Press releases

Friday August 30th, 2024
LDC – erfolgreich unter dem Radar
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LDC – erfolgreich unter dem Radar

Das einst von der Max-Planck-Innovation gegründete Lead Discovery Center (LDC) agiert als Wirkstoff zentrum wie ein wichtiger Brückenbauer zwischen Akademie und Industrie. | transkript sprach mit Langzeit-CEO Bert Klebl über die Wirkstoff – forschung in Zeiten von Künstlicher Intelligenz und wenig Geld.

Tuesday May 14th, 2024
Icosagen and Lead Discovery Center Announce Collaboration to Discover Novel Monoclonal Antibodies
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Icosagen and Lead Discovery Center Announce Collaboration to Discover Novel Monoclonal Antibodies


Tartu, Estonia – May 14th, 2024. Icosagen, a CRDMO with expertise in innovative antibody research and production, announces a strategic partnership on selected projects with Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC), a translational drug discovery organization tapping on a broad network in academia and industry. This alliance is focused on the discovery of monoclonal antibody portfolios targeting therapeutically relevant proteins, including a pivotal G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR), which are often challenging to address.

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Scope of Collaboration

Antibody-based inhibitors have gained  relevance in the field of drug discovery due to their exceptional affinity, selectivity and physicochemical properties. Within this collaboration, Icosagen will generate, identify, and discover potent antibodies against innovative and therapeutically relevant targets, supplying them to LDC for further development.

Utilizing its proprietary technology, Icosagen will produce the proteins of interest and enhance their display on the surface of virus-like particles, which serve as vehicles for the production of antibodies with affinity for the targets. Subsequently, an extensive library will be established to facilitate the selection of high-affinity monoclonal antibodies, which will undergo further analysis at LDC through a streamlined process of high-throughput screening. This partnership highlights Icosagen’s capability to scale its proprietary platforms and synergize effectively with LDC’s workflow.

“Partnering with LDC will further help expand the opportunities for antibody therapeutics, especially in the challenging field of GPCR-targeted treatments” said professor Mart Ustav, CEO of Icosagen. “This will not only highlight our technological expertise but also perfectly aligns with our mission to transform scientific discoveries into life-changing treatments.”

“We are excited to partner up with Icosagen, a competent and highly experienced player in the field of antibody research” remarked Bert Klebl, CEO and CSO of LDC. “This project will greatly benefit from Icosagen’s expertise and state-of-the-art capabilities as we pursue our shared goal: the development of novel therapeutics that can make a meaningful difference in healthcare.”

Future Prospects

LDC takes on promising early-stage projects from academia and transforms them into innovative pharmaceutical leads and antibodies that reach initial proof-of-concept in animals as well as candidate nomination. In close collaboration with high-profile partners from research and industry, LDC is building a strong and growing portfolio of small molecule and antibody leads with exceptional medical and commercial potential. The partnership between Icosagen and LDC holds promise in advancing targeted therapeutics, with the potential to revolutionize treatment approaches and improve outcomes for patients worldwide. The successful development of these monoclonal antibodies is anticipated to significantly advance the understanding and treatment of diseases.

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About Icosagen

Icosagen is a renowned biotech company with over 20 years of experience in pioneering antibody research and production. With a strong commitment to innovation, Icosagen has developed a range of proprietary platforms for the efficient discovery, development and manufacturing of high-quality antibodies, serving the global research community and pharmaceutical industry.

Further information available at: www.icosagen.com

About LDC

Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC) was established in 2008 by the technology transfer organization Max Planck Innovation, as a novel approach to capitalize on the potential of excellent basic research for the discovery of new therapies for diseases with high medical need. LDC takes on promising early-stage projects from academia and transforms them into innovative pharmaceutical leads and antibodies that reach initial proof-of-concept in animals as well as candidate nomination. In close collaboration with high-profile partners from research and industry, LDC is building a strong and growing portfolio of small molecule and antibody leads with exceptional medical and commercial potential.

LDC sustains a long-term partnership with the Max Planck Society and its institutes as well as with KHAN-I, and has formed alliances with AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck KGaA, Daiichi Sankyo, Qurient, InvIOS, Novo Nordisk, Cumulus Oncology, Nodus Oncology, JT Pharmaceuticals, KinSea Lead Discovery AS, HLB Pharma, the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, e.g. In addition, LDC also works with leading translational drug discovery centers and with various investors to provide its assets for company creation.

