News

Innovation / 08.02.2024
FyoniBio, Alder Therapeutics, and BioLamina enter Consortium Grant Agreement to Propel Recombinant Human Laminin Development for Clinical Applications

Berlin, Germany, and Stockholm, Sweden, February 07, 2024 — FyoniBio, a contract development organization (CDO) specializing in customized cell line and process development has partnered with BioLamina, a biotech company renowned for its expertise in extracellular laminin-based cell biology and development of laminins as tools for cell culture, and Alder Therapeutics, a virtual preclinical allogeneic stem cell therapy development company. The consortium will advance the development of laminins for clinical applications.

As part of the grant-funded consortium, BioLamina and FyoniBio have executed a Master Service Agreement under which FyoniBio will use its long-standing expertise in cell line development in a variety of different mammalian cell systems, including human cell lines, to develop production clones for a couple of BioLamina’s full-length human recombinant laminins.

"FyoniBio is honored to collaborate with BioLamina and Alder Therapeutics in this transformative project. The synergy between FyoniBio's advanced human cell line development capabilities, BioLamina's legacy and significant impact on cell culture standardization and quality by their laminins as substrates, and Alder’s innovative cell therapy development platform will make for a fruitful collaboration. This is the latest step in our collective commitment to help advancing cell therapies”, commented Dr. Lars Stöckl, Managing Director at FyoniBio. “

“The collaboration between BioLamina, FyoniBio and Alder Therapeutics, supported by the secured grant funding, will enable us to combine the specific expertise of all three parties, which we expect will result in a further pushing of the boundaries of cell therapy”, says Veronica Byfield Sköld, CEO of BioLamina

“Both FyoniBio and BioLamina are renowned for their complex protein production expertise, so partnering with them is a fantastic opportunity,” commented Dr. Kristian Tryggvason, CEO at Alder therapeutics. “This collaboration will provide us with additional support for our manufacturing process, so we can help treat the Retinitis Pigmentosa patients”, commented Dr. Kristian Tryggvason, CEO at Alder therapeutics.

For more information about FyoniBio, please visit fyonibio.com. For more information about BioLamina, please visit biolamina.com. To find out more about Alder Therapeutics, please visit aldertx.com.

About FyoniBio GmbH

FyoniBio’s ISO-9001 certified service portfolio covers the development chain from cell line development, process development and in-depth analytical characterization, including bioassays and clinical sample monitoring under GCLP. FyoniBio’s expertise builds on the long-standing experience of their scientists who have developed various cell lines and processes which entered late-stage clinical trials. FyoniBio`s customized approaches enable rapid, high-titer cell line development in various mammalian host cell lines specialized in meeting individual product requirements. Besides the CHOnamite® platform, FyoniBio provides the human GEX® platform, which is particularly suited for recombinant proteins with complex glycan structures. Furthermore, FyoniBio is highly skilled in mass spectrometry based in-depth analytical characterization of biopharmaceuticals and offers the whole package of clinical sample analysis from assay establishment, validation and measurement of clinical samples under GCLP.

All services are established according to the internal quality management system to assure compliance with international ISO standard and meeting international GMP standards.

About BioLamina AB

BioLamina is a Swedish biotechnology company founded in 2009, built on a strong scientific foundation in cell biology and with a legacy in extracellular matrix biology. BioLamina develops, manufactures and commercializes human recombinant laminin substrates to better reflect a biorelevant environment for cultured cells in order to maintain control, gain protocol precision and create safe cells for therapy.

With its expansive portfolio of cell culture matrices, BioLamina has established itself as a key player in advancing cell therapy worldwide, recognized for its premium products, deep scientific competence and state-of-the-art service.

About Alder Therapeutics

Alder Therapeutics is a biotechnology company on a mission to cure the incurable by harnessing the potential of pluripotent stem cell-developed therapies. Through our unique cell therapy development philosophy, we overcome the challenges of traditional development approaches, embedding risk reduction and commercial-mindedness at the core of cell therapy programs.

We have two promising allogenic stem cell therapies in the pipeline, both with preclinical proof of concept data. Our flagship program is a retinal cell therapy aiming to revolutionize treatment of Retinitis Pigmentosa.

Quelle: FyoniBio GmbH

www.fyonibio.com

Innovation / 23.01.2024
Eckert & Ziegler and Full-Life Technologies Sign Actinium-225 Supply Agreement for Next Generation Radiopharmaceuticals

Eckert & Ziegler (ISIN DE0005659700, SDAX) and Full-Life Technologies (Full-Life), a clinical stage, fully integrated global radiotherapeutics company today announced they have entered into an agreement for the supply of Actinium-225 (Ac-225). The agreement provides Full-Life with access to Eckert & Ziegler's high-purity Actinium-225, a radionuclide for use in developing the next generation of therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals.

Ac-225 has emerged as a highly promising active agent for the treatment of cancer. The radioisotope releases potent alpha particles with high energy and short penetration depths, allowing for precise targeting of tumor cells, including hard-to-reach micro-metastases, while minimizing impact on surrounding healthy tissue. Based on its potential, clinical and industry experts expect a substantial increase in Ac-225 demand in the coming decade.

“We are delighted to have forged a supply collaboration with Full-Life Technologies, dedicating ourselves to facilitating their journey in clinical development,” said Dr Harald Hasselmann, CEO of Eckert & Ziegler. “Historically, limited Ac-225 supply has impeded progress in both clinical research and commercial applications. With the establishment of our new Ac-225 production facility, we aim to significantly increase access to this important radionuclide, with ramp up at the new facility occurring in the second half of the year.”

Ac-225 constitutes an essential element within our portfolio of therapeutic compounds, including our lead candidate, Ac-FL-020 for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer,” stated Philippe van Put, General Manager of Full-Life Technologies Europe. “Securing access is imperative for advancing our development and clinical research efforts. Eckert & Ziegler brings great expertise and more than three decades of experience as a radioisotope specialist in support of our ambitious development initiatives.”

About Eckert & Ziegler
Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik AG with more than 1.000 employees is a leading specialist for isotope-related components in nuclear medicine and radiation therapy. The company offers a broad range of services and products for the radiopharmaceutical industry, from early development work to contract manufacturing and distribution. Eckert & Ziegler shares (ISIN DE0005659700) are listed in the SDAX index of Deutsche Börse.
Contributing to saving lives.

About Full-Life Technologies
Full-Life Technologies Limited ("Full-Life") is a fully integrated global radiotherapeutics company with operations in Belgium, Germany, and China. We seek to own the entire value chain for radiopharmaceutical research & development, production & commercialization in order to deliver clinical impact for patients. The Company plans to attack core issues affecting radiopharmaceuticals today through innovative research that targets the treatments of tomorrow. We are comprised of a team of fast-moving entrepreneurs and scientists with a demonstrated track record in the life sciences, as well as radioisotope research and clinical development.

Source: Press Release EZAG
Eckert & Ziegler and Full-Life Technologies Sign Actinium-225 Supply Agreement for Next Generation Radiopharmaceuticals

Research / 18.01.2024
Third ERC Grant for Gaetano Gargiulo

Dr Gaetano Gargiulo (Photo: David Ausserhofer, Max Delbrück Center)
Dr Gaetano Gargiulo (Photo: David Ausserhofer, Max Delbrück Center)

Cell-based immunotherapies, particularly lab-produced immune cells known as CAR T cells, show promise in treating various cancers. But how do we produce effective ones? Gaetano Gargiulo from the Max Delbrück Center will develop a novel screening tool, supported by an ERC Proof of Concept Grant.

Dr Gaetano Gargiulo, head of the Molecular Oncology Lab at the Max Delbrück Center, and his team are working on a screening tool that distinguishes between cell states of CAR T cells when they are either very effective at killing cancer cells or exhausted. The European Research Council is supporting the initial steps toward commercialization with a Proof of Concept (PoC) Grant of €150,000. Gargiulo is among 240 researchers from across Europe who received such funding in last year’s three competition rounds. The ERC announced 102 PoC grants on January 18th, paving the way for the researchers to translate their pioneering findings into broadly applicable solutions.

After a Starting Grant in 2016 and a Proof of Concept Grant in 2022, this is his third ERC Grant. “I am privileged to be continuously supported by European Research Council,” says Gargiulo. “We were blessed with an ERC Starting Grant in the past and created a very flexible technology to study how cancer cells change their state to become worse. We realized that we can also use it to improve immune cells that we genetically engineer to combat cancer. This funding instrument gives us the momentum to tap into this lead.”

Some T cells fall short – for many reasons

CAR T-cell therapies are often a last resort for patients with certain types of leukemia and lymphoma who do not respond to standard treatments – and new versions of these cell-based immunotherapies are being developed for solid tumors as well. This technique involves taking immune cells (T cells) from the patient and equipping them with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) in the laboratory. The CAR acts like a tiny antenna, patrolling the body’s cells for specific features on the cancer cells (antigens). Once the CAR T cells are re-introduced back into the patient’s body, they begin to detect and destroy cancer cells with the antigen that fits their new receptors.

However, stumbling blocks such as the intricate manufacturing process, excessive exposure to antigens, the harsh environment within a tumor and in its immediate neighborhood can result in T cells that fall short, hampering their efficacy against both blood cancers and solid tumors. The manufacturing process itself is also very expensive, on the order of hundreds of thousands of Euros, so even minimal modifications to the process that might make it more efficient in producing effective CAR T cells could make this approach more sustainable and available to more patients.

Screening and reversing dysfunction

With the ERC Proof of Concept Grant, the Gargiulo Lab aims to create and validate a novel tool to improve the quality of T cell products in the lab. It's called SynT, a synthetic reporter system designed to indicate different cell states that either render T cells dysfunctional or that represent a potent “serial killer” mode. These cell states are detected by lab-engineered segments of DNA that switches a fluorescent protein on or off (named synthetic locus control region or sLCR). Depending on which sLCR is turned on, the cells glow in a different color when observed under a fluorescence microscope. With a fast microscope and robotic platform, the team can test hundreds of conditions in parallel, to find those that enhance the “serial killer” mode.

“This screening can help us to pinpoint signaling pathways or pharmacological agents that can boost functional CAR T cells and reverse dysfunction. SynT will help us better understand the process of cell bioengineering that underlies cell therapy for cancer, and potentially to improve the manufacturing to increase activity and reduce costs,” says Gargiulo. “Ultimately, these advances can make CAR T cell therapies even more effective.”

Engineered immune cells (shown as small round magenta dots) surrounding brain tumor cells with distinct identities as revealed by a dual synthetic DNA-driven fluorescent reporters (blue & yellow). Photo: Matthias Jürgen Schmitt, Gargiulo Lab, Max Delbrück Center

Source: Press Release Max Delbrück Center
Third ERC Grant for Gaetano Gargiulo

Research, Innovation, Patient care / 09.01.2024
"More Entrepreneurial Thinking in Research"

Photo: Peter Himsel / Max Delbrück Center
Photo: Peter Himsel / Max Delbrück Center

Interview with Professor Maike Sander, Scientific Director of the Max Delbrück Center

How does the Campus Berlin-Buch promote or nurture the successful commercialization of life science knowledge?

