Success Stories

Cambrium GmbH

Materials of the future: A vegan collagen

The start-up Cambrium produces new materials using biotechnology. Its first product is a vegan collagen.

Cambrium was founded three years ago by Mitchell Duffy and Charly Cotton, with Merantix as the main investor. What is special about your start-up and what is its mission?

Cambrium brings together computer science and biology. We want to replace petroleum- or animal-based materials with more sustainable, biodegradable options. Using recombinant proteins, we create materials that are at least as efficient as their role models. Computer science helps us to sift through the "tree of life of biology" to identify the most promising protein combinations for our further work in the laboratory.
Our first product offers an alternative to conventional collagen, which is mainly obtained from cattle. For biotechnological production, we use yeast strains that we design to produce exactly the desired proteins. The yeasts grow on glycerol, a naturally occurring sugar alcohol, or comparable feedstuffs. Our technology uses less energy, land and water.

Your first product is the vegan collagen NovaColl™. How good is it and what is the response?

NovaColl (TM) is a micro-molecular and 100 percent skin-identical collagen. Due to its structure and small molecular size, it can be better absorbed by the different skin layers compared to conventional collagens.
Over the course of two years, we have examined millions of protein sequences for skin-active properties and indicators of efficacy, and developed and scaled up the manufacturing process. The efficacy and safety of NovaColl (TM) has been scientifically validated. In spring, we successfully presented NovaColl (TM) at industry trade fairs in Barcelona and New York.

Read the Interview with Lucile Bonnin, Head of Research & Development (German version only)

PROSION Therapeutics

Preventing cancer cells from migrating

Preventing cancer cells from migrating: PROSION Therapeutics is developing a completely new class of active substances for oncology. The approach of the start-up based on the Berlin-Buch campus and in Cologne makes it possible for the first time to prevent specific proline-mediated protein interactions within cells. These interactions are involved in many disease-relevant processes such as tumor metastasis, Alzheimer's or infectious diseases and were previously considered unaddressable. PROSION has already shown in preclinical studies on triple-negative breast cancer and pancreatic cancer that the technology significantly inhibits cancer progression.
PROSION is a spin-off of the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) in Berlin and the University of Cologne.

Read the interview with co-founder and CEO Slim Chiha about the groundbreaking therapeutic innovation that PROSION is driving forward: https://lnkd.in/eEdkQAXW

The Interview was first published in buchinside 1/2023.

T-knife

Targeted detection of tumor cells

The human immune system is trained to distinguish between “self” and “non-self” and to destroy foreign structures. By means of anchor molecules (receptors) of T cells, it recognizes antigens of bacteria or viruses and thus can target and destroy such invaders. Cancer cells, however, are the body’s own cells, which is why the immune system does not mount an attack but instead tolerates them. A research team led by Professor Thomas Blankenstein has now succeeded in genetically altering human T cells so that their receptors can specifically track and destroy certain tumor cells. More than ten years of research have thus been crowned with success. The start-up T-knife is now developing one of the first T cell receptor gene therapies in Germany on the Berlin-Buch campus using this technology.

Lesen Sie mehr zur Bucher Erfolgsgeschichte

Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG: IsoSeed ®

Targeted, gentle treatment of prostate cancer

Targeted, gentle treatment of prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in men. In Europe alone there are approximately 135,000 new cases annually. Brachytherapy has proved to be a highly effective and very gentle form of treatment for early-stage prostate cancer. Using a needle, millimeter-sized, low-level radioactive implants (seeds) are placed in a targeted area of the prostate. They provide optimal dose distribution in the irradiated tissue with minimal adverse effects on the surrounding organs.
LDR brachytherapy is highly effective, well tolerated, and is characterized by a short treatment time and a relatively fast physical recovery. LDR brachytherapy with medical products from Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG as IsoSeed® (individual seeds) or IsoCord® (seed chains) has been successfully performed in clinical practice for more than ten years.
Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG is the European leader in the field of permanent seed implantation and the world’s only provider of the complete range of brachytherapy products.

 

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