Further information available at: www.lead-discovery.de

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Contact:

Lead Discovery Center GmbH
Otto-Hahn-Straße 15
44227 Dortmund, Germany
pr@lead-discovery.de
www.lead-discovery.de

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Thursday April 25th, 2024
Norwegian Start-up KinSea Announces First Closing of Seed Financing
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Norwegian Start-up KinSea Announces First Closing of Seed Financing
  • Equity investments from KHAN Technology Transfer Fund I and Berners AS
  • Funds will be used to further advance KinSea’s lead program, a highly differentiated FLT3 kinase inhibitor for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), including hard-to-treat, drug-induced, and drug-resistant mutations
  • This capital increase supports KinSea’s strategy to unlock the potential of marine bioactives for the treatment of cancer and other diseases with significant unmet medical needs
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Tromsø, Norway, and Dortmund, Germany – April 25th, 2024. KinSea Lead Discovery AS, a biopharmaceutical start-up pioneering the use of marine bioactives for the treatment of human diseases, announces the successful first closing of its seed financing round. It includes an equity investment from KHAN Technology Transfer Fund I GmbH & Co KG (KHAN-I), an early-stage life sciences venture fund based in Germany, and welcomes the new investor Berners AS, a North Norwegian investment company. A year ago, KinSea had already secured a convertible loan from KHAN-I, which was recently converted into shares.

The financing enables the company to further develop its lead program, a FLT3 kinase inhibitor based on unique chemistry from marine sources, towards preclinical and clinical testing. Data from in vivo proof-of-concept studies suggest superior properties over existing FLT3 inhibitors, including potential broad activity against known drug-induced and drug-resistant FLT3 mutations, improved selectivity, and outstanding in vivo potency. The program originates from the successful collaboration of the founding partners, Arctic University of Norway (UiT), University of Bergen (UiB), Norinnova, and Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC).

‘We are grateful for the continued confidence and support from KHAN-I, and delighted to welcome Berners AS on board’, says Jeanette Hammer Andersen, CEO of KinSea. ‘This first closing validates the transformative potential of our approach. We are very committed to take our FLT3 inhibitors through the next stages of drug discovery and development in order to provide entirely new treatment options for AML patients that are safer and more effective’.

KinSea also plans to gradually expand its drug discovery pipeline and establish a diversified portfolio of high-potential drug candidates based on novel chemical scaffolds from the Arctic Ocean for the treatment of cancer and other diseases.

‘We are excited to reaffirm our commitment to KinSea and its groundbreaking work in the field of marine-derived therapeutics. The team has made significant progress over the last year, and we are convinced that their unique approach and capable team will continue to drive the maturation and expansion of their pipeline, and eventually make a meaningful impact on patients’ lives, in particular with regard to urgently needed, improved therapies for AML patients’, comments Bert Klebl, Managing Director of KHAN-I.

Mats Sæverud, CEO of Berners AS, adds: ‘In KinSea, we found an ambitious startup company that wants to make an important impact by employing natural products from the Arctic Ocean. The KinSea team has bold visions, scalable solutions, excellent expertise and skills, and fits well with Berners´ ambitions.’

KinSea has already started discussions with further investors for a second and final closing.

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Contact
Lead Discovery Center GmbH
Otto-Hahn-Straße 15
44227 Dortmund
Germany
Phone: +49 231 97 42 70 00
Mail: pr@lead-discovery.de

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About KHAN-I

KHAN Technology Transfer Fund I GmbH & Co KG (KHAN-I) is an early-stage life sciences venture fund with €70 million under management. Our mission is to create value through cooperative drug development partnerships with academic innovators in Europe. KHAN-I focuses on first-in-class therapies for attractive markets with a high unmet medical need. The fund is managed by Khanu Management GmbH, an experienced team of professionals with proven track records in early-stage drug development and academic spin-offs as well as pharma licensing and partnering. KHAN-I received an investment from the European Investment Fund (EIF) with the support of InnovFin Equity, and with the financial backing of the European Union under Horizon 2020 Financial Instruments and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (“EFSI”) under the Investment Plan for Europe. KHANI is also supported by Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH (AWS with funds provided by the Austrian

Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs and the Austrian Foundation for Research, Technology, and Development), Max Planck Foundation, and Thyssen’sche Handelsgesellschaft mbH. In addition, KHAN-I sustains a preferred partnership with the Max-Planck Society (Max-Planck Gesellschaft e.V.).

Further information at www.khanu.de

About Berners AS

Berners AS is a newly established, privately owned investment company, based in Tromsø, Norway. Through investments and active ownership, Berners will contribute to the development of profitable and sustainable businesses, especially within the seafood and marine sector. We aim to be a supporter of the development of brands and competence clusters in Northern Norway. Our investment strategy is based on our knowledge and love for the coast and the sea, and the opportunities that exist there. Berners is owned by Triko AS (80%) and Larren Invest AS (20%).

About Norinnova

Norinnova is one of Northern Norway’s most competent and experienced agencies for research commercialization. Norinnova connects researchers, start-up environments, companies and commercial actors to develop and utilize the region’s innovation power. For more than 30 years, Norinnova has worked closely with researchers and leading research communities in Northern Norway to harness the power of innovation in this region. This collaboration has contributed to the creation of brand-new businesses and has reinforced existing companies through new products and services. Norinnova secures rights, helps provide funding, investigates market potential, finds relevant partners, and contributes so that the scientists can get their product or service to the market.