At Campus Buch, we do fundamental research in various disciplines, all related to biomedical discovery. This includes research at the Max Delbrück Center, the FMP, but also at the Charité – Universitätsmedizin and the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH). This ecosystem serves as an intellectual incubator for ideas, including medical applications. We have already seen numerous start-ups emerge from basic discoveries at Campus Buch. Much of this work has been collaborative and cross-institutional. The most prominent example is, of course, T-knife which originated as a joint project between the Max Delbrück Center and Charite. T-knife develops T-cell therapies for solid tumors using tailored T-cell receptors. The company started here on Campus Buch and now has a branch in San Francisco. But T-knife is not the only company that has been launched based on research at Campus Buch. Recent spin-offs include MyoPax and CARTemis Therapeutics, both deeply rooted in institutions such as the Max Delbrück Center and the Charité. MyoPax combines cell and gene technology to regenerate and restore muscle function after an accident, in cases of muscle atrophy, or in muscular dystrophy. CARTemis, on the other hand, is pioneering cell-based immunotherapies for cancers that were previously considered untreatable. Campus Buch provides the space and facilities to house these emerging companies in close proximity to the labs that initiated these innovations. This proximity is crucial, especially in the early phase of starting a company.

You are referring to the new BerlinBioCube start-up incubator on Campus Buch. How can it contribute to knowledge transfer and networking between science and business?

The BerlinBioCube enriches the campus in two significant ways. First, it provides space for emerging companies; the impact of having this space next to institutions like the Max Delbrück Center, FMP, Charité, BIH cannot be underestimated. Second, it brings an entrepreneurial mindset to our campus. Scientists are typically not trained to start companies, and there is little knowledge of what investors are looking for or what it will eventually take to bring a new diagnostic or therapy to market. By hosting joint networking events between the scientific institutes on the campus and budding companies in the BerlinBioCube, we can learn from each other and bring more business acumen to the scientists in our institutions.

How can we make spin-offs from research institutions even more attractive?

Researchers are often concerned that founding a company could distract them from their scientific pursuits. Examples in the US and Israel show that this does not need to be so. Often the students and postdocs launch the companies, while the PI moves on to work on the next innovation with the next generation of trainees. As institutions, we can support commercialization by providing additional resources to help PIs adapt their technologies and discoveries to launch a start-up. So, it doesn’t have to be a choice between launching a company or continuing the research.

What can we learn from startup hubs in the USA and Israel/Tel Aviv?

What these hubs have, and what we need to build more of in Berlin and Germany, is a close exchange between scientists, entrepreneurs, and investors. The successful hubs in the US and Israel have a functioning ecosystem where people from these different worlds meet regularly. In our science institutions, we need to bring more of an entrepreneurial mindset to science and scientists. In the U.S., many scientists now earn a dual PhD/MBA. The younger generation of scientists wants to create societal value from their discoveries through commercialization. We can build that here by offering training through our graduate school and other channels. Having BerlinBioCube on the campus will also be a huge asset, because it will nucleate the exchange. Another important component is, of course, investor money. We need to come together as institutions to show international investors how much we have to offer. Science in Berlin and Germany is very strong, so it’s most definitely not a matter of a lack of excellence at the beginning of the pipeline.

How can research benefit even more from proximity to biotech companies?

Networking events will be a huge amplifier. Ultimately, it’s all about people learning from each other and inspiring each other.

 

Research, Innovation, Patient care / 08.01.2024
Eckert & Ziegler and ARTBIO Announce Manufacturing and Supply Partnership for Lead-212 Conjugates

Berlin, Germany and Cambridge, Mass., – 8 January 2024 – Eckert & Ziegler (ISIN DE0005659700, SDAX) and ARTBIO, Inc. (ARTBIO), a clinical-stage biotechnology company specializing in the development of a new class of alpha radioligand therapies (ARTs), have entered into a strategic manufacturing and supply agreement. Under the collaboration Eckert & Ziegler will support ARTBIO to establish manufacturing and delivery of its pipeline therapies using its proprietary AlphaDirectTM Lead-212 (Pb-212) isolation technology.

The collaboration aims to expedite the development of Lead-212 based alpha radioligand therapies, starting with the clinical development of ARTBIO’s lead asset of AB001 in prostate cancer. Initially focussing on the US market and utilizing Eckert & Ziegler’s facilities in Boston, both companies plan to evaluate a global operations expansion at a later stage. Besides the US, Eckert & Ziegler’s global CMO service network includes manufacturing sites in Berlin, Germany and Jintan, China.

The radioisotope Lead-212 is an alpha precursor used as an active substance in cancer treatment. As part of a radiopharmaceutical product, the radioisotope enables precision treatment of tumor cells, while minimizing the damage to healthy adjacent tissue. With several studies ongoing, Pb-212-labeled compounds represent one of the most promising therapeutic approaches in nuclear medicine.

"We are excited to collaborate with ARTBIO in this transformative venture,” stated Dr. Harald Hasselmann, CEO of Eckert & Ziegler. ”By combining Eckert & Ziegler's expertise in radiopharmaceutical manufacturing with ARTBIO's innovative approach to therapeutic solutions, we are poised to make substantial progress in advancing Lead-212 based alpha therapies."

"We are pleased to partner with Eckert & Ziegler to expand our distributed manufacturing network in order to reliably and efficiently deliver alpha radioligand therapies to patients," said Conrad Wueller, Director, Strategy and Operations at ARTBIO. "Eckert & Ziegler's vast experience and global footprint in radiopharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution will be critical as we advance our pipeline and aim to get our therapeutic candidates to people who need them most."

About Eckert & Ziegler
Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik AG with more than 1.000 employees is a leading specialist for isotope-related components in nuclear medicine and radiation therapy. The company offers a broad range of services and products for the radiopharmaceutical industry, from early development work to contract manufacturing and distribution. Eckert & Ziegler shares (ISIN DE0005659700) are listed in the SDAX index of Deutsche Börse.
Contributing to saving lives.

About ARTBIO
ARTBIO is a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company redefining cancer care by creating a new class of alpha radioligand therapies (ARTs). The unique ARTBIO approach selects the optimal alpha-precursor isotope (Pb-212) and tumor-specific targets to create therapeutics with the potential for highest efficacy and safety.  The company's AlphaDirectTM technology, a first-of-its-kind Pb-212 isolation method, enables a distributed manufacturing approach for the reliable production and delivery of ARTs. ARTBIO is advancing three pipeline programs with lead program AB001 currently in first in human trials. ARTBIO is shaped by a long-standing scientific legacy with nearly a century of pioneering work in radiation therapy conducted at the University of Oslo and Norway's Radium Hospital.

Research, Innovation, Patient care / 02.01.2024
New agent regulates serotonin production

Radoslaw Wesolowski (left), Michael Bader (center) and Dr. Edgar Specker have teamed up to develop a potential therapeutic agent that influences serotonin levels. © Peter Himsel, Campus Berlin-Buch GmbH
Radoslaw Wesolowski (left), Michael Bader (center) and Dr. Edgar Specker have teamed up to develop a potential therapeutic agent that influences serotonin levels. © Peter Himsel, Campus Berlin-Buch GmbH

Diseases can emerge when the body’s production of serotonin is out of whack. Researchers led by Michael Bader from the Max Delbrück Center have discovered a therapeutic agent that brings down high levels of this hormone. Their start-up, Trypto Therapeutics, aims to develop the drug for the market.

Serotonin makes you feel good. This neurotransmitter known as the “happiness hormone” regulates mood, sleep, and appetite. It also plays a key role in the gastrointestinal tract, where it is involved in regulating intestinal movement and the release of fluids that are important for the digestion and absorption of nutrients.

But too much serotonin causes health problems. An oversupply of the hormone can disrupt normal bodily functions and trigger various diseases. Professor Michael Bader and Dr. Edgar Specker have developed a drug that specifically lowers serotonin levels. Bader leads the Molecular Biology of Peptide Hormones Lab at the Max Delbrück Center, while Specker heads the Compound Management Core Facility at the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP). “We have now founded Trypto Therapeutics to bring our new therapeutic agent to the market,” says Bader. Along with the two scientists, biotech entrepreneurs Dirk Pleimes and Dr. Radoslaw Wesolowski are also involved in the new company. Max Delbrück Center and the FMP have an equity stake in the spin-off.

Stopped by the blood-brain barrier

Scientists don’t know exactly why serotonin production gets out of whack. An exception is carcinoid syndrome, a tumor disease in which hormone-producing cells release inordinate amounts of serotonin. Carcinoid syndrome is often associated with diseases like pulmonary hypertension, intestinal diseases, and heart valve fibrosis. However, they can also occur in patients without carcinoid syndrome. As different as these diseases are, elevated serotonin is involved in the development of all of them.

This is where the molecule that Bader and Specker discovered and further developed in the FMP’s compound library comes into play. It is called TPT-004 and inhibits an enzyme found in gastrointestinal tract cells, called tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH), that plays a role in serotonin synthesis. Lower TPH activity means less serotonin circulating through the body. The researchers showed that the administration of TPT-004 improves the health of rats with pulmonary hypertension. They were also able to prove that this molecule cannot cross the blood-brain barrier in mice. This is important because serotonin is also produced in the neurons – a process that should not be blocked because the brain requires the neurotransmitter to function properly.

Venture capital needed to move forward

A great deal of funding has gone into developing the TPH inhibitor so far – through the Max Delbrück Center’s Pre-GoBio funding scheme, through various lines of funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and, most recently, through the Max Delbrück Center’s SPOT spin-off support program. “We’ve received around €4.5 million in total,” says Bader. “But public third-party funding is not enough to take the next step. We need venture capital to do this. That’s why we founded Trypto Therapeutics.”

The scientists first plan to develop a method for producing their therapeutic agent in pure form in sufficient quantities so that it can be used in human clinical trials. They will also carry out a toxicity study in order to investigate the risks and possible side effects of the compound. Only then will it be possible to conduct a phase I clinical trial on a small group of healthy volunteers. “If we successfully complete the phase I trial, we will then decide whether to conduct a subsequent phase II study or sell the whole thing,” says Bader. The researchers initially want to test the drug on patients with pulmonary hypertension. If this works, they want to examine whether TPT-004 helps treat other diseases associated with elevated serotonin levels. Their development pipeline also includes new inhibitors for other enzymes.

Text: Jana Ehrhardt-Joswig

Source: Joint press release of the Max Delbrück Center and the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP).
New agent regulates serotonin production

economic development / 14.12.2023
Charles River Finalizes Agreement with CELLphenomics, Expanding 3D In Vitro Services for Cancer Therapy Drug Screening

CELLphenomics’ PD3D® tumor model platform will expand Charles River’s portfolio of 3D in vitro testing services

WILMINGTON, Mass. & BERLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 12, 2023-- Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE: CRL) today announced that it has entered into an agreement with CELLphenomics, a service-based biotechnology company that is using 3D hydrogel technology to advance the understanding of the tumor microenvironment and predict therapeutic efficacy. This enhanced offering will provide Charles River clients with access to CELLphenomics’ proprietary 3D tumor model platform, PD3D®, expanding Charles River’s 3D in vitro testing services to further optimize oncological approaches for its clients.

CELLphenomics’ core competency is the establishment and cultivation of complex patient-derived 3D cell culture models (PD3D) from various solid tumor tissues. These highly reliable, well-annotated and predictive preclinical PD3D models robustly recapitulate the biological properties of the donor tissue, including key histopathological features and genomic makeup. They are a powerful tool for disease modeling, biomarker and drug discovery.

CELLphenomics’ continuously growing biobank comprises more than 500 complex in vitro models from more than 20 tumor entities, and offers the world’s largest collection of complex in vitro models of rare and ultra-rare tumors like sarcomas or thymomas.

CELLphenomics has developed a custom mid-throughput screening platform that blends complex cell culture models with advanced automation and a streamlined analysis pipeline. The proprietary, precision medicine PD3D platform offers mid-throughput efficacy testing, drug combination screening, toxicity profiling, target validation, drug sensitivity correlation with clinical response, and biomarker identification.

