Technology Transfer

A young Berlin-based company called T-knife is a rising star in Germany’s biotech sector. Co-founder Dr. Elisa Kieback, along with colleagues, has catapulted the joint spin-off from the MDC and Charité to the top of the German biotech start-up universe.

Researchers from the MDC and Charité have developed a new gene therapy based around a special T-cell receptor that helps the immune system effectively recognize and fight cancer cells. The safety of the novel therapy is now being tested on patients with bone marrow cancer in a phase I clinical trial.

With its spin-off support program SPOT, the MDC is giving a helping hand to teams looking to start a company. Three of the most promising projects have now been selected. For our series “We at the MDC” we spoke with Dr. Ingo Curdt, coordinator of the funding program.

Kyle Harrington will lead a new MDC technology platform developing new tools to process any type of imaging data. The new unit will support the Helmholtz Imaging Platform (HIP), a joint effort by the MDC and two other centers to advance image data acquisition, preparation and analysis.

The Berlin biotech start-up T-knife, a spin-off from the MDC together with Charité, has secured investments totaling €66 million. Four venture capital funds committed to the financing in early August. T-knife develops new cancer treatments using modified immune system T cells.

Enabling new applications, learning from one another, linking research fields, harnessing synergies and cumulative experience in imaging processes for all: this is what the new Helmholtz Imaging Platform, coordinated by the MDC, DKFZ and DESY, promises.

Harnessing jumping genes to advance gene-therapy cancer treatment: In an effort to optimize the Sleeping Beauty system, the MDCell – Helmholtz Innovation Lab is extending its collaboration with PlasmidFactory.

Using artificial intelligence to evaluate images of the retina – The jury of the "Deep Berlin Conference" was convinced by the concept of the "Nocturne" spin-off that uses the eye as a window to the human brain.

The research results of the MDC should benefit patients as quickly as possible. With the "Pre-GoBio" programme, the MDC is therefore funding three projects which are particularly promising for medical applications, with a total of 825,000 euros..

Professor Simone Spuler's team has developed a method to isolate muscle stem cells in such a way that they retain their regenerative potential. Dr. Verena Schöwel was awarded the Science4Life prize for her concept of using this technology for patients suffering from muscle diseases.