www.erasmusmc.nl/en/cancer-institute/patient-care (Erasmus MC Cancer Institute) in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. They are developing dual-action TCR cell therapies, a next-generation treatment for solid cancer that targets both the tumour and the immunosuppressive environment that they present. In this episode of BioInnovation Spotlight, Katrien Reynders-Frederix talks about the novel approach to TCR therapy at Pan Cancer T, her personal journey from biology to business, and why she wants to make a difference for patients. Pan Cancer T was founded by Prof. Reno Debets and Dr Dora Hammerl, and is supported by Thuja Capital, Van Herk Ventures, and Swanbridge Capital.

When we think of cell therapies, we almost immediately think of immunotherapies for cancer or other deadly diseases. But there are myriad indications where cell therapy solutions could make major improvements to a patient's quality of life. Take for example muscle degeneration, where conditions such as urinary incontinence affect millions of people (especially as we age) resulting in a poor quality of life, social stigma, and may even impact our mental health. MUVON Therapeutics is developing an autologous cell therapy for the treatment of diseases related to skeletal muscle damage or degradation. Their goal is to offer the patients in need minimally invasive, low-risk treatments for the regeneration of skeletal muscle tissue, to help them regain control over their life. https://www.muvon-therapeutics.com/ (MUVON Therapeutics) is a Life Science Spin-off from the University of Zurich and is co-funded by the Horizon 2020 programme.

The gut is home to trillions of microbes and, through its mucosal layer, the large intestine offers attractive access to the immune system. But getting drugs delivered to the gut presents a major challenge and, as a result, inflammatory diseases of the gut, like Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis, are difficult to treat. . Systemic IV injection is non-specific while oral drugs must brave the acidity of the stomach and a long journey through digestive enzymes and microbes before the colon can be reached. Dr Edward Green of https://chainbiotech.com/ (CHAIN Biotechnology) talks to BioInnovation Spotlight about their platform for living medicines. This uses an engineered strain of anaerobic bacteria of the genus Clostridium - well suited to growing in the gut - to produce therapeutic compounds and even antigens for vaccines. Because these bacteria produce hardy spores, they can be taken orally and survive passage through the GI tract. CHAIN is supported by the https://ukinnovationscienceseedfund.co.uk/ (UK Innovation Science Seed Fund) and https://www.ukri.org/ (UKRI), and recently entered a collaboration with https://www.oxfordvacmedix.com/ (Oxford Vacmedix) for developing oral vaccines.

After COP26, all nations recognise that Carbon waste must be reduced but we still derive many high-value chemicals and products from petrochemicals - a carbon source locked away underground for millennia and now polluting our atmosphere as waste Carbon. Atmospheric CO2 is a well known driver of global climate change and some 50 billion tons of CO2 are emitted. As we transition to low-carbon economies, a solution that tackles both reducing Carbon waste and replacing industrially important chemicals is required. This is exactly what Dr David Ortega, founder of Phase Biolabs in Bristol, UK, hopes to achieve using gas fermentation and synthetic biology. In contrast to gas fermentation companies that use Carbon monoxide (CO) and Hydrogen in the form of syngas, Phase utilises microbes that consume CO2, which is more efficient than the CO process, to produce carbon-based compounds as byproducts. Phase is also genetically engineering these microbes to produce industrially relevant compounds by augmenting the natural pathways using CO2. Phase Bio is supported by the https://www.bristol.ac.uk/ (University of Bristol), http://www.bristol.ac.uk/brissynbio/ (BrisSynBio), http://www.bristol.ac.uk/qtec/ (The Quantum Technology Enterprise Centre), the https://www.sbrc-nottingham.ac.uk/ (Synthetic Biology Research Centre Nottingham), and https://carbonrecycling.net/ (The Carbon Recycling Network).

Humankind's greatest infectious threats are posed by viruses. Even before COVID-19 made a global impact on health and economies, Dengue and West Nile Virus have long been endemic threats in warmer parts of the world and Zika emerged as a local threat in South America. As climate change drives insect migration, these viruses may soon pose a threat outside their current ranges. https://www.protinhi.com/ (Protinhi) have a new approach to developing treatments for these viral diseases, with a program leading on Dengue. Viruses replicate within a host cell after infection using a virally encoded protease. These proteases present a target for Protinhi's innovative small molecule compounds that inhibit this process, blocking viral replication. Protinhi is currently in the discovery phase and preclinical phase for their compounds. Their work is supported by https://www.health-holland.com/ (Health Holland) and https://oostnl.nl/nl (Oost NL).

Epigenetics is the study of the changes that occur on top of the DNA without changing the genome sequence. These still affect the expression of our genes, and thereby shape our phenotype. Like the genome, epigenetic traits can be inherited. But unlike the genes, epigenetic traits are flexible and can be lost or regained and are influenced by our lifestyle. This makes them a tantalizing pharmaceutical target. EpiQMAx is a spin-out from https://www.lmu.de/en/ (LMU University) based on an idea from Prof. Axel Imhof, Dr. Moritz Voelker-Albert and Dr. Victor Solis who have worked in the Histone Modifications group at the https://www.en.bmc.med.uni-muenchen.de/index.html (BioMedical Center in Munich). Backed up by their knowledge and experience on mass spectrometry and epigenetic modifications, their goal is to contribute to the development of epigenetic drugs, together with the pharmaceutical industry. In this episode of BioInnovation Spotlight, we talk to Moritz Voelker-Albert about how EpiQMAx came about, how epigenetics can be used to inform us on our health, and his future plans for the company.

Neoantigens are new proteins that form on cancer cells when certain mutations occur in tumour DNA. These proteins may play an important role in helping the body make an immune response against cancer cells. https://myneo.me/en (MyNEO) has developed a bioinformatic platform for identifying, exploring and validating alterations leading to neoantigens on cell surfaces which can be used in personalised immunotherapy and target discovery applications, as well as diagnosis and prognosis of patients.  In this episode of BioInnovation Spotlight @ LifeScience ORG, we speak to MyNEO founder Cedric Bogaert and discuss his vision to transform personalised immunotherapy for cancer as well as help researchers discover new targets and aid in clinical diagnosis. The myNEO technology has been in development since 2017. In late 2018, the platform was incorporated into the myNEO company by http://noval.is/ (Novalis Biotech Incubation).

Access to chemical matter is a major bottleneck in drug discovery. Established industry standards and screening methods often fail to deliver molecular starting points for drug design. Despite accumulating large collections of compounds and screening millions of molecules, the industry struggles to unlock chemical matter. Serghei Glinca founded https://www.crystalsfirst.com/ (CrystalsFirst) as a spin-out from https://agklebe.pharmazie.uni-marburg.de/ (Prof. Dr Gerhard Klebe's group at the University of Marburg), Germany, leveraging the lab's recently developed Smart Soak technology. In this episode of BioInnovation Spotlight, Serghei talks about how CrystalsFirst aims to revolutionize the drug discovery process by targeting previously undruggable targets using the power of their protein crystallization technology and data-driven modelling.

Muscle diseases come in a variety of forms. Among the more common conditions are muscle wasting, which can occur in cancer patients and the elderly. But there are also hundreds of genetically caused muscle diseases as well as local muscle defects that altogether affect more than 15 million in Europe. MyoPax is a muscle stem cell-producing platform for the treatment of muscle defects and genetic muscular dystrophies. It combines its proprietary first-in-class muscle stem cell manufacturing technology with CRISPR/Cas9-based gene repair. The first muscle stem cell product will enter a clinical trial soon (beginning of 2022). The founding of MyoPax as spin-off of the Charité University Medicine and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin is planned for this year. The group is a pre-spinout group at the Max Delbrueck Center and Charité – Universitätsmedizin in Berlin, Germany, whose work is suppored by https://www.spark-bih.de/ (SPARK Berlin). In this episode of https://www.lifescienceorg.com/bioinnovation (BioInnovation Spotlight @ LifeScience ORG) Verena talks about the impact of muscle disease, MyoPax's technology and how it works, and their plans to spin out.  

The ageing process afflicts all of us and is the underlying cause of many diseases, creating a significant social and economic impact. Despite humanity's increased longevity in recent decades, the quality of life in our twilight years does not often match up. Dr Daniel Ives is the CEO of https://shiftbioscience.com/ (Shift Bioscience), based at the Babraham Research Campus in Cambridge, UK. They have identified a list of genes involved in the ageing process and seek to reinstate cellular functional states that support us in earlier life. By targeting stressors and pathways linked to the abrupt bioenergetic, epigenetic and transcriptional state changes observed in aging cells and tissues, Shift aims to modulate these changes with small molecules, guided by powerful technologies including the epigenetic aging clock. In this episode of https://www.lifescienceorg.com/bioinnovation (BioInnovation Spotlight @ LifeScience ORG) Daniel talk about the motivations behind his research and the age-related conditions it may help. Shift Bioscience is supported by https://www.babraham.com/accelerate-babraham/ (Accelerate@Babraham).