Charles River offers a range of cancer cell-based assays, including patient-derived xenograft (PDX) assays and assays representing the entire tumor microenvironment (TME), so therapies are not only tested for their effect on real patient materials, but also their interaction with the human immune systems. Leveraging CELLphenomics technology, Charles River will now have a novel in vitro option for identifying therapeutics for rare and ultra-rare disease types.

The agreement will also provide CELLphenomics access to Charles River’s genomically annotated and in vivo characterized cancer model database to develop PD3D models. The database is comprised of more than 700 tumor models, including PDX, cell lines and cell line-derived xenografts (CDX). These models have been extensively profiled for histological features, molecular data, and sensitivity to standard-of-care compounds, allowing a precise selection of suitable tumor models for preclinical anti-cancer agent testing. The biological advantages of PDX include the retention of histological and genetic characteristics of the donor tumor and the preservation of cell-autonomous heterogeneity. The merge of both biobanks will significantly increase the translational relevance of the in vitro and in vivo platforms offered by CELLphenomics and Charles River.

Approved Quotes

“The field of 3D in vitro services for oncology research is rapidly developing. We’re excited for the integration of CELLphenomics’ tumor model platform into our existing portfolio of products and services.” – Aidan Synnott, Corporate Vice President, Global Discovery Services, Charles River

“Our clients will benefit from this enhanced offering, but ultimately, our work will benefit patients who desperately need new treatments for cancer.” – Julia Schueler, PhD, Research Director and Therapeutic Area Lead, Oncology, Charles River

“This agreement allows us full access to Charles River’s impressive biobank and data. Now we can provide them with high quality models of the same genomic background through the entire preclinical development process – literally for any solid tumor type. From large high-throughput in vitro screens to selected PDX models, with Charles River as our partner, we can ensure an even more swiftly developmental process for novel anti-cancer drugs. Together, we make our customers’ compounds work.” –Dr. Christian Regenbrecht, CEO, CELLphenomics

About Charles River
Charles River provides essential products and services to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, government agencies and leading academic institutions around the globe accelerate their research and drug development efforts. Our dedicated employees are focused on providing clients with exactly what they need to improve and expedite the discovery, early-stage development and safe manufacture of new therapies for the patients who need them. To learn more about our unique portfolio and breadth of services, visit www.criver.com.

About CELLphenomics
CELLphenomics establishes and cultivates complex patient-derived 3D cell culture models (PD3D®) from various solid tumor tissues. The company’s in vitro services combine wet-lab biology, automation and high throughput screening directly on patient samples to help predict responses to potential therapies, and ultimately determine which drugs or drug combinations will be most effective for specific types of cancers, visit:

www.cellphenomics.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231211345497/en/

Research, Education / 30.11.2023
What do scientists actually do in the lab?

© Marie Burns, Max Delbrück Center
© Marie Burns, Max Delbrück Center

Grizzly bears in hibernation or a pineapple in an MRI scanner – at the “Science Day” at the “Robert Havemann” high school in Berlin-Karow, researchers from the Max Delbrück Center presented students of grades 11 and 12 unusual facets of their research.

Marine, sports journalist or engineer – some students know exactly what they want to do after graduating from high school. Others still find it difficult to choose a career or field of study. To give them an insight into the world of science, researchers presented their career paths and work at the Robert Havemann high school at the end of November. Professor Thoralf Niendorf, head of the “Experimental Ultrahigh-Field MR” lab at the Max Delbrück Center, and Professor Michael Gotthardt, head of the “Translational Cardiology and Functional Genomics” lab, also participated.

Google Maps for health – only better” is how Thoralf Niendorf describes what modern imaging techniques can do for our health. A map of our body that integrates information from the anatomical to the molecular level. This data allows for conclusions regarding blood flow or metabolic processes in tissue, for example, and not only improves diagnostics, but also enables predictions about the health of the person being examined. Niendorf and his team aim to improve magnetic resonance technology and the analysis of complex data using artificial intelligence.

For testing purposes, they like to put unusual objects in the MRI scanner – such as a pineapple. But the researcher has also brought actual case studies on the heart, brain and eye and encourages the students to guess what they can see. They are fascinated by the sometimes moving images and have lots of questions. “We would like to inspire curiosity and provide information about the wide range of career opportunities in science,” says Thoralf Niendorf. Engineers, technical assistants, programmers, an efficient administration – cutting-edge research needs bright minds with different talents.

Finding reliable information

Down the hall, Michael Gotthardt shares with the students what his team is doing in the lab. The long-time mentor for young scientists analyzes cardiovascular and muscle diseases. He also works with unusual model organisms – pythons that can enlarge their hearts for a short time after devouring their prey, or grizzly bears that hardly lose any muscle mass despite hibernating for months. “If we understand which molecular processes grant these animals their characteristics, we could use the findings to improve human health,” he says.

The students are intrigued, want to know what day-to-day work in biomedical research looks like and how to become a professor. Gotthardt answers patiently and gives advice. Above all, he is interested in addressing the big questions: How does the scientific process work? How is a new drug developed? How do students find reliable information to make decisions about their own health? He wants to leave them with something that illustrates the importance of science for their own lives – as a career opportunity and beyond.

Text: Marie Burns

Research / 30.11.2023
Heart repair via neuroimmune crosstalk

© Onur Apaydin, Max Delbrück Center
© Onur Apaydin, Max Delbrück Center

Unlike humans, zebrafish can completely regenerate their hearts after injury. They owe this ability to the interaction between their nervous and immune systems, as researchers led by Suphansa Sawamiphak from the Max Delbrück Center now report in the journal “Developmental Cell.”

Each year, more than 300,000 people in Germany have a myocardial infarction – the technical term for heart attack. The number of people surviving a heart attack has increased significantly, but this severe cardiac event causes irreparable damage to their hearts. A heart attack occurs when blood vessels that supply blood and oxygen to the heart muscle become blocked, causing part of the heart muscle tissue to die. This damage is permanent because the human heart has no ability to grow new heart muscle cells. Instead, connective tissue cells known as fibroblasts migrate into the damaged area of the heart muscle. They form scar tissue that weakens the pumping power of the heart. Previous attempts to use stem cells to treat infarction-damaged hearts have not been very successful.

The team led by Dr. Suphansa Sawamiphak, head of the Cardiovascular-Hematopoietic Interaction Lab at the Max Delbrück Center, is looking at the process from a different angle. “We know that both signals from the autonomic nervous system and the immune system play a pivotal role in scarring and regeneration,” says Sawamiphak. “So it stands to reason that the communication between the autonomic nervous and immune systems determines whether heart muscle scarring will occur or whether the heart muscle can recover.” It is also known that macrophages play a role in both processes. But how is this decision made?

To address this question, the researchers are studying zebrafish larvae. The fish can be easily modified and are also optically transparent, making internal processes easy to observe in the living organism. “Plus, they can fully regenerate their heart after an injury,” says Onur Apaydin, first author of the study published in “Developmental Cell.”

Signaling for regeneration

The researchers used zebrafish larvae whose heart muscle cells produce a fluorescent substance, making it easy to detect them under a microscope. They then induced an injury similar to a myocardial infarction in the larval hearts and blocked several receptors on the surface of the macrophages. The result was that adrenergic signals from the autonomic nervous system determined whether the macrophages multiplied and migrated into the damaged site. These signals also played an important role in regenerating heart muscle tissue.

In the next step, the researchers engineered genetically modified zebrafish in which the adrenergic signal reached the macrophages but could not be transmitted from the receptor into the cell’s interior. “This showed that signal transmission is crucial for heart regeneration,” says Apaydin. If signaling is interrupted, the scarring process is triggered instead.

“Our findings indicate that this is a key regulator of crosstalk between the nervous and immune systems,” says Apaydin. When macrophages are activated by the adrenergic signals of the autonomic nervous system, they in turn communicate with fibroblasts. Fibroblasts that promote regeneration alter the extracellular matrix at the damaged site. This ultimately creates a microenvironment conducive to the growth of blood and lymph vessels and to the development of new heart vessels. If, on the other hand, the signal is blocked, fibroblasts infiltrate the site and cause scarring – similar to what occurs in the human heart after a heart attack.

“We next want to examine in detail how signaling differs between zebrafish and humans,” says Sawamiphak. “This will help us understand why heart muscle tissue is unable to regenerate in humans.” The team also hopes to identify potential targets for influencing the interaction between the nervous and immune systems in a way that promotes the regeneration of heart muscle tissue and the maintenance of heart function in heart attack patients.

Photo:
Cryoinjured section of a zebrafish heart: Immunofluorescence staining elucidates cellular and extracellular compositions pivotal for cardiac repair. All cell nuclei are seen in blue, while the red stain delineates cardiomyocytes. The extracellular matrix, crucial for structural integrity and signaling, is highlighted in green. Cyan staining reveals neurons, underscoring the neuro-cardiac interactions during regeneration.

© Onur Apaydin, Max Delbrück Center

Source: Press Release Max Delbrück Center
Heart repair via neuroimmune crosstalk

 

economic development / 23.11.2023
Berlin Cures advances fight against Long COVID on a pan-European level

Berlin Cures, a biotechnology company specialized in neutralizing functional autoantibodies (fAABs), is expanding its Phase II clinical trial into a pan-European, multi-center collaboration in the fight against Long COVID. A total of 12 sites in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Finland and Spain are working to advance clinical research into this escalating global health problem. Additional trial sites in Switzerland, Spain and Germany are expected to soon follow. First results of the Phase II trial are expected in 2024. In the event of positive results, Berlin Cures is aiming for a larger Phase III study, which is a prerequisite for the approval of BC 007.

“We are delighted to have so many clinical institutions across Europe working with us towards transforming our platform technology into a therapeutic solution for millions of patients,” says Oliver von Stein, CEO of Berlin Cures. “As we intensify our efforts on a multinational scale, we’re aiming to provide a solution for Long COVID as well as to redefine the approach to multiple other fAAB-associated diseases such as heart failure or glaucoma. This pan-European collaboration symbolizes a united front against an urgent health crisis and underscores our dedication to innovation and impactful science.”

The expansion of the study to five countries across Europe marks an important step in the multinational approach of Berlin Cures’ Phase II trial BLOC. The study will provide meaningful and robust results on the efficacy and tolerability of the company’s lead drug candidate BC 007 in Long COVID patients.

As a platform technology, BC 007 has the potential to cure different autoimmune diseases by targeting fAABs as their root cause. The compound functions similarly to an antibody, binding and neutralizing harmful fAABs. In Long COVID, a considerable proportion of the diseases are due to the presence of fAABs. Berlin Cures aims to pioneer the development of a treatment based on BC 007 that addresses the core of fAAB-associated diseases, such as Long COVID, heart failure and glaucoma.

Overview of trial site locations:
Germany: 2x Berlin (recruiting), Cologne (recruiting), Münster (recruiting), Erlangen (active, starts recruiting soon)
Austria: 2x Vienna (recruiting)
Switzerland: Zurich (active, starts recruiting soon), Basel to follow soon
Spain: Valencia (recruiting), Pamplona (recruiting) Madrid (active, starts recruiting soon); Malaga and Seville to follow soon
Finland: Helsinki (active, starts recruiting soon)

All recruiting trial sites and participation criteria can be found on this page on clinicaltrials.gov.