Further information available at: www.norinnova.no

About LDC

Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC) was established in 2008 by the technology transfer organization Max Planck Innovation, as a novel approach to capitalize on the potential of excellent basic research for the discovery of new therapies for diseases with high medical need. LDC takes on promising early-stage projects from academia and transforms them into innovative pharmaceutical leads and antibodies that reach initial proof-of-concept in animals as well as candidate nomination. In close collaboration with high-profile partners from research and industry, LDC is building a strong and growing portfolio of small molecule and antibody leads with exceptional medical and commercial potential.

LDC sustains a long-term partnership with the Max Planck Society and its institutes as well as with KHAN-I, and has formed alliances with AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck KGaA, Daiichi Sankyo, Qurient, InvIOS, Novo Nordisk, Cumulus Oncology, Nodus Oncology, JT Pharmaceuticals, KinSea Lead Discovery AS, HLB Pharma, the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, e.g. In addition, LDC also works with leading translational drug discovery centers and with various investors to provide its assets for company creation.

Further information available at: www.lead-discovery.de

Thursday September 20th, 2012
Anti-Cancer Project Originating from LDC Reaches Next Milestone
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Anti-Cancer Project Originating from LDC Reaches Next Milestone

An innovative kinase inhibitor program originating from LDC licensed to Bayer Pharma AG, Germany (Bayer) last year, has reached an important transition milestone. Bayer has successfully advanced this kinase inhibitor program into pre-clinical development with the goal of eventually advancing this candidate into oncology clinical development.

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Dortmund, September 20, 2012 – The Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC) announces today that an innovative kinase inhibitor program licensed to Bayer Pharma AG, Germany (Bayer) last year, has reached an important transition milestone. Bayer has successfully advanced this kinase inhibitor program into pre-clinical development with the goal of eventually advancing this candidate into oncology clinical development. Protein kinases are key components of cellular signaling pathways that control tumor cell growth, metabolism and metastasis. They have therefore become prime targets for oncology drug discovery and clinical development.

According to the partners’ agreement, the LDC will receive a predefined payment upon the attainment of this milestone. Milestone payments to LDC may aggregate to 82.5 million Euros in development milestones and 55 million Euros in sales milestones. In addition, LDC is eligible to receive royalty payments on net sales of products once marketed.

LDC will share the revenues with its academic partners at the Westfälische Wilhelms-University of Münster, the Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg as well as the Max-Planck-Förderstiftung. In close collaboration with these partners, the LDC has initially discovered and developed the kinase inhibitors up to the stage of pharmaceutical leads according to industry standards.

“The LDC contributes to the decisive steps that enable a smooth transition of academic innovation into industrial drug development, as we are seeing now with Bayer”, Dr Bert Klebl, Managing Director of the LDC, points out. “The rapid achievement of this first milestone by our industry partner Bayer confirms our approach and the high quality of the kinase inhibitor lead structure program our teams and academic partners have delivered.” Dr Dieter Link, licensing manager at the LDC’s parent company Max Planck Innovation, adds: “The project has now cleared a hurdle at which well over 50% of academic projects fail. This is even more encouraging for us than the ‘mere’ closing of the licensing deal.”

About the Kinase Inhibitor Program

The licensed program belongs to a series of novel and highly selective kinase inhibitor compounds that have initially been developed by LDC in a project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Max-Planck-Förderstiftung. This project emerged from a collaboration of LDC with research groups from the Westfälische Wilhelms-University of Münster (Prof Dr Michael Meisterernst) and the Max-Planck-Institute for Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg (Dr Gerhard Mittler).

About Lead Discovery Center GmbH

The Lead Discovery Center (LDC), a spin-off company of Max Planck Innovation, was established a novel approach to capitalize on the potential of excellent basic research for the discovery of new therapies for diseases with high medical need.

With a world-class team of interdisciplinary scientists, drug discovery experts, pharmacologists and seasoned project managers, the LDC takes on promising early-stage projects from academia and transforms them into innovative pharmaceutical leads that reach initial proof-of-concept in animals.

In close collaboration with high-profile partners from academia and industry, the LDC is building a strong and further growing portfolio of small molecule leads with exceptional medical and commercial potential. In addition to the kinase inhibitor program licensed to Bayer Pharma AG, the LDC has established a diverse portfolio of highly innovative projects currently comprising over 15 small molecules at various stages of drug discovery. Target indications of these LDC molecules cover a broad range of diseases including cancer, inflammation, infection and metabolic, neurological or neurodegenerative diseases.

Find more information at: www.lead-discovery.de

About Max Planck Innovation

Max Planck Innovation (MI) is the technology transfer organization for the renowned Max-Planck-Society (MPG), Germany´s largest basic research organization and has established the LDC in 2008. MI markets patents and technologies to industry and advises scientists to establish new companies based on research results, emerging from the more than eighty different Max-Planck-Institutes spread throughout Germany.

Contact

Thomas Hegendörfer
T. +49.231.97 42 70 02
E. hegendoerfer@lead-discovery.de

Lead Discovery Center GmbH
Otto-Hahn-Straße 15
44227 Dortmund
Germany