CHF 40,000 for startups developing novel therapeutics in oncology, a personalized surgical plan for complex traumas and, making PCR technology accessible to more scientists

ABOLOGIX: increasing overall survival of lymphoma patients

B-cell lymphocytes play a critical role in the fight against infections and cancer. But these cells can become cancerous and transform into white blood cell cancers called lymphomas, leading, in many cases, to death. Most available therapies show efficacy in the early stages of treatment. Unfortunately, patients usually become resistant to these therapies and eventually die.
ABOLOGIX, a biopharmaceutical company based in Geneva and spin-out from the laboratories at the University of Geneva, is developing a new therapeutic option to serve lymphoma patients. The founders of the company are Dr. Ignacio Faus, a successful entrepreneur with more than 20 years of management experience in the pharma and biotech industries, Dr. Beat Imhof, Professor at the University of Geneva, the leading expert in the field of JAM-C biochemistry/immunology, and Dr. Thomas Matthes, a physician at the University of Geneva Hospitals with a specialty in hematological cancers. The company´s lead program is a monoclonal antibody (code-named H-225) for the treatment of several sub-types of non-Hodgkin´s lymphoma (NHL), specifically Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL), a disease of very poor prognosis. H-225 blocks the function of JAM-C, a cell adhesion molecule involved in the transmigration of lymphocytes out of the tissues and into the bloodstream. In preclinical in vivo animal models ABOLOGIX has shown that treatment with H-225 leads to a dramatic increase in overall survival. The next steps are the humanization of H-225 (in progress) and testing the potential of the molecule in Phase I/IIa clinical trials. They then intend to license/sell H-225 to a large pharma company for further development and commercialization. The expected market potential in 2024 for the treatment of drug-resistant blood cancers is of the order of 20 billion USD.
The Venture Kick funds will first be used for a market research study and to refine and improve the development plan of the molecule. venturekick.ch/abologix

 

CustomSurg: Personalized solutions in complex trauma surgery

Bone fractures involving a joint are complex in nature, causing difficult and time-consuming procedures for treating orthopedic surgeons with several hours of occupation of the operating room.
CustomSurg, developed by co-inventors Dr. sc. Thomas Zumbrunn (ETH Zurich), Dr. med. Arvind von Keudell (Harvard Medical School), and commercial strategist Valentin Splett, optimizes complex bone reconstruction and could significantly reduce the duration of surgery. CustomSurg provides personalized solutions in complex trauma surgery, based on a proprietary process. They propose biomechanical optimization of surgical planning as well as implant and instrument design, based on case-specific fracture patterns. This could improve patient outcomes through better fracture stability and reduced impact (invasiveness) during surgery. The product-service bundle, consisting of a personalized surgical plan together with patient-specific implants and instrument design, is sold to hospitals and surgeons via a made-to-order model. The use of this technology could improve quality of life for 400’000 annual trauma patients, capturing part of a $1.2 billion market. They now have an existing implant prototype that was designed using the basic version of the simulation. A patent application is in submission through ETH transfer.
The funds from stage one will be used for in-depth quantitative market research through a larger number of surveys with surgeons and hospital administrators. venturekick.ch/customsurg