About Berlin Cures: 
The Berlin Cures team has dedicated over two decades to the research of functional autoantibodies (fAABs) and has successfully identified a molecule capable of effectively neutralizing these. Promising preclinical results have been observed for BC 007. It was found effective in fAAB-positive healthy volunteers during the Phase I study and in heart failure patients in a Phase IIa trial, where it demonstrated long-term autoantibody neutralization after a single dose and significant improvement in cardiac function, with no spontaneous disappearance of autoantibodies in untreated patients. Its potential against Long COVID is indicated by lab data generated using sera from Long COVID patients, and four case studies. By tackling the root cause of fAAB-associated diseases with this unique biotechnology, Berlin Cures emerges as one of the pioneering entities committed to addressing this critical issue at its core.

Since June 2023, Berlin Cures has been absolving a Phase II clinical trial with BC 007 in the indication Long COVID, an acute and escalating global health problem, to obtain meaningful and robust results on efficacy and tolerability of BC 007 with patients suffering from Long COVID.

Contact:
FGS Global
E-Mail: berlincures-eu@fgsglobal.com
Tel:      +41 79 678 46 03

 

www.berlincures.com

Research, Innovation, Patient care / 23.11.2023
First CNS Lymphoma Patient Dosed in Phase I/II PTT101 Study with Yttrium (90Y) Anditixafortide (PentixaTher)

Pentixapharm AG, a developer of innovative radiopharmaceuticals owned by Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik AG (ISIN DE0005659700) today has announced that a first patient has been treated in a dose-finding clinical phase I/II study with Yttrium (90Y) anditixafortide (PentixaTher) at the University Hospital in Essen, Germany.

This study, PTT101 (ClinicalTrials.Gov ID: NCT06132737), is a prospective, open-label dose-escalation, multicenter study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, biodistribution and efficacy of PentixaTher in patients with CNS lymphoma (cancer affecting the central nervous systems). PentixaTher is targeting the CXCR-4 cytokine receptor which is widely expressed in different cancer indications.

Before treatment, patients will be screened with Gallium-68 (68Ga)-based PentixaFor to confirm the presence of the CXCR-4 receptors. If the PET scan turns out to be positive, PentixaTher will be given in various doses to different dose group (in total 9 to 15 patients). The enrollment is planned to last 12 months.

“Previous studies have shown that up to 90% of CNS lymphoma patients overexpress the CXCR4 receptor. We therefore hope that the clinical results in CNS lymphomas with Yttrium (90Y) anditixafortide PentixaTher will show similar outstanding effects on tumor growth as we have observed it in other indications like T-cell lymphomas or Multiple Myelomas” commented Dr. Hakim Bouterfa, Chief Medical Officer at Eckert & Ziegler, and Member of the Board at Pentixapharm AG.
 

Source: Press Release EZAG
First CNS Lymphoma Patient Dosed in Phase I/II PTT101 Study with Yttrium (90Y) Anditixafortide (PentixaTher)

Innovation / 22.11.2023
Personnel Changes in the Management of Eckert & Ziegler AG

Changes in the Executive Board and Supervisory Board

Dr. Hakim Bouterfa, Executive Board member of Eckert & Ziegler AG and responsible for clinical development, will leave the Executive Board of Eckert & Ziegler AG at the end of the year and in future will concentrate exclusively on his tasks as Executive Board member of the Eckert & Ziegler subsidiary Pentixapharm AG (PTX). There he will be supported by Dr. Dirk Pleimes and Anna Steeger, who have been newly appointed to the Executive Board of Pentixapharm AG. Following the consolidation of all clinical activities of the Eckert & Ziegler Group within or below PTX in recent months and following the decision to split-off PTX from the Group, Eckert & Ziegler AG no longer requires the position for clinical development within the Executive Board.

The founder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Eckert & Ziegler AG, Dr. Andreas Eckert, will resign from the Supervisory Board in spring 2024 to also join the Executive Board of Pentixapharm AG. He will accompany the announced split-off.

The management of Pentixapharm AG will present an overview of the split-off plans and corresponding measures to the shareholders of Eckert & Ziegler AG on November 27, 2023 at 6 p.m. at the German Equity Forum in Frankfurt, www.eigenkapitalforum.com.

Source: Press Release EZAG
Personnel Changes in the Management of Eckert & Ziegler AG

Research / 15.11.2023
Lisec-Artz Prize goes to Simon Haas

Simon Haas © Felix Petermann, Max Delbrück Center
Simon Haas © Felix Petermann, Max Delbrück Center

Simon Haas has been awarded the Lisec-Artz Prize, endowed with €10,000, for his single-cell analysis of communication between stem and immune cells in blood cancer. The University of Bonn Foundation established this prize to honor outstanding early-career cancer researchers.

Stem cells constantly replenish the supply of fresh blood cells. If individual cells go down the wrong developmental path during the blood formation process, blood cancer can occur. Immune cells, such as T cells, are present to destroy the suspicious cells. Though not infallible, the tactic is effective as malignant stem cells communicate directly with T cells and signal that something is wrong with them. This previously unknown protective mechanism was discovered by Dr. Simon Haas and his team within the joint research focus “Single Cell Approaches for Personalized Medicine” of the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH), the Max Delbrück Center, and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. For this and other scientific contributions, Haas has now been awarded the Lisec-Artz Prize.

“Stem cells are very fascinating, but our knowledge of these indefinitely dividing cells is still incomplete. By understanding them better, we will be able to give an important boost to immunotherapy development,” says Haas, who is an award-winning early-career scientist. He moved to Berlin in 2020 after stints at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University in Boston, USA. “Our aim is to intervene as early as possible in the disease process,” he says.

Listening in on cell-to-cell chatter

Immunotherapies seek to enhance the power of the immune system to fight cancer cells. But before inducing their elimination, T cells first have to recognize cancer cells. This often fails because cancer cells suppress the telltale signals or manipulate the T cells using other deceptive tricks. Simon Haas and his team therefore have plans to “listen in” and decipher the communication between stem cells and immune cells. To accomplish this, they will use single-cell analysis tools and develop them further. He and his team are based at the Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology of the Max Delbrück Center (MDC-BIMSB), which provides excellent resources and support for their work.

“Using single-cell biology techniques, we aim to investigate millions of cell pairs from those stem and immune cells that are communicating with each other,” says Haas. “Which signals cause a suspicious cell to be eliminated? Which signals block the immune cells? And since temporal processes also play a key role: Which type of interaction takes place and in which disease stage?” The team wants to uncover which strategies malignant cells use to evade the T cells – and target exactly these interactions. “Ideally,” says Haas, “we will eventually be able to stop the pathological process before blood cancer even develops.”

Text: BIH

Source: Joint press release by the BIH and the Max Delbrück Center
Lisec-Artz Prize goes to Simon Haas

 

Research / 15.11.2023
Influential in their field

Sofia Forslund, Friedemann Paul, and Nikolaus Rajewsky are among the Highly Cited Researchers 2023. Each year the company Clarivate compiles a "Who's Who" list of highly influential researchers.

When a seminal study is published in a scientific journal, researchers worldwide reference it, citing the work and, in turn, providing a measure of the authors' scientific impact. This is the basis for the "Highly Cited Researchers" list. The ranking includes studies from the past decade that have been cited the most within their respective fields and publication years, representing the top percentile. Clarivate Analytics, a US-based company specializing in bibliometrics and data science, doesn't rely solely on numbers; they combine quantitative and qualitative analyses to compile a "Who's Who" in research.

Approximately one in a thousand researchers makes it onto this prestigious list, and this year 6,849 researchers from 67 countries have achieved this recognition. The majority of them work in the United States of America (2,669), followed by scientists from China (1,275), the United Kingdom (574), and Germany (336) – like Professors Sofia Forslund, Friedemann Paul and Nikolaus Rajewsky.

About our researchers

Sofia Forslund heads a research group at the Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), a joint institution of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Max Delbrück Center. The data-driven models developed by the Swedish biochemist and bioinformatician illustrate how we and our gut microbiome develop together toward health or disease.

Friedemann Paul is Director of the ECRC. As a neuroimmunologist, he and his team focus on enhancing therapeutics and diagnostics for diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis. Additionally, they participate in an international consortium researching inflammatory processes preceding organ malfunction or damage.

Nikolaus Rajewsky, Director of the Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology at the Max Delbrück Center (MDC-BIMSB), aims to identify diseases using high-throughput single-cell analysis methods, intervening before cellular dysfunctions cause harm. To pave the way for cell-based medicine in Berlin and Europe, he actively works to establish networks at all levels.

Source: Press Release Max Delbrück Center
Influential in their field

Innovation / 14.11.2023
Eckert & Ziegler Establishess German-Chinese Joint Venture with DC Pharma for the Production of Radioisotopes

Insider information pursuant to Article 17 MAR

Eckert & Ziegler (ISIN DE0005659700) strengthens its competitive position in the growth market of China and today signed a 50:50 joint venture agreement with the Chinese pharmaceutical company DongCheng Pharma (DC Pharma).

Eckert & Ziegler will benefit from the cooperation between the two companies above all at its production site in Jintan near Shanghai. Here, the radioisotopes urgently needed for cancer diagnostics and therapy on the growing Chinese market shall be produced and commercialized.

DC Pharma invests € 20 million in the EZAG subsidiary Qi Kang Medical Technology (Changzhou) Co., Ltd. by way of a capital increase and will subsequently hold 50% of the shares.

The joint venture will complete the production facility currently under construction in Jintan and start the production of cyclotron-based isotopes in a first phase. In a second phase, further production lines for radioisotopes such as Lu-177 are to follow.

DC Pharma is one of the leading radiopharmaceutical companies in China with sales of 498 million US$ or 3.6 billion CNY (2022). With its market position, experience in production and sales, it is the ideal partner for Eckert & Ziegler.

Innovation / 14.11.2023
Eckert & Ziegler with Significant Sales Growth in the First Nine Months of 2023

Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik AG (ISIN DE0005659700, SDAX) achieved sales of € 183.9 million in the first nine months of 2023 (previous year: € 165.8 million) and consolidated net income of € 20.3 million (previous year: € 21.7 million). Adjusted for currency losses of € 3.3 million, the nine-month result was around € 2 million higher than the previous year's figure. In addition, there was an increase in expenses for future projects in the field of nuclear medicine diagnostics and therapy.

In the Medical segment, sales of € 82.8 million were around € 17.6 million or 27% higher than in the previous year. The main growth driver continues to be business with pharmaceutical radioisotopes, while sales of laboratory equipment and in the plant engineering division also continued to increase.

At € 101.0 million, the Isotope Products segment generated slightly higher external sales of € 0.5 million than in the first nine months of 2022. The segment's sales thus remained stable.

The forecast for the financial year 2023 published on March 30, 2023 remains unchanged. The Executive Board continues to expect sales of around € 230 million and net income of around € 25 million.


The complete quarterly report can be viewed here:
https://www.ezag.com/fileadmin/user_upload/ezag/investors-financial-reports/englisch/euz323e.pdf

About Eckert & Ziegler.
Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik AG with more than 1.000 employees is a leading specialist for isotope-related components in nuclear medicine and radiation therapy. The company offers a broad range of services and products for the radiopharmaceutical industry, from early development work to contract manufacturing and distribution. Eckert & Ziegler shares (ISIN DE0005659700) are listed in the SDAX index of Deutsche Börse.

Source: Press Release EZAG

economic development, Innovation / 31.10.2023
Cambrium Secures €8 Million in Seed Funding to Commercialize New Class of Performance Molecules

Seed financing will drive commercial growth for Cambrium’s first product, NovaColl™, and accelerate expansion into new industries

Synthetic biology startup Cambrium announces €8 Million in Seed financing, led by Essential Capital, along with SNR, Valor Equity Partners, and HOF Capital.

