Technology Transfer

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.

While CAR-T cells have proven successful in treating certain types of leukemia and lymphoma, these immunotherapies can become even more effective. A clinical trial run by Charité and the Max Delbrück Center has been awarded a grant of several million euros to test a new approach.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers have been working on mucosal vaccines that can be administered through the nose. Now, scientists in Berlin have developed a live attenuated vaccine for the nose. In “Nature Microbiology”, they describe the special immune protection it induces.

The Max Delbrück Center wants to shape the future of medicine through innovation. But turning basic research into marketable products requires gaps to be bridged. This is achieved by the Technology Transfer Office – through funding schemes such as BOOST and Pre-GoBio. The winning projects for 2023 have now been selected.

It takes great patience and perseverance to turn research findings into new technologies or therapies. The Helmholtz Initiative and Networking Fund gives financial support to “pathfinder projects” that are particularly promising. Researchers at the Max Delbrück Center have now won grants for three projects.

MyoPax develops regenerative therapies for previously incurable muscle diseases. An interview with co-founders Prof. Simone Spuler and Dr. Verena Schöwel-Wolf, now board member and CEO respectively