Funding for Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 841 at University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) extended for 4 years in the amount of nearly EUR 15 million.
Topas Therapeutics will act as exclusive partner for indication expansions and translation of research results into clinical development.
Hamburg, 25th January 2018. Topas Therapeutics GmbH (Topas), a Hamburg, Germany-based private platform company leveraging the natural tolerance induction capabilities of the liver, today announced that it will serve as the exclusive translational partner for the recently extended Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 841, “Liver inflammation: infection, immune regulation and consequences.” CRC 841 has 25 sub-projects investigating the causes and mechanisms of inflammatory liver diseases , laying the groundwork for new therapeutic approaches.
Collaborative Research Centers (CRCs) are funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG). CRC 841 at the UKE has been funded by the DFG since 2010 and will now receive nearly EUR 15 million for the third and final projects phase.
Professor Ansgar W. Lohse, Chief of the I. Medical Clinic and Polyclinic for Internal Medicine at the UKE and CRC spokesperson, said: “From the very beginning, the translation of research into potential clinical applications has been a focus of CRC 841, and we now expect a nanomedicine for the treatment of autoimmune diseases originally developed at CRC 841 to enter human clinical testing in 2019. The collaboration with Topas has been a great success and we look forward to continuing to work together.”
Topas plans to translate the eight years of research of CRC 841 into clinical development. In addition, Topas will cooperate closely with various members of the CRC to explore additional applications of Topas’ immune tolerance approach in various indications and to integrate these into Topas’ project portfolio, where appropriate.
About Topas Therapeutics
Topas Therapeutics GmbH is a private Hamburg, Germany-based biotechnology company focused on developing products to address areas of major unmet need, including autoimmune diseases, allergies and anti-drug antibodies. Topas’ technology platform induces antigen-specific immune tolerance by harnessing the liver’s natural immunology capabilities. The Company has two programs preparing to enter the clinic in 2018/2019 – one for an orphan disease and one for multiple sclerosis. Topas also has a research and option agreement with Eli Lilly and Company focused on immune tolerance and a co-development agreement with Evotec for a Type 1 diabetes program that is currently in pre-clinical testing. Topas’ investors include: Epidarex Capital, Gimv, EMBL Ventures, Evotec and Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund. For additional information, please visit: www.topas-therapeutics.com.
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