 

The Berlin-based company brings novel molecules with previously unseen functionalities to life, through a technology platform which combines biology and machine learning to supercharge product innovation. With its new class of sustainable, high-performance molecules, Cambrium is transforming the paradigm of toxic petrochemicals and unethical animal ingredients currently found in a staggering majority of consumer products. Bringing brands’ creative visions to reality, their molecules are enabling a new wave of essential products from skincare to apparel and footwear.

Earlier this year, Cambrium successfully launched its first molecular ingredient, NovaColl™. Designed for highly efficacious skincare, NovaColl™ is the only micro-molecular and 100% skin-identical collagen that is available on the market.

The seed funds will be used to translate the early successes of NovaColl™ into lasting impact, as Cambrium’s manufacturing and commercial activities scale towards full replacement of traditional animal-derived collagen. The funding will also accelerate the company’s product pipeline, with molecules for new applications and industries to be launched within the next two years.

Cambrium’s vision for the future is rooted in our biological past. 500 million years ago, increasing oxygen levels in the atmosphere triggered the Cambrian explosion - the largest evolutionary event in Earth’s history. In that period, the emergence of complex molecules transformed life on our planet from simple, single-celled organisms into the diversity and richness of flora and fauna that we see today. CEO Mitchell Duffy believes that Cambrium’s technology can ignite a similar molecular revolution across industries, through a proliferation of materials and products that outperform alternatives while being environmentally friendly.

“We founded Cambrium to accelerate past nature’s innovation cycle, for novel molecules that can quickly scale to material impact,” said Duffy. “I'm proud that we have been able to generate meaningful revenue with a bioindustrial ingredient at such an early, pre-seed stage, and that we’ve won support from the right investors for our next stage of growth.”

Cambrium’s platform is powered by converging advances in AI, automation, and synthetic biology, allowing for the development of innovative biomolecules for consumer applications at an unprecedented rate. Using their highly data-driven and automated approach, the company commercialized its first molecule in less than two years.

"The marriage of synthetic biology and AI is rewriting the playbook for molecular innovation,” said Ron Zori at Essential Capital, which led the funding round. “Cambrium is leading the way in this broader shift to reinvent the building blocks of industry, one molecule at a time. We believe their computational biology platform, as demonstrated by the rapid development and launch of NovaColl™, has the ability to repeatedly translate scientific innovation into high-performance, sustainable molecules supporting a variety of sectors, and we’re thrilled to be part of this journey."

Cambrium has raised €11M to date, with prior funding from Merantix. The company actively seeks vibrant, intrepid and purpose-driven individuals to join their mission to make materials that matter. Roles are available across key commercial, operational, and technical positions, with more information at: www.cambrium.bio.

About Cambrium:

 

Cambrium’s mission is to accelerate the shift towards a bio-based economy using its molecular design technology. Cambrium designs, scales and manufactures novel, high performance molecular building blocks for use in personal care, fashion, and beyond. Cambrium’s interdisciplinary team of scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs are on a quest to unlock the power of proteins. Designed at the molecular level, Cambrium’s building blocks provide previously inaccessible functionalities, enabling innovators to create products that are better for people, and the planet.

Source: www.globenewswire.com

Innovation / 20.10.2023
Eckert & Ziegler Focuses on Core Competence and Prepares Split-Off of Clinical Assets

The Supervisory Board of Eckert & Ziegler AG (ISIN DE0005659700, SDAX) today has given its approval to the Executive Board to examine and prepare a split-off of up to 100 percent of the shares in the Pentixapharm AG (PTX). In accordance with IFRS 5, the Executive Board will report PTX as a discontinued operation in the 2023 annual financial statements. A separate decision will be taken at a later date on the specific start and the manner of the exit. In accordance with IFRS 5, the Executive Board will report PTX as a discontinued operation in the 2023 annual financial statements. PTX also includes Myelo Therapeutics GmbH.

Given the enormous growth forecast for active pharmaceutical ingredients, which is already reflected in the order intake, Eckert & Ziegler intends to pool its financial resources to expand its global manufacturing capacities. Eckert & Ziegler is thus concentrating on its core competencies in order to further expand its position as a leading supplier of radioisotopes for the production of radiopharmaceuticals.

The forecast for the financial year 2023 remains unchanged.

Source: Press Release EZAG
Eckert & Ziegler AG

Research, Innovation, Patient care, Education / 11.10.2023
Boost for Berlin’s biotech sector

Foto: Peter Himsel, Campus Berlin-Buch GmbH
Foto: Peter Himsel, Campus Berlin-Buch GmbH

Campus Berlin-Buch has a new start-up center: The BerlinBioCube was ceremonially opened on October 11, 2023 in the presence of the Governing Mayor.

Good news for life science start-ups in the capital region: 8,000 square meters of state-of-the-art laboratory and office space have been built on the Science and Technology Campus Berlin-Buch. The new BerlinBioCube incubator was officially inaugurated on October 11, 2023. Over the next few weeks, 14 young companies will move into the building, including spin-offs from the Max Delbrück Center, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, and the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP). These companies are engaged in the development of innovative gene and cell therapies or novel compounds for the effective treatment of cancer and other common diseases.

At the ceremony, Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner, Senator for Economics Franziska Giffey, and Senator for Science Dr. Ina Czyborra emphasized the importance of the Buch research campus and the new incubator. The speeches were followed by tours of the BerlinBioCube and presentations of individual successful start-ups on the campus, such as T-knife, MyoPax, and PROSION Therapeutics.

From science to business

“The BerlinBioCube is an asset to our city. Once again, Berlin is proving to be an innovative location for business, science, and technology – especially for the health and life science industries. Young entrepreneurs benefit from the new incubator on Campus Berlin-Buch. They will be at the forefront of developing new and promising approaches to treating and diagnosing disease. Thanks to the BerlinBioCube, new, cutting-edge, and future-oriented jobs are being created now and in the near future. The inauguration is a good day for the many people in Berlin and around the world who stand to benefit medically from the work being done in Buch,” stated Kai Wegner, Berlin’s Governing Mayor.
 

Senator for Economics Franziska Giffey commented: “The interplay between science and business, and the city’s vibrant start-up scene provide a strong foundation for our economic growth. We support this development by creating the infrastructure urgently needed for the implementation of innovative ideas and start-ups. The BerlinBioCube in the future location of Buch offers life science start-ups specialized and affordable laboratory space. A total of €48.9 million was invested in the new building, made possible in large part by GRW funds, which my Senate Department uses specifically to boost Berlin’s economic power. This investment strengthens our leading position among biotech locations and is another step on our way to becoming the number one innovation location in Europe.” The senator also emphasized that the state plans to create additional space for growing biotech and medtech companies in the immediate vicinity of the campus.

Senator for Science Dr. Ina Czyborra remarked: “Companies emerge from Campus Berlin-Buch science: The results of excellent research are not only published in high-ranking journals, but also form the basis for patents and innovative, marketable products and services. The groundwork is often the result of decades of research. Examples include T-knife, MyoPax, and PROSION Therapeutics. We are delighted that our funding programs are paving the way for groundbreaking therapeutic approaches to enter the application phase. Another key factor is strong entrepreneurship. In an entrepreneurial culture, scientists have the courage to spin off, break new ground, convince investors, and build a successful team.”

Network for Entrepreneurs

The BerlinBioCube offers state-of-the-art laboratories, offices, shared spaces, and conference rooms on five floors. The concept places emphasis on creating a vibrant building: “Short distances and creative exchange are the hallmarks of the campus. The research buildings are always designed to include spaces that allow for chance encounters. As the building owner, we have created such spaces in the BerlinBioCube to facilitate networking among the founders. The incubator will also host its own ‘Talk in the Cube’ event series, giving the young teams the opportunity to address exciting topics and engage in professional development,” stated Dr. Christina Quensel, Managing Director of Campus Berlin-Buch GmbH. The campus is an ideal environment for building networks and initiating joint projects: Start-ups can benefit from experienced biotech and medtech companies, research facilities, and infrastructure.

The building was designed by the Munich-based architectural firm doranth post architekten. Construction began in September 2020. After three years of construction, the BerlinBioCube was completed in October 2023, marking the end of the BiotechPark’s fourth construction phase.

Campus Berlin-Buch GmbH is now pushing ahead with the development of a five-hectare site in the immediate vicinity of the campus, on Karower Chaussee. “Start-ups grow up, they need production space. Keeping them on campus means securing jobs in Berlin,” remarked Dr. Quensel.

BerlinBioCube

Photo: Senator for Economics Franziska Giffey, Dr. Christina Quensel, Managing Director of Campus Berlin-Buch GmbH (CBB), Kai Wegner, Governing Mayor, Dr. Ina Czyborra, Senator for Science and Dr. Ulrich Scheller, Managing Director of CBB. (Photo: Peter Himsel/CBB)

www.campusberlinbuch.de

Innovation, Education / 28.09.2023
Eckert & Ziegler Receives Award for Professional Training

Photo: Ole Bader/Bezirksamt Pankow
Photo: Ole Bader/Bezirksamt Pankow

Eckert & Ziegler AG has been awarded the Pankow 2023 Training Prize for outstanding training quality. The award was presented yesterday at a celebration event by Berlin-Pankow District Mayor Dr. Cordelia Koch.

The jury justified the award with the great commitment to professional training and the special training concept of Eckert & Ziegler AG. The strong cohesion within the trainee team, the individual support of trainees according to their skills and abilities, and the numerous opportunities to be taken on by the Eckert & Ziegler Group after completing their training were also highlighted.

"We are delighted to have received this award for outstanding quality and continuity in training. At the same time, we are full of thanks to all employees involved in training, who have more than earned this award," explains Dr. Harald Hasselmann, Chairman of the Executive Board of Eckert & Ziegler AG and responsible for Human Resources. "I would also like to thank our dedicated trainees, who are the professionals of tomorrow."

Eckert & Ziegler regularly trains industrial clerks, IT specialists for system integration, and chemical laboratory assistants. Training starts on September 1 of each year. Applications are gladly accepted at any time.The Berlin-Pankow Training Prize is awarded annually as part of the Pankow Training Initiative to particularly committed training companies in the Pankow district. Companies can be nominated for the award or apply themselves in four competition categories, sorted by company size. Eckert & Ziegler receives the Pankow 2023 Training Award in the category with over 50 employees.

About Eckert & Ziegler.
Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik AG with more than 1.000 employees is a leading specialist for isotope-related components in nuclear medicine and radiation therapy. The company offers a broad range of services and products for the radiopharmaceutical industry, from early development work to contract manufacturing and distribution. Eckert & Ziegler shares (ISIN DE0005659700) are listed in the SDAX index of Deutsche Börse.
Contributing to saving lives.

www.ezag.de

Research / 22.09.2023
Starting up with highly promising immunotherapies

The CARTemis Therapeutics GmbH team (from left to right): Armin Rehm, Anthea Wirges, Uta Höpken and Mario Bunse © Felix Petermann, Max Delbrück Center
The CARTemis Therapeutics GmbH team (from left to right): Armin Rehm, Anthea Wirges, Uta Höpken and Mario Bunse © Felix Petermann, Max Delbrück Center

After spending many years researching together, a group of scientists has founded CARTemis Therapeutics, a spin-off from the Max Delbrück Center. Uta Höpken, Armin Rehm, Anthea Wirges, and Mario Bunse want to use novel CAR T-cell therapies to help patients with cancers that are currently untreatable.

