TETTRIS – a new vision for European taxonomy

Transforming European Taxonomy through Training, Research, and Innovations (TETTRIs), is a Horizon Europe project advancing the field of taxonomy and beyond, with a consortium comprised of 17 institutions from 13 European countries, including research institutions (such as natural history and natural science museums, and botanical gardens) and other biodiversity-related organizations (such as Catalogue of Life,…

Sonohaler: improving treatment of respiratory diseases

Sonohaler is a digital health company headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, focused on improving treatment of respiratory diseases with innovative, affordable solutions that are simple to use. In 2022 they were awarded €814K for their project, SMART-HALE, from Eurostars. We spoke with Ash Pradhan, Sonohaler CEO, about their mission, SMART-HALE, and the collaboration with Catalyze. Developing…

3D-Brain Developing a bio-digital twin model of the human brain

The EIC Pathfinder Open project ‘3D-BrAIn’ aims to revolutionize personalized precision medicine for central nervous system (CNS) disorders through development of a bio-digital twin model of the human brain. The project combines breakthrough human brain modelling technology, state-of-the-art 3D multi-electrode array technology, and a novel data analytical approach using tailored biology-inspired automated artificial intelligence (AI)-based…

EIC Transition: PacingCure developing a biological pacemaker

Amsterdam UMC spin-off PacingCure develops platform gene transfer technologies for the heart. In the first cut-off of 2022 their project, TRACTION, was awarded the prestigious Transition grant from the European Innovation Council (EIC). TRACTION aims to establish Proof-of-Concept for BradyTx-01 – a novel gene therapy medicinal product (GTMP) for the curative treatment of life-threatening cardiac…

TargED Biopharmaceuticals: Developing the first targeted clot busting therapy

Established in 2020, TargED Biopharmaceuticals B.V. (NL) is on a mission to accelerate thrombolysis in all forms of thrombosis – the phenomenon of blood clots blocking veins or arteries. Their lead compound, Microlyse, offers targeted and local breakdown of blood clots. Since 2020, Catalyze has collaborated on a number of successful projects with TargED, including…

ERC Starting Grant: Kai Kretzschmar’s €1.77M award to study oral cancer

Approaching the 7-year post-PhD cut-off date for applications to the ERC Starting Grant, Dr. Kai Kretzschmar of the Mildred Scheel Early Career Centre for Cancer Research, a funding initiative of the German Cancer Aid at the University Hospital Würzburg, was awarded almost €1.77 million for his project, OralNiche. The project aims to dissect the impact…

ENPICOM: Addressing major hurdles in the antibody discovery process

ENPICOM’s Innovatiekrediet project, “Antibody development module for immunerepertoire sequencing analysis platform”, commenced in 2020 after securing a €500K contribution from Innovatiekrediet towards the €1.2M project costs. In the project, ENPICOM leveraged their cloud software solution, the IGX Platform, to build an Antibody Discovery Module (ADM), in order to address major hurdles in the antibody discovery…

hDMT INFRA: infrastructure to bring human organ and disease models closer to application

Driven by the success of the hDMT (Institute for human organ and Disease Model Technologies) consortium, the new not-for-profit infrastructure, hDMT INFRA, is making microphysiological systems (MPS) technology available to users, and ready for (end-) user applications. This will facilitate and boost the adoption and implementation of real-world applications of MPS-based models. Catalyze supported hDMT…

Achilles Therapeutics: Biomanufacturing platform for personalized autologous T cell therapies

Achilles Therapeutics (UK) is pushing the frontier of personalized adoptive T cell therapies. In the first round of the 2022 EIC Pathfinder program, an Achilles-led consortium was awarded €4 million from the “Emerging technologies in cell & gene therapy” Challenge, to develop a proof-of-concept, first-in-class, smart bioprocessing manufacturing platform. We spoke with Dr Gioia Cherubini,…

LMNAcardiac.org: connecting the field to find a cure for LMNA cardiac disease

LMNAcardiac.org is a new network for experts and patients focussed on LMNA cardiac diseases, with the aim of accelerating research and development to find effective treatments. The disease is caused by mutations in the LMNA gene, and is characterized by a high rate of major cardiac events caused by impaired contraction of the heart. Catalyze completed a…