Okomera specializes in automated 3D organoid screening technology that accelerates access to improved, precision-based cancer therapies. Their goal is to advance personalized medicine by providing healthcare actors with powerful tools to analyze how tumors respond to various therapies.
Okomera integrates standard assays on chip (eg. CRISPR, T-cell, cytotoxicity) to accelerate drug discovery from target to validation, and advance preclinical predictivity.
About the solution
They have developed a miniaturized 3D assay to help clinical decision. Using a biopsy of the tumor, Okomera’s cell culture technology includes: a fluidic machine, reagents, and a software analysis designed to estimate and identify the best drug treatment for each cancer patient.
SurgiMab’s tumor-targeting fluorescent molecules enable real time visualization of tumor margins and micro-tumors which are invisible to the naked eye.
After injection to the patient, SurgiMab’s lead molecule SGM-101 specifically targets various lesions such as colorectal, pancreas or lung tumors. Surgical navigation then allows tumors to be displayed intra-operatively, allowing complete resection. In case of recurrent cancer, when fibrotic tissue sometimes impairs the surgeon’s vision, it can also help the surgeon preserve important structures. Intraoperative tumor imaging with SurgiMab’s targeted molecules represents a real-time improvement in the intraoperative differentiation between normal and cancer tissue. It will participate in the new paradigm-shift in cancer surgery: surgeons will improve patient outcome while lowering health-care costs.
SurgiMAb was created in 2011. SGM-101 is currently tested in the clinic in the USA and Europe, including two Phase 3 studies. SurgiMab is seeking additional financing and/or parners to get to the market.
About the solution
As opposed to an indiscriminate contrast agent, this ability to specifically highlight malignant tissue during a procedure opens up a broad market in both Fluorescence Guided Surgery and potentially also in cancer screening.
SurgiMab’s technique of intraoperative detection of tumorscombines the specificity of monoclonal antibodies and the sensitivity of fluorescent detection. To date SGM-101 is the only cancer-targeting fluorescent molecule with efficacy demonstrated in the clinic for several digestive tumors. Surgeons can rely on fluorescence imaging to assess surgical margins, accurately stage cancer and detect small invisible metastases or to spare normal tissue.
Porsolt, a long established, AAALAC accredited and fully GLP compliant, preclinical CRO, has been providing efficacy evaluation and safety pharmacology services for over 40 years, covering the drug development process from early screening through regulatory submission.
About the solution
Porsolt provides discovery and preclinical services (safety & efficacy) including in vitro assays, pathophysiological models in multiple species and cell lines, customized procedures, and tailored solutions. They offer to support drug development using high throughput screening, high content analysis, and high content histology platforms, drug formulation analysis, and bioanalytical services.
Their vast expertise covers the following areas: psychiatric and neurological disorders, cardiac and vascular diseases, oncology, pain, inflammation, gastrointestinal disorders, liver diseases, metabolic and eating disorders, respiratory diseases, dermatology, medical devices, and predictive toxicity of compounds.
SEQENS is a global partner in health, personal care and specialty ingredients. They empower innovation to bring the best solutions to our customers, with a constant concern for sustainability. Relying on the skills of 3300 employees, they leverage a worldwide manufacturing network, and state-of-the-art R&D centers. As an end-to-end player across the value chain, SEQENS offers a broad range of active ingredients, pharmaceutical intermediates, personal care & specialty ingredients. They innovate, develop and industrialize the most demanding molecules, and implement the best available technologies.
As a leading player of the health industry, SEQENS is committed to the therapies of the future and personalized medicine.
Driven by a culture of excellence and a strong entrepreneurial spirit, they share values such as unity, agility, and reactivity. They provide the highest level of service and quality to more than 1500 customers around the world while acting ethically in accordance to our strong CSR program.
About the solution
Streamline your development process with Seqens’ one-stop-shop CDMO services. They offer integrated support for all stages of your program, from discovery and preclinical studies to clinical development, market authorization, and even ongoing commercial manufacturing. This ensures seamless handoffs and reduces overall development timelines.
Oxeltis is a medicinal chemistry services company created in 2010 in Montpellier, France, by former researchers from Idenix Pharmaceuticals (formerly MSD). The company has a small-scale custom synthesis business and hit and lead optimization services in various areas, such as antivirals, antibiotics, and anticancer compounds. Oxeltis’ scientific team comprises 21 experienced chemists with recognized expertise in specific areas of organic synthesis: heterocycles, macrocycles, nucleosides/nucleotides, phosphoramidites, iminosugars, modified sugars, oligosaccharides, and PROTACs. Oxeltis services includes also route scouting and up to 50-100g synthesis. Oxeltis works with European, Japanese, and North American start-ups, pharma companies, and research institutions.
About the solution
Oxeltis team is focused on speed of delivery, quality, and confidentiality of the services and collaborations it develops. Oxeltis has completed more than 35 projects with complex and multi-step synthetic chemistry for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including five of the ten largest global pharmaceutical companies. Several drug candidates delivered to its customers are in clinical development.
MaaT Pharma is the leading microbiome company in oncology. The Company owns in-house cGMP manufacturing capacities and specializes in developing Microbiome Ecosystem Therapies dedicated to enhancing the survival of cancer patients, with a focus on treating and preventing complications in blood cancers and improving treatments in immuno-oncology.
About the solution
MaaT013, a pooled-donor microbiome ecosystem therapy, is a non-immunosuppressive treatment dedicated to treat acute GvHD. As of today, MaaT013 has been administered to more than 200 patients. A Phase 3 trial is currently ongoing with ORR results expected in mid-2024. The Company has an open-IND granted by the U.S. FDA and has engaged active discussions with prominent US clinicians in the field of stem cell transplantation to explore the most efficient path forward to introduce MaaT013 to patients in the United States. MaaT013 has been awarded Orphan Drug Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA).