Three is the magic number: Working with their labs at the Max Delbrück Center, Dr. Uta Höpken and Dr. Armin Rehm have developed three cell products for potential CAR T-cell therapies to treat cancer. Two of them will shortly enter their first human trials, while the third is at an advanced stage in the lab. To get their three candidate therapies to the point of regulatory approval, Höpken and Rehm have now founded CARTemis Therapeutics GmbH, a spin-off from the Max Delbrück Center. They are joined by Dr. Anthea Wirges and Dr. Mario Bunse, both research associates working with Höpken and Rehm. The two labs have played a crucial role in moving the CAR T-cell candidates through preclinical development. Wirges is the start-up’s CEO.

CAR T-cell therapies are often the last resort for patients with forms of leukemia, myeloma, or lymphoma that do not respond to conventional treatments. The new technique involves taking immune cells (T cells) from the patient and equipping them with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) in the laboratory. The CAR acts like a tiny antenna, scanning the body’s cells for specific features of cancer cells. Once the CAR T cells are introduced back into the patient’s body, they can detect and destroy cancer cells carrying the antigen that fits their new receptors.

Fighting cancer with specially equipped T cells

The newest CAR from the CARTemis portfolio fights B non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of lymph node cancer. It targets a molecule called CXCR5, which is found on mature lymph node cancer cells and on some helper T cells that encourage tumor growth. This CAR T-cell therapy is set to enter clinical trials next year at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is providing €4.6 million in funding. The second CAR targets BCMA, a protein found on the transformed plasma cells in multiple myeloma. A phase 1/2a trial is likely to begin at the end of the year at the National Center for Tumor Diseases in Dresden. The BMBF is providing €1.3 million in funding.

The third cell product in the pipeline amplifies the effect of CAR T-cell therapies. It is a lab-produced microRNA that downregulates the protein EBAG9 in CAR T cells. This protein acts like a brake, limiting the release of cell toxins that the CAR T cells use to kill tumor cells. Deactivating EBAG9 has two crucial benefits: First, even a small amount of antigen on a tumor cell will trigger a maximum reaction from the CAR T cells. Second, fewer CAR T cells are needed for therapeutic success overall. The researchers are currently developing an optimal vector system that will allow them to start a clinical trial.

“We’ve really put our heart and soul into these cell products,” says Höpken. “We want to do everything we can to get them approved as cancer therapies and make them available to as many patients as possible.” This means they had no choice but to found the spin-off – public funding would only have taken them to the earliest stages of clinical trials. The Max Delbrück Center supported the group on its way to start-up status through the SPOT program, a funding scheme for teams working on commercially promising products. The Helmholtz Association also provided financing from its spin-off fund.

For CEO Wirges, it’s now time to win over investors. The start-up needs venture capital so it can acquire the licenses from the Max Delbrück Center, prepare the phase 2 trials for their CARs, and continue refining their CAR amplifier. It’s all very new territory for the CARTemis team, but it’s exciting: “We’re thrilled that our research will soon be helping patients,” says Wirges.

Text: Jana Ehrhardt-Joswig

Source: News Publication of the Max Delbrück Center
Starting up with highly promising immunotherapies

economic development / 18.09.2023
OMEICOS Therapeutics Provides Update on PMD-OPTION Phase 2a Clinical Study Evaluating OMT-28 in Primary Mitochondrial Disease

OMEICOS, a biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class small molecule therapeutics based on the profound understanding of omega-3 fatty acid metabolism and physiology, today provided a positive update on the Company’s multi-center, open-label Phase 2a clinical study evaluating its most advanced development program OMT-28 in Primary Mitochondrial Disease (PMD) patients. The PMD-OPTION study, which has begun to enroll patients in the first observational part of the trial, will evaluate safety, tolerability, pharmacodynamics, and signs of efficacy of OMT-28 in PMD patients with myopathy and/or cardiomyopathy and inflammation.

“We are thrilled to announce that the first patients are being enrolled in the study at clinical centers in Italy and Germany. We thank all involved investigators supporting us in our ambitious way forward to bring a novel, first-in-class therapeutic strategy closer to the PMD patient community,” commented Dr. Robert Fischer, CEO/CSO of OMEICOS Therapeutics. “The start of the PMD-OPTION study marks a major milestone in OMEICOS’ strategy to tackle diseases associated with impaired function of the mitochondria. OMT-28 has shown the potential to target a key regulator network for cell metabolism and mitochondrial function, which could translate into benefits for PMD patients and improve their quality of life.”

PMD patients suffer from debilitating and life-threatening health consequences, such as severely limited physical stamina and disease-related changes in the heart and skeletal muscles, as well as associated neurological disorders. In preclinical in vitro and in vivo tests, the positive influence of OMT-28 on mitochondrial function and its impact on inflammatory processes associated with the condition has been demonstrated.

The PMD-OPTION study will recruit up to 32 patients with documented mutations in either mitochondrial tRNA, e.g. MELAS and MERFF mutations, or mtDNA resulting in mitochondrial disease and are suffering from myopathy (muscle weakness and/or exercise intolerance) and/or cardiomyopathy (heart disease). The study design features a 12-week untreated run-in phase, capturing the patients’ natural history and baseline parameters. Subsequently, all patients will receive a 24 mg once-daily dose of OMT-28 for a treatment period of up to 24 weeks. The primary endpoints of the PMD-OPTION study are safety and tolerability of OMT-28, and the response rate of patients showing a reduction of Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) levels by at least 20% compared to the recorded baseline. The cytokine GDF-15 is produced in response to mitochondrial stress, tissue damage or hypoxia, and is emerging as a key biomarker to detect mitochondrial myopathies and distinguish such cases from other myopathies, including metabolic myopathies. The study will also evaluate a range of secondary and exploratory endpoints to determine the effect of OMT-28 on clinical symptoms, standard functional parameters of physical strength, heart function, quality of life, and key metabolic plasma biomarkers.
 
More information on the PMD-OPTION study can be found on ClinicalTrials.gov.
 
About OMEICOS
OMEICOS Therapeutics has discovered a series of metabolically robust synthetic analogues of omega-3 fatty acid-derived epoxyeicosanoids that have the potential to treat mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammatory, cardiovascular and other diseases. Epoxyeicosanoids activate cell type-specific endogenous pathways that promote organ and tissue protection. OMEICOS’ small molecules are orally available and show improved biological activity and pharmacokinetic properties compared to their natural counterparts. For more, please visit: www.omeicos.com
 
Contact
OMEICOS Therapeutics GmbH
Dr. Robert Fischer, CEO, CSO
Phone: +49 (0) 30 9489 4810
E-Mail: r.fischer@omeicos.com
www.omeicos.com
 
Media requests
Valency Communications
Mario Brkulj
Phone: +49 (0) 160 93529951
E-Mail: mbrkulj@valencycomms.eu

Quelle: https://omeicos.com

 

Research, Education / 11.09.2023
The thrill of science

Photo: Felix Petermann, Max Delbrück Center
Photo: Felix Petermann, Max Delbrück Center

Young students are fascinated by the experiments they can participate in at the Gläsernes Labor (Life Science Learning Lab). Thanks to a special fundraiser, socially disadvantaged children from the district of Marzahn-Mitte were able to don lab coats and carry out some thrilling research.

Emilio is in seventh grade and wants to study reptiles when he grows up. He has three geckos and a tortoise, and he is planning to learn Latin in high school to prepare him for a career in science. So a visit to the Gläsernes Labor on Campus Berlin-Buch was the perfect opportunity for Emilio. His friend Damian had asked him if he wanted to come along: “He told me we’d be able to look at the DNA in our spit. That sounded interesting.”

A day in the lab for 48 kids

Emilio and Damian are two of 16 children aged between seven and 14 in this group who usually attend the Marzahn-Mitte youth club JFE FAIR run by the Berlin-Brandenburg branch of the Humanist Association of Germany. Max Delbrück Center employees donated money to finance a trip to the laboratory for the children. “We raised an incredible €1,495,” says Feraye Kocaoglu. “That’s twice as much as our fundraising goal.” Kocaoglu works as an administrative assistant for several research labs at the Max Delbrück Center and regularly organizes fundraisers along with Victoria Malchin, who is responsible for site management at MDC-BIMSB. The money raised paid for two groups of schoolkids – one from JFE FAIR and another from the Elisabethstift children’s home – to spend a day at the Gläsernes Labor getting a taste of what it’s like to work in science. The lab days cost €30 per child, but many families can’t afford that. 

The JFE FAIR youth club offers around 200 children a positive space to spend their free time – learning an instrument, acting, making handicrafts, doing sport, or simply completing their homework. Many of the children come from socially disadvantaged families and rarely get the chance to leave their own neighborhood. The Max Delbrück Center has been donating Christmas gifts to the Elisabethstift for many years now, and two years ago it began doing the same for the Humanist Association. When Kocaoglu and Malchin took the gifts to JFE FAIR in person last year they decided they wanted to enable the children to spend a day at the Gläsernes Labor. They therefore organized the fundraising campaign in collaboration with the Society of Friends of the Max Delbrück Center.

Soap bubbles and DNA strands

“We were delighted to receive the invitation,” says Anika Schmidt, director of JFE FAIR. The day out made a great change for the children, she says. Even the train ride from Marzahn to Buch was a big adventure for them. “We got to know another side to the children and gained an impression of what they are like in a school setting.” The younger children, aged six to nine, had lots of fun experimenting with air, water and soap bubbles. One of the highlights of their investigations was the “tornado in a soda bottle.” To create that, course leader Ilona Kurth takes two empty soda bottles, fills one with water, connects the two bottles with a special seal, and places them on the table with the full bottle on top. As the water trickles down, air bubbles rise up, gradually forming a vortex that spins faster and faster until a mini-tornado forms inside the bottle. 

In the meantime, the ten to 14-year-olds were busy with some onions. Under the instruction of Claudia Jacob, head of the Gläsernes Labor, they peered at pieces of onion skin through a microscope and then carefully drew the cells, their brows furrowed in concentration. Next, they swiped a cotton bud on the inside of their cheek, dabbed the moisture on a microscope slide, and carefully examined the results. They didn’t just see spit – they discovered cells from their own mucus membrane. They drew these too and then compared them with the onion cells. Somehow, human cells appear less spectacular than plant cells – no cell wall, no vacuoles, no chloroplasts. But, Jacob assured them, deep inside the cell nucleus, genetic information is lurking – in their own cells and that of the onion. “We will isolate the DNA after the break,” she said. “But to do that we will use a plum.” In that moment Emilio realized they wouldn’t actually be looking at their own DNA, but he was still excited. A career in science seems more appealing than ever before.

Text: Jana Ehrhardt-Joswig

Source: Max Delbrück Center: The thrill of science

Research, Innovation, Patient care / 07.09.2023
"Drivers for Germany's Future Sustainability"

At the UNIPRENEURS award ceremony; from left to right: Anna Christmann, Simone Spuler, Bettina Stark-Watzinger.  © UNIPRENEURS
At the UNIPRENEURS award ceremony; from left to right: Anna Christmann, Simone Spuler, Bettina Stark-Watzinger. © UNIPRENEURS

The UNIPRENEURS Initiative has recognized the entrepreneurial spirit of 20 professors, among them ECRC researcher Simone Spuler. As a co-founder of the startup MyoPax, she is pioneering stem cell technology to develop regenerative therapies for previously incurable muscle diseases.

The UNIPRENEURS Initiative has honored 20 distinguished professors for their dedication to university spin-offs and their entrepreneurial endeavors. These awardees have made significant contributions to the translation of innovations into the business sphere.

