5 November 2014, Munich – Berlin Cures is the first joint spin-off to be launched by the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité) and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch. The company is developing a new aptamer-based causal treatment for heart failure. Ascenion, the technology transfer partner of both institutes, has negotiated the licensing and investment agreements, thereby acquiring shares in Berlin Cures.
Chronic heart failure affects around 1.8 million people in Germany alone, with 200,000 to 300,000 new cases each year. As shown by scientists at the MDC and the Charité during many years of research, certain antibodies are often implicated in the development of the disease. These autoantibodies are detectable in the blood of around 70% of patients. They bind to ß1-adrenergic receptors on heart cells that are usually stimulated by adrenalin in order to raise the heartbeat as required – for example during sport or in stressful situations. In contrast to adrenalin, which only stimulates heart muscle when physiologically required, the autoantibodies stimulate heart activity continually – completely independently of the actual requirement. This eventually damages heart muscle, the quality of life of those affected is reduced, and the risk of cardiac arrest rises significantly.
Berlin Cures’ new therapy targets exactly this mechanism: the aptamer binds the autoantibody rapidly and highly specifically and removes it from the blood stream. It was previously demonstrated that elimination of the autoantibody leads to a long-term improvement in patient health. However, this involved a blood washing procedure that, due to its cost and complexity, can only be used in a few patients.
‘Administering the aptamer is far simpler and more elegant,’ says Dr Johannes Müller, co-founder and CEO of Berlin Cures. Furthermore, we know from clinical trials in which the same aptamer was used, but in a completely different context, that it is very well tolerated. This makes our project all the more promising and exciting.’
The start-up has been able to secure financing from the Swiss company Minerva Partners AG, and has been founded under Swiss law with a subsidiary GmbH in Berlin that conducts the research and development and coordinates the drug approval process.
‘Thanks to the close cooperation with Minerva Partners and our partners at the Charité and the MDC we have been able to structure and complete the licensing and investment agreements in a remarkably short time,’ says Dr Christian Stein, CEO of Ascenion. ‘It would be of huge benefit to a large number of people if Berlin Cures’ approach is confirmed in clinical practice, not least because of its potential application to other disease areas.’
Use of the aptamer is also conceivable in diseases where autoantibodies to G-protein-coupled receptors play a role – for example in certain lung and neurological diseases.
Berlin Cures plans to extend its team by the end of the year, in order to press ahead with preclinical development. Phase I/IIa clinical trials are expected to begin mid-2015. ###
For Ascenion:
Dr Susanne Letzelter
T: +49 89 318814-16
E: <link mail>letzelter@ascenion.de
For Berlin Cures:
Dr Johannes Müller
T: +49 172 310 312 5
E: <link mail>jmueller@berlincures.de
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About Berlin Cures
Berlin Cures GmbH is a spin-off company founded in September 2014 in order to bring a successful research project to the market. A group of scientists from the Max Delbrück Center (MDC), the Charité Berlin and the German Heart Institute Berlin has been studying the significance of autoantibodies in heart disease and other autoimmune diseases for over 10 years. Gerd Wallukat from the MDC discovered these autoantibodies and described them for the first time in 1987. They have the special characteristic of stimulating cells via a highly specific signal pathway (so-called G-protein-coupled receptors) thereby sending pathological information and activating the cells in such a way that leads to long-term organ damage. The researchers have now found a drug (an aptamer) that can neutralize these autoantibodies in the patient’s blood. The scientists will continue their work at Berlin Cures, using their expertise to support the drug approval process and to identify further diseases that are induced or maintained by autoantibodies. The idea of binding autoantibodies with a highly specific aptamer is protected by two patents exclusively licensed to Berlin Cures for commercial exploitation. Berlin Cures is headed by a CEO with both industrial and extensive clinical experience.
About Ascenion
Ascenion GmbH is an IP asset management company with particular expertise in the life sciences. Ascenion advises and supports public research institutions with regard to the protection and exploitation of their intellectual property (patents, know-how, materials), and initiates and mediates license agreements between research institutions and industry. The company places particular emphasis on coaching company founders and on active equity management. Ascenion was founded in 2001 as a 100% subsidiary of the LifeScience Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Research and is exclusive technology transfer partner of 23 research institutes in the Helmholtz and Leibniz Associations, as well as of the Charité, the Hannover Medical School, the research institute TWINCORE and the Universität zu Lübeck. Ascenion currently markets around 750 technologies on behalf of these institutes, and closes an average of about 80 revenue-generating agreements between research and industry per year. The team has also coached numerous spin-offs through their foundation and early growth and Ascenion holds equity in 27 of these companies. Ascenion’s headquarters are in Munich, with further offices in Berlin, Braunschweig, Hamburg, Hanover and Neuherberg.
Further information at <link http: www.ascenion.de _blank>www.ascenion.de