MaaT033, a donor-derived, high-richness, high-diversity oral Microbiome Ecosystem TherapyTM containing is currently ongoing Phase 2 as an adjunctive therapy to improve overall survival in patients receiving HSCT and other cellular therapies. MaaT033 has been granted Orphan Drug Designation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in August 2023.
AMKbiotech is an innovative service laboratory proving highplex tissue imaging solutions for biomarker identification and target efficacy validation.
About the solution
AMKbiotech combines the development of a novel tissue processing and imaging approach with AI-based analytical tools to generate 200 times more data from a single tissue section, while saving 80% of the resources needed for such analysis with classical histology approaches, in a 2 times faster execution period.
Inovotion is a breakthrough in vivo platform without animal experimentation-3Rs with multiple value creation applications in Drug Discovery and Personalize Medicine.
Inovotion’s Drug Discovery solution, for anticancer drugs including Immuno-Oncology, deliver faster results, higher sensitivity, strong reliability, and very large cost savings. By eliminating low-value molecules, Inovotion accelerates the drug discovery process and significantly reduces its costs and the animal use. Inovotion has carried out over 650 in vivo studies for over 130 customers in Pharma and Biotech in Europe, USA, and Asia.
Inovotion develops new applications for Personalized Medicine, based on a unique assay to grow tumor avatars derived from patients’ Organoids, Biopsies or Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs). Inovotion has so far self-financed the development of its multi-function platform though a successful CRO business (over 45% growth in 2023). Inovotion is now seeking a powerful partner to accelerate its development and disseminate throughout the Biopharma industry in USA and Europe.
About the solution
Inovotion’s Drug Discovery solution is tailored for anticancer drugs, including those in Immuno-Oncology. It provides quicker outcomes, enhanced sensitivity, exceptional reliability, and substantial cost reductions compared to traditional models. By weeding out molecules of low potential, Inovotion expedites the drug discovery journey, drastically cutting down on expenses and the need for animal testing.
Their next generation of in vivo efficacy and toxicity tests: #EFFICACY of oncology or immuno-oncology drugs #EARLY TOXICITY assays #TARGET VALIDATION in oncology #MULTI-CANCER SCREENING to (re)position #MECHANISM OF ACTION (angiogenesis, fibrosis, immune cell infiltration, transciptomic, PK,…) INOVOTION has also developed news assay dedicated to the evaluation of biomaterial.
Apmonia Therapeutics is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing therapeutic strategies towards cancer. They are developing a first-in-class pipeline of next-generation peptide-based therapies targeting the tumor microenvironment to improve the lives of patients with cancer.
Using molecular modeling (i.e., ligand:protein and protein:protein docking simulations, as well as molecular dynamics simulations) and their vast knowledge of matrix biology and oncology, they are developing a portfolio of proprietary first-in-class peptide-based therapies targeting the tumour extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules. After years of research on cancer-stroma interactions, they identified several proteins which are overexpressed in different types of solid tumours, converting them into potential targets for anticancer treatments. By producing peptides that selectively target ECM components, they can regulate the interplay between cancer and stromal cells within the TME, disrupting tumoural activity.
About the solution
Their lead program, AP-01 (or TAX2), is a peptide-based technology targeting tumor-overexpressed thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) to prevent CD47 receptor activation. AP-01 acts as a modulator of the tumor-tolerant microenvironment, reprogramming highly vascularized tumors into poorly angiogenic ones while concomitantly activating the tumor-inhibiting immune system. Thanks to its unique mode of action, AP-01 does not recapitulate the hematologic toxicities related to CD47 blockade, hence realizing the full potential of targeting this axis for cancer therapy.
A large body of in vivo efficacy data supports the proof-of-concept for AP-01 use as an anti-cancer therapy. TAX2 activates the adaptive (tumor-specific) immune response, as demonstrated by activation of T-cells, production of interferon gamma, and significant tumor reduction. The T cell stimulatory activities of AP-01 also position it as an excellent candidate for combination therapies in the context of a broad immune-oncology approach.
Their current focus for clinical development is ovarian cancer, an orphan indication. They plan to target other indications including glioblastoma, colorectal cancer, and pancreatic cancer.
Vect-Horus is a privately held biotechnology company that designs and develops molecular vectors that facilitate targeting and delivery of therapeutic or imaging agents to organs, including the brain and tumors. Founded in 2005, Vect-Horus is a spin-off of the Institute for Neurophysiopathology (INP, UMR7051, CNRS and Aix Marseille University), formerly headed by Dr Michel Khrestchatisky, co-founder of the company. Vect-Horus has 40 employees (most in R&D).
By combining pharmaceutical agents to its vectors, VECT-HORUS enables their transport across the BBB, which significantly impedes brain delivery of most drugs. Proof of concept of the technology was demonstrated in animal models for different vectorized molecules (Oligonucleotides, Antibodies, NPs…).
Based on its potential to target specific receptors, notably those that are found at high levels in some pathological tissues, the Company is also targeting cancers (pancreatic, adrenal cancer, glioblastoma, etc.), where there is a high unmet medical need.
About the solution
VECT-HORUS discovered, validated, and optimized different families of molecular vector that target the LDL Receptor, Transferrin Receptor and undisclosed ones that allow drug targeted delivery to different organs.
The vectors are protected by several families of patents and ongoing patent applications. They have different properties (structure, affinity, stability, organ specificity) allowing adaptation of the vectorization process on a case-to-case basis.
Vect-Horus seeks to develop the broad potential of its proprietary VECTrans® technology platform through partnerships and licensing agreements with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in multiple therapeutic applications.