Among the honorees is Professor Simone Spuler. In 2022, the scientist, working at the Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), a joint institution of Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Max Delbrück Center, co-founded MyoPax with Dr. Verena Schöwel-Wolf, a medical doctor. MyoPax is committed to developing regenerative therapies aimed at alleviating the effects of previously incurable muscle diseases. Their innovative approach combines cell and gene therapy to restore muscle tissue function.

The awards ceremony took place on September 6, 2023, at the Allianz Forum near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Distinguished guests such as the Federal Minister for Education and Research, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, and Dr. Anna Christmann, Commissioner for Digital Economy and Start-ups at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, commended the honored professors. "We aim to bolster entrepreneurial activities at our universities. Professors play a pivotal role in this endeavor. They significantly contribute to the culture of entrepreneurship in academia and serve as crucial drivers for Germany's innovation and future sustainability," stated Stark-Watzinger.

About UNIPRENEURS

UNIPRENEURS is an initiative dedicated to fostering university spin-offs in Germany. It operates under the patronage of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. In collaboration with partner organizations such as the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft (Donors' Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany), the Startup Association, Bitkom, and AddedVal.io, UNIPRENEURS has established an initiative that recognizes top professors for their outstanding contributions to university spin-offs.

Further information

Source: https://www.mdc-berlin.de/news/news/drivers-germanys-future-sustainability

Research / 05.09.2023
The Max Delbrück Center celebrates 15 years of MDC‑BIMSB

They celebrate 15 years of systems biology at the Max Delbrück Center: MDC-BIMSB PI's and staff on the roof terrace at the Max Delbrück Center's Berlin-Mitte location. (© David Ausserhofer/Max Delbrück Center)
They celebrate 15 years of systems biology at the Max Delbrück Center: MDC-BIMSB PI's and staff on the roof terrace at the Max Delbrück Center's Berlin-Mitte location. (© David Ausserhofer/Max Delbrück Center)

Internationally renowned for pioneering achievements and geared to inter-institutional cooperation: 22 research groups at the Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology in the Max Delbrück Center (MDC-BIMSB) explore how genes regulate life. It is now celebrating its 15th birthday.

Since 2008, the Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology has expanded the profile of the Max Delbrück Center. In the last 15 years, it has become a beacon: with collaborations throughout the world, pioneering technological achievements, and pathbreaking outcomes that trace the changes in individual cells throughout life and thus open up new perspectives in medicine, together with a new building in the heart of Berlin that promotes open, cross-disciplinary and inter-institutional cooperation. What has been created is considered to be in the vanguard of medical systems biology worldwide – and a launching pad for outstanding junior researchers.

The Max Delbrück Center is celebrating this anniversary on September 5th, 2023, together with some 150 invited guests from academia, politics and society. This will be followed on September 6th and 7th by the Berlin Summer Meeting which will feature distinguished speakers, as well as contributions by outstanding alumni.

Foresight regarding the potential of systems biology

“Today, systems biology is considered an essential pillar of precision medicine – you just need to think of cancer. But 15 years ago, many people were still skeptical whether data science and quantitative approaches could yield new insights. Research was supposed to be hypothesis-driven,” says Professor Maike Sander, Scientific Director of the Max Delbrück Center. “The founders of MDC-BIMSB – especially Nikolaus Rajewsky – were willing to challenge existing dogma. They had foresight, recognized the potential. They had a clear vision and developed the right approach to build an excellent program: from the bottom up. The institute became an internationally renowned pioneer in systems medicine which enhanced the visibility of the Max Delbrück Center.”

At the beginning, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Berlin Senate funded the institute as a pilot project under the “Cutting-edge research and innovation in the New Länder” program; just five years later, the federal government made the financing permanent. A building of its own followed in 2019 on the north campus of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, very close to Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and customized to the demands of systems biology. In total, the federal government has provided approximately 250 million euros to this day. The state of Berlin has supported these efforts.

Currently, 22 internationally recruited research groups are active at MDC-BIMSB, creating the basis for the personalized medicine of the future. “Every day, people from completely different backgrounds come together here to innovate and create something new. This concept has been very successful,” reflects Professor Nikolaus Rajewsky, the visionary behind the conception and establishment of the MDC-BIMSB. “The future lies in fostering cooperation between institutions. We want to integrate data science, clinical research, basic research, and venture capital into a unified ecosystem – both within Berlin and on a larger scale together with our international partners. Through this approach, we can enhance our international competitiveness, utilize our resources responsibly, and drive the integration of artificial intelligence into health research.”

The research approach: how genes regulate life  

In the course of its life, a cell repeatedly draws on instructions contained in its genome. It reads them like a book and discovers how it should respond to external influences. Using genome and single-cell biology methods, researchers can observe what they are up to.

For example, scientists take samples of tissue from patients or patient-specific organoids and analyze which cell is in the process of reading which genes, translating them into proteins. This results in huge volumes of data that are evaluated using of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Moreover, the researchers can reconstruct where the cells were located in the tissue – and how the respective cellular neighborhood has influenced them. The origami of the DNA strand within the cell’s nucleus is also crucial to life. Thanks to folding, genes that seem to be far apart in the linear sequence can be neighbors and influence each other.

By precisely investigating the various levels of gene regulation, the scientists want to understand when and why a cell changes from their normal development in the direction of disease and how they can be guided back to a healthy state as soon as possible. When just a few cells in our bodies are affected, we neither experience symptoms nor consequential damage. If a diagnosis can be made at this stage and the disease halted in its tracks, patients could be spared a great deal of suffering. In order to transfer this precision medicine to clinical practice at the earliest possible stage, researchers and clinicians from ten leading Berlin institutions, including the systems biologists at the Max Delbrück Center, are working together to form the Einstein Center for Early Disease Interception. This is also the prelude to the Berlin Cell Hospital.

Researchers at the Max Delbrück Center also build international bridges. In Lisbon, for instance, an institute is currently being established based on the MDC-BIMSB model: the NOVA Institute for Medical Systems Biology (NIMSB). NOVA University and the Max Delbrück Center are jointly establishing NIMSB as a Center of Excellence. To this end, the European Commission has granted funding of 15 million euros; NOVA University has secured an additional 20 million euros from Portugal. The project was inspired by the LifeTime-Initiative which was also coordinated by the Max Delbrück Center.  “We are thrilled about this strategic partnership – and proud to be able to share our experience,” says Professor Ana Pombo who is heading the project together with Dr. Stan Gorski, both of MDC-BIMSB, and Professor António Jacinto of NOVA University. This is yet another reason to celebrate.

Happy 15th birthday wishes

Judith Pirscher, State Secretary at BMBF, says: “In a short time, you have all made MDC-BIMSB into one of the world’s best addresses for medical systems biology. Our ministry has been pleased to provide support. I should like to congratulate you all on your 15th anniversary and your remarkable achievements. We are curious about your new ideas and how you want to continue driving research in the future, in innovative, interdisciplinary and inter-institutional ways – in order to further accelerate translation in biomedicine and recognize, treat and avoid diseases earlier. Go on pursuing this mission enthusiastically.”

Dr. Henry Marx, State Secretary for Science and Research, Berliner Senate, says: “The success of a science hub depends on recognizing and using the opportunities and potential at an early stage, meeting challenges innovatively and generating new ideas for the future. In the last 15 years, MDC-BIMSB has become an indispensable and outstanding place for cutting-edge research in the Berlin life sciences hub. I should, therefore, like to thank everyone who has helped to write this success story and congratulate all the staff most warmly on this 15th anniversary.”

Professor Otmar Wiestler, President of the Helmholtz Association, says: “What has developed here in recent years is nothing short of unique. Here, research follows a clear vision, and, with the Berlin Cell Hospital, a concept has now emerged that will re-define precision medicine. The brightest minds get together at MDC-BIMSB, and all pull together. Moreover, innovation is an integral part of the culture here, the entire enterprise is geared towards it.”

Professor Heyo K. Kroemer, Chair of the Board of Directors at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, says: ““In the last 15 years, MDC-BIMSB has completed a remarkable journey. On behalf of the entire board of Charité, I should like to congratulate you on the achievements of these years. Charité, BIH and MDC-BIMSB are connected by close cooperation that enables us to pool our complementary expertise in order to understand the development and progression of diseases in detail and advance personalized medicine yet further. In the years to come, we hope to keep intensifying our cooperation.”

Professor Christopher Baum, Chair of the Board of Directors at the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH), says: “BIH warmly congratulates MDC-BIMSB on its great success. Together with the Max Delbrück Center and Charité we are dedicating our efforts to analyzing the functions of single cells in complex processes of organ and disease development. Our biggest goal is to discover meaningful biomarkers and specific target structures for therapeutic approaches.”

Additional information

Milestones

Contact

Jana Schlütter 
Editor, Communications
Max Delbrück Center 
+49 (0) 30 9406 2121
jana.schluetter@mdc-berlin.de or presse@mdc-berlin.de 

Research / 23.08.2023
Deficiency in certain brain proteins promotes compulsive behavior

© Claudia Knorr
© Claudia Knorr

Our behavior is controlled through neural circuits in the brain. Molecular disturbances can lead to stereotypical behavior, as seen in neuropsychiatric disorders like obsessive-compulsive and autism spectrum disorders. A research team has now demonstrated that the absence of two proteins, Intersectin1 and Intersectin2, in mice leads to disrupted neural signaling and compulsive repetitive behavior, which is also observed in patients with Intersectin1 mutations. This supports the idea that such defects can cause neuropsychiatric diseases. The study is published in “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences“.

Our brain is essentially our body's computer. Through a complex interplay of various nerve cells in different areas, it controls and regulates all vital functions, such as breathing, how we move and speak, and how we respond to environmental stimuli with specific behavioral patterns. The so-called cortico-striatal circuit, which connects the cortex and striatum, two parts of the cerebrum, plays a key role in guiding goal-directed behavior.
"We already know that human behavioral disorders, in which a specific behavior is compulsively repeated, are associated with this circuit or network," says Professor Dr. Tanja Maritzen, who studies nanophysiology at the University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU). However, much of what happens in this part of the brain at the molecular level remains a mystery to science.

In the current study, the team around Tanja Maritzen closely collaborated with the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Volker Haucke from Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Freie Universität Berlin. The researchers focused on two specific proteins that play a crucial role in this circuit. "Intersectin1 and Intersectin2 are large scaffold proteins that have many interaction sites," says Professor Volker Haucke. "Previous research has shown that their mutation in humans correlates with behavioral abnormalities."

To explore their exact role, the team inhibited the production of these proteins in mice. The results showed that the Intersectin proteins are vital for the organism, as some of the mice died early. A different subset displayed behavioral abnormalities: they stood on their hind legs in the corner and repeatedly jumped up and down. "Such symptoms, where a particular, essentially pointless behavior is compulsively repeated, are also known in neuropsychiatric diseases," Professor Tanja Maritzen notes, citing autism spectrum disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorders as examples.

But what goes wrong at the molecular level? The team specifically looked at the NMDA receptor. "We observed that the absence of the two proteins results in fewer of these receptors at the ends of nerve cells, the synapses," explains Professor Volker Haucke. This is crucial for the transmission of signals from one nerve cell to another. Neurotransmitters, chemical messengers, carry the excitation between cells by binding to receptors. "The Intersectin proteins, as scaffold proteins, are important to stabilize the NMDA receptor at the synapse," he continues.

The deficiency of these proteins isn't solely responsible for the onset of behavioral abnormalities. It is rather one component in a complex molecular system. The study has helped to understand a part of it better, reinforcing the notion that mutations in Intersectin can lead to neurological symptoms. Moreover, the study suggests that the NMDA receptor is a potential candidate for developing drug therapies for neuropsychiatric disorders.

