Technology Transfer

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.

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.

An afternoon marked by innovation: Berlin's Mayor, Kai Wegner, visited the Max Delbrück Center on October 11, 2023, and subsequently inaugurated the BerlinBioCube innovation center on the Buch research campus. The BioCube, in close proximity, provides state-of-the-art laboratories and offices for life science startups and spin-offs, including those from the Max Delbrück Center.

Campus Berlin-Buch has a new incubator for life science start-ups: 8,000 square meters of state-of-the-art laboratory and office space have been built on the Science and Technology Campus. The BerlinBioCube was ceremonially opened on October 11, 2023 in the presence of the Governing Mayor.

The Berlin biotech Glycotope and the Max Delbrück Center have signed an agreement to explore the potential of combining Glycotope’s tumor-specific antibodies with CAR technology developed by the Max Delbrück Center. Their common goal: advancing immunotherapies against solid tumors.

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.

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.

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.

The stem cell therapy developed by MyoPax, a spin-off from the Max Delbrück Center and Charité, could soon be helping children with previously incurable muscle diseases thanks to an accelerated approval process. The necessary clinical trial will start in the fall.

Ten years ago, researchers at the Max Delbrück Center came up with an idea for producing synthetic fatty acids. They launched a spin-off company to develop a drug for inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction. Now the therapeutic agent will be tested in a clinical trial. The BMBF is providing a €2.5 million grant.