This week on https://www.lifescienceorg.com/bioinnovation (BioInnovation Spotlight) I am joined by Dr Maria Vistnes who is based at the University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, and whose work is https://www.uio.no/english/research/strategic-research-areas/life-science/innovation/spark/ (supported by SPARK Norway). Maria has developed a novel concept for treating heart failure based on enzyme inhibition that has a potential first-in-class use of drugs modulating the extracellular matrix. Heart failure is the end-stage of all types of heart disease and is a result of cardiac remodeling, which indicates structural changes of the heart muscle. There are 23 million patients living with heart failure, characterised by impaired pumping and/or relaxation of the heart. Half of the population has reduced pumping function, and they receive therapies with modest effects on mortality. The other half, which has preserved pumping function, lacks treatment options completely. The mortality rates are high in both subpopulations, reaching 40 % over 2.5 years. In recent years, it has become clear that breakdown of the proteins in the space between the heart cells, called extracellular matrix (ECM), contribute to heart failure development. In failing rat and human hearts, Maria's group has found increased activity of an enzyme and they believe that inhibition of this enzyme can address the need for improved therapies in the whole heart failure population.

As a rule, prevention is often better than cure. When it comes to personal health, we often rely on our doctor and regular check ups to tell us how our body is doing and what we can do to improve. Now, in the age of modern diagnostics, we can take our health firmly in our own hands. In this episode of BioInnovation Spotlight, we talk to Dr Nina Patrick, the CEO and co-founder of https://www.miprobes.de/ (MiProbes), an early stage company based in Berlin. MiProbes is developing diagnostics that allow instant at-home health tracking and optimisation. Nina originally worked in San Francisco biotechs before coming to Europe to start her company. Her technology combines DNA biosensors which can be rapidly scaled with computer algorithms in an app to help people track and improve their health. 

Traditional vaccines lack specificity in activating the immune system and can take quite a long time to design and produce. Dr Gunnveig Grødeland at the University of Oslo is developing a DNA Vaccine platform that aims to make vaccines much more specific. DNA can encode the sequence to an antigen fused to a protein that presents it to immune cells specifically, resulting in higher efficacies than traditional vaccines. DNA is an ideal platform for vaccine development, as it can be rapidly and safely synthesized compared to traditional vaccines. Gunnveig's work has already proven effective in animal tests and the project is keen to spin out. The work is supported by https://www.uio.no/english/research/strategic-research-areas/life-science/innovation/spark/ (SPARK Norway). In this episode of https://www.lifescienceorg.com/bioinnovation (BioInnovation Spotlight @ LifeScience ORG), we learn from Gunnveig how her technology works, what has the pandemic and RNA vaccines meant for her innovation, and why she wants to be an entrepreneur.

Solid tumors make up 90% of the cases in cancer patients worldwide but the standard of care has not changed in decades. Chemotherapies are still widely used and are non-specific, often with a wide range of negative side effects for the patient. To address this, Dr Felix Lorenz and his team started the Captain T-Cell project. Based at the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin and supported by https://www.go-bio.de/en/index.html (GO-Bio) and https://www.spark-bih.de/ (SPARK Berlin), they are developing a T-cell receptor (TCR) therapy for tackling solid tumors in a targeted and safe manner for cancer patients. TCRs have the ability to target a wide range of antigens and can be expressed intracellularly, which is important for recognizing those antigens that are not transported to the cell surface. Their technology relies on engineering a patient's own T-cells to recognize specific antigens for solid tumors and reinfused back to the patient where they can find and kill the tumor with high specificity. Initially, they are targeting Epstein-Barr Virus antigens that are expressed throughout tumors called by this disease. In this episode of the BioInnovation Spotlight podcast, we ask Felix what technology lies behind the Captain T-Cell project, how it can help transform cancer therapy for patients, and why he wanted to start a company.

A Podcast Series produced for and with LifeScience ORG Molecular Microbiologist and Podcast Producer, Dr David Kirk, talks to the people behind early-stage translational life science across Europe whose innovative research today may be the blockbusters and game-changing technologies of tomorrow. Join the conversation: www.lifescienceorg.com Episode length: 12-15 Minutes