Source:

Dennis Vollweiter, Jasmeet Kaur Shergill, Alexandra Hilse, Gaga Kochlamazashvili, Stefan Paul Koch, Susanne Muelle, Philipp Boehm-Sturm, Volker Haucke, Tanja Maritzen (2023) Intersectin deficiency impairs cortico-striatal neurotransmission and causes obsessive-compulsive behaviors in mice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2304323120

Innovation / 10.08.2023
Eckert & Ziegler Continues Positive Sales Development in the First Half of 2023

Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik AG (ISIN DE0005659700, TecDAX) increased its sales by 10% to € 118.0 million in the first half of 2023. At € 10.9 million or € 0.52 per share, net income was € 3.5 million or 25% lower than in the same period last year. Currency effects in particular reduced the result by around € 2.0 million compared with the previous year. Moreover, increased expenses for future projects in the field of diagnostics and therapy in nuclear medicine had an additional impact.

In the Medical segment, sales in the first half of the year amounted to € 52.6 million, around € 11.1 million or 27% above the previous year's level. Main growth driver continued to be the business with pharmaceutical radioisotopes, with sales of laboratory equipment also continuing to increase.

The Isotope Products segment generated sales of € 65.3 million, € 0.6 million lower than in the first six months of 2022. Almost all main product groups remained stable, however, high-margin sales of radiation sources for applications in the energy sector recorded a weaker first half than in the previous year.

The forecast for the financial year 2023 published on March 30, 2023 remains unchanged. The Executive Board continues to expect sales of just under € 230 million and net income of around € 25 million.

The complete quarterly report can be viewed here:
https://www.ezag.com/fileadmin/user_upload/ezag/investors-financial-reports/englisch/euz223e.pdf

About Eckert & Ziegler.
Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik AG with more than 1.000 employees is a leading specialist for isotope-related components in nuclear medicine and radiation therapy. The company offers a broad range of services and products for the radiopharmaceutical industry, from early development work to contract manufacturing and distribution. Eckert & Ziegler shares (ISIN DE0005659700) are listed in the TecDAX index of Deutsche Börse.
Contributing to saving lives.

Research / 03.08.2023
Sofia Forslund awarded W3 professorship

Photo: Castagnola/MDC
Photo: Castagnola/MDC

On August 1, 2023, Sofia Forslund will take up a W3 Professorship in Applied Microbiology at Charité. She will continue her scientific work at the ECRC, which involves close collaboration with researchers from the Max Delbrück Center and Charité.

The organism and the microbiome always develop together toward health or disease. In her Host-Microbiome Factors in Cardiovascular Disease Lab at the Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), a joint institution of the Max Delbrück Center and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Dr. Sofia Forslund investigates how the diverse array of bacteria in the gut affect our health and vice versa. Forslund previously held a junior professorship at the ECRC. She will take up a W3 professorship at Charité on August 1, where she will have teaching duties in addition to her research activities.

The biochemist and bioinformatician is using high-throughput methods to analyze the individual gut microbiomes of thousands of healthy people, as well as those of people with cardiovascular diseases. The microbiome is the unique mix of bacteria and other microbes inside the intestines. She wants to more accurately characterize the mutual interaction between humans and the microbiome and explore its role in both health and disease. “With this knowledge, we hope to contribute to the development of personalized therapies,” says Forslund.

In an especially surprising finding in 2022, Forslund discovered that drugs affect cardiovascular health via the gut microbiome. It has long been clear that antibiotics not only kill disease-causing organisms, but also destroy beneficial gut bacteria. Forslund’s research has, however, demonstrated that this can lead to cardiometabolic disease and negatively impact disease progression, while also impairing effective treatment. Her work has also shown that other drugs – like beta blockers and diuretics administered together – can positively affect the gut microbiome. In this case, the number of protective gut microbes increases, producing anti-inflammatory effects in the body.

Forslund was among the world’s most highly cited researchers in 2022 and has thus exerted a profound influence in her field. She also wants to leave her mark beyond the realm of science: “I’m proud to have been appointed to this important academic position as a trans person,” she says. “I don’t know how many others have achieved this in Germany – I personally don’t know of anyone else who has.” Forslund wants to use her professorship to advocate not only for more visibility for those whose backgrounds don’t fit the traditional mold – but also for more tolerance and diversity in society.

Text: Stefanie Reinberger

Further information

Research / 31.07.2023
Unravelling the drivers of type 2 diabetes

© Sander Lab, Max Delbrück Center
© Sander Lab, Max Delbrück Center

Using single-cell technologies, Maike Sander and colleagues have observed a shift in the relative abundance of the two subtypes of pancreatic beta cells as type 2 diabetes unfolds. This knowledge could be leveraged to find novel drugs, they report in “Nature Genetics.”

About 537 million people globally had type 2 diabetes in 2021 and the disease burden is only projected to grow. Type 2 diabetes occurs when beta cells, which reside in so-called islets in the pancreas, cannot produce sufficient insulin to ensure the uptake of sugar from the blood into tissue cells after meals. Although there are drugs that stimulate the release of insulin, they frequently fail long-term, and patients eventually must inject insulin.

“We know that our current ways of pharmacologically intervening by stimulating insulin secretion don't lead to long-term reversal of diabetes. It’s like putting your foot on the gas pedal and then keeping it on, and at some point, the beta cells fail,” says professor Maike Sander, scientific director of the Max Delbrück Center. Together with professors Kyle Gaulton, University of California San Diego, and Sebastian Preissl, University of Freiburg, she is a senior author of the study published in “Nature Genetics.”

Scientists are studying the drivers of diabetes to make better drugs. The U.S. National Institutes of Health funded Sander and her collaborators to understand how gene regulation can predispose people to type 2 diabetes. Now, the team has found that a switch in the relative abundance of beta cell subtypes is associated with type 2 diabetes.

A more detailed picture of pancreatic islets

Due to technological limitations, scientists used to study pancreatic islets in bulk to understand disease progression. But this did not give them a detailed picture as islets contain various types of endocrine cells, and even the beta cells have two subtypes with unique functional and gene regulatory profiles. One beta subtype secretes more insulin when exposed to glucose than the other.

Sander and her colleagues harnessed the power of novel single-cell technologies to simultaneously analyze gene regulation and function of individual beta cells and learn how these features change on the path to type 2 diabetes.

The scientists analyzed islet samples from 34 deceased organ donors who were either not diabetic, had pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes. They mapped the gene regulatory changes and then correlated these with changes in beta cell function, which they evaluated by analyzing individual beta cells for their ability to secrete insulin in response to glucose.

They found that in type 2 diabetes, the relative proportion of the two beta cell subtypes was flipped; the subtype that is less common in non-diabetic individuals was more prevalent in people with the disease. “This switch is a hallmark of type 2 diabetes,” Sander says.

“The subtypes did not switch in people with pre-diabetes,” Sander says. “It suggests one already has to have elevated blood glucose levels for the subtype switch to be present.”

They also found an indication that in people who are genetically predisposed to developing type 2 diabetes, there is a higher propensity for the beta cell subtype switch to occur.

Drug screening with organoids

“This feature of diabetes should be studied further as it could potentially be leveraged to develop new drugs,” Sander says. “If one could prevent the subtype switch, could one prevent progression to type 2 diabetes? That is the key question.”

At the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin, her lab is now developing organoids that model pancreatic islets as a screening tool to find drug targets. “This will allow us to conduct screens for genes and drugs and test effects on the ability of beta cells to secrete insulin,” Sander says.

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Further information

Image: Section of a human pancreas stained for insulin in green, the beta cell marker PDX1 in blue, and the ductal cell marker CDX2 in red.

© Sander Lab, Max Delbrück Center

Research / 27.07.2023
Closing cancer cell’s escape route

Prof. Dr. Claus Scheidereit (Photo: Felix Petermann/MDC)
Prof. Dr. Claus Scheidereit (Photo: Felix Petermann/MDC)

Cancer cells are capable of escaping chemotherapy and radiotherapy by activating a signaling pathway that prevents them from dying. Researchers led by Claus Scheidereit at the Max Delbrück Center have now described in Cell Chemical Biology two new compounds that block this escape route.

Chemotherapy and radiotherapy aim to destroy cancer cells by inducing DNA double-strand breaks – damage that, once inflicted, usually causes the cells to die. But damage to a cell’s genetic material also activates a signaling pathway called IKK/NF-κB that helps prevent cell death, thus limiting the success of these treatments in patients.

NF-κB is a family of gene regulators that controls a wide variety of cellular processes – from immune responses to embryonic development – and is activated by the enzyme complex IKK. The IKK/NF-κB signaling pathway cannot simply be blocked, as it performs many vital functions in the body. Researchers led by Professor Claus Scheidereit of the Max Delbrück Center have now succeeded in identifying two lead compounds that inhibit activation of the IKK/NF-κB pathway only when the signaling chain is triggered by DNA double-strand breaks. The team has described how this works in the journal Cell Chemical Biology.

“A pharmacological challenge”

There are two enzymes that trigger the IKK/NF-κB pathway when they sense DNA double-strand breaks: ATM and PARP1. “ATM must not be pharmacologically blocked under any circumstances, as it is essential for biological emergency programs,” says Scheidereit. In the event of DNA damage, he explains, it activates the protein P53, which stops the cell cycle and causes the cells to die. This makes P53 the natural adversary of NF-κB. “PARP1 also performs other important functions in the cell,” Scheidereit continues. “And the regulating kinase complex IKK, which is located at the bottom of the signaling cascade, should also not be blocked directly as it is required for NF-κB activation in many other signaling pathways.” Developing selective NF-κB inhibitors that act only as a result of DNA damage therefore presents “a pharmacological challenge,” the scientist explains.

Together with Dr. Jens Peter von Kries and Dr. Marc Nazaré, respective heads of the Screening Unit and Medicinal Chemistry Group at the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), the team examined 32,000 substances. They eventually zeroed in on two compounds – MW01 and MW05 – that block the signaling pathway only when it is triggered by DNA double-strand breaks.

When they delved deeper to find out exactly what these substances block, the scientists made a surprising discovery: active derivatives of MW01 and MW05 bind to and switch off the kinases CLK2 and CLK4 – which are necessary, they found out, for signal transmission between ATM and IKK. Kinases are enzymes that transfer phosphate groups to other target molecules, thereby controlling these molecules. “CLKs have never before been associated with functions relevant to our signaling chain,” says Patrick Mucka, the study’s lead author. “However, CLK2 is often overexpressed in colorectal and lung cancer, as well as in glioblastoma and breast cancer. So it appears to play an important role in tumorigenesis or cancer progression.”

More promising cancer therapies?

Experiments on osteosarcoma (bone cancer) cells showed that the substances actually make the cells more sensitive to chemotherapy. After a short pretreatment with MW01 or MW05, significantly more cancer cells died during subsequent genotoxic treatment. Scheidereit is hopeful that the CLK inhibitors will show similar effects in further preclinical studies. But although results to date indicate that the inhibitors may increase the success rate of genotoxic cancer therapies, it may be years before CLK inhibitors are clinically approved.

Initial toxicological tests in mice showed that the substances were very well tolerated. “Incidentally, a side effect seems to be that enzymes involved in tumor growth processes beyond the IKK/NF-κB signaling pathway are also inhibited,” Scheidereit says. “This can only be beneficial when used in cancer therapy – a double whammy, so to speak.”

Text: Catarina Pietschmann

Further information

Literature

Patrick Mucka et al. (2023): „CLK2 and CLK4 are regulators of DNA damage-induced NF-κB targeted by novel small molecule inhibitors“, in: Cell Chemical Biology, DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2023.06.027