EIC Transition: Three projects awarded in previous round

We are pleased to announce the success of three of our clients in the previous September 2022 round of the EIC Transition. Oxcia (Sweden), the University of Pavia (Italy), and Vector Biosciences Cambridge (UK), were all awarded their projects under the EIC Transition Open and Challenges Calls. Catalyze is proud to have supported these successful submissions to the Transition program. You can read more about these highly innovative projects below.

EIC Transition winners

Oxcia: Aiming for the first disease modifying therapy for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Oxcia is building a global Swedish-based pharmaceutical company, through cutting-edge science, providing life-changing treatments for patients suffering from cancer, inflammation or fibrosis. Oxcia’s drug candidates target oxidative stress and DNA damage response. The recently awarded EIC Transition Open project, TOPFIBRO, aims at developing Oxcia’s drug candidate, OXC-201, to target OGG1 in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis – a progressive lung disease with no satisfying therapies. OXC-201 targets the profibrotic and proinflammatory cascades at an early stage on a transcriptional level, and has potential to efficiently prevent lung damage, creating a window for restorative processes to repair scar tissue. Through their EIC Transition project TOPFIBRO, Oxcia can develop OXC-201 through proof-of-concept up to first-in-human clinical studies. Oxcia could potentially deliver a novel and groundbreaking approach for treatment to patients of the disease, with the end goal of bringing OXC-201 to market.

VIsit Oxcia website

SILKink: revolutionary silk-based biocompatible hydrogel

Led by the University of Pavia (UNIPV), the EIC Transition Open project, SILKink, will develop a revolutionary silk-based biocompatible hydrogel, i.e., a bioink. This will be used for 3D printing of ex vivo bone marrow models for robust culture of human stem cells. The project answers a large unmet need for reproducible solutions that mimic the soft tissue of the bone marrow. Use of silk as the basis for novel bioinks helps to recreate tailored bone marrow-like microenvironments suitable for new applications in drug development and personalized medicine for bone marrow diseases.

In SILKink, UNIPV, together with partner CELLINK will build on the SILKink prototype developed during the previous FET Open project, SilkFUSION. Catalyze Group joins the project as a partner bringing commercial expertise to develop an optimal market access strategy for SILKink, and assist UNIPV in founding a spin-off company to commercialize SILKink and make it investment-ready. UNIPV will be responsible for SILKink optimization, manufacturing, and validation, while CELLINK will be involved in product optimization and responsible for product development.

Visit UNIPV group website

Vector Bioscience Cambridge: nanoparticle drug delivery

Founded in 2021 based on 15+ years of research at University of Cambridge, Vector Bioscience Cambridge are developing nanoparticle drug delivery systems with the potential to drastically improve efficacy and safety of different therapies. To achieve this, Vector use metal-organic frameworks – nanomaterials able to house virtually any therapeutic payload and use industry-standard technologies to modify the delivery profile. Thus the technology platform has huge potential to ultimately become a universal solution for drug delivery. In the GENERA project, Vector answers the Transition Challenge call for novel RNA delivery methods and therapies. The project will deploy short interfering RNA (siRNA) for treatment of hard-to-treat cancer types, starting with pancreatic cancer.

Visit Vector website

EIC Transition: Further reading

• EIC Transition guide: Download our comprehensive guide to EIC Transition. Our Innovation Consultants have shared key insights from our experiences with the programme so far. 
• EIC Transition project: Pacingcure: Amsterdam UMC spin-off PacingCure develops platform gene transfer technologies for the heart. 
• EIC Transition programme summary