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< Back Elphogene – liquid biopsy assay for non-invasive monitoring of patients with colorectal cancer Another one of successful projects supported by i&i Prague is the Prague-based biotechnological start-up Elphogene, Inc. Its oncoMonitor™, a liquid biopsy technology, was recently turned into a commercial assay for non-invasive diagnostic monitoring of patients in advanced stages colorectal cancer. Elphogene, Inc. has been founded at the beginning of 2019 as a spin-off from the Genomac Research Institute , and it´s launch was widely covered by media alike the most recent launch: LAM-X . Prague, 13th June 2019 – A team of Czech scientists from the Elphogene company presents a unique diagnostic method called oncoMonitor™, which offers cancer survivors an improvement in regular control screening aimed at the verification of their treatment’s success or timely detection of the disease’s reoccurrence. ​ The Prague-based biotechnological start-up Elphogene has received an initial investment from i&i Prague in order to implement its oncoMonitor™, a liquid biopsy technology into a commercial assay for non-invasive diagnostic monitoring of patients in advanced stages colorectal cancer. This method brings a key benefit of personalized testing to detect potential new metastases and the timely option to select further treatment. ​ “We have completed pilot studies demonstrating the analytical sensitivity of the oncoMonitor™ assay, and the data were presented at the annual conference of American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Atlanta, USA, in April. We are very happy with the results of this test, which can be applied universally to various forms of solid tumours, and currently we are initiating clinical validation in cooperation with leading domestic oncological centres,” says Dr. Marek Minárik, Co-Founder and General Manager of Elphogene. ​ The company has been founded earlier this year as a spin-off from the Genomac research institute, a leading Czech private research center widely recognized for its strong record of scientific projects in clinical cancer genomics. Originally developed at Genomac and now exclusively owned by Elphogene, the oncoMonitor™ liquid biopsy technology, will further be developed and validated in clinical setting at company headquarters and laboratories located near Prague Vaclav Havel airport in Ruzyne. ​ The initial investment was provided by the i&i Prague company, which is a leading Central European biotechnological incubator and investment centre providing financial support to promising projects in the field of living-nature science, biotechnology and modern medicine. “Liquid biopsy is a newly emerging field with fascinating growth potential, destined to fundamentally change modern medicine from diagnostics to therapy. We have been following the oncoMonitor™ technology for some time and we are now excited to collaborate with the team at Elphogene in its clinical implementation“ says Dr. Jaromir Zahradka, the CEO and a co-founder of i&i Prague. ​ In the long run, the Czech Republic has been occupying leading places in patients with colorectal carcinoma. Thanks to extensive campaigns aimed at the importance of screening and early detection of colorectal carcinoma, the number of patients who lose their fight with this insidious disease has been dropping. On the other hand, there is an ongoing lack of non-invasive methods which help post-op detection of recurring cancer activity and prolonging the lives of patients in advanced stages of the disease. ​ According to the available data from the National Cancer Registry, a total of 7800 patients was newly diagnosed with colorectal carcinoma in 2016, 1508 of which suffered verifiably from advanced stages with the occurrence of metastases. In the same year, almost 4 thousand patients succumbed to this disease. To compare the occurrence of colorectal carcinoma in Europe, according to the 2018 data by Globocan, the Czech Republic takes the 15th place in the number of newly diagnosed cases and the 18th place in death rate. In a whole-world comparison, it takes the 23rd place in newly diagnosed cases and the 22nd place in death rate. Colorectal cancer usually appears in older patients, and in the Czech Republic, colorectal carcinoma is a more frequent phenomena in men. Previous Next

< Back Mikuláš Vargic External Lawyer Mikuláš studied law at Masaryk University Brno and International and European Law at the University of Antwerp. He is an independent attorney with a specialization in technology transfer. Mikuláš joined our team in 2016 and has almost ten years of experience. He previously worked in a major Czech law firm in Brno and at the South Moravian Innovation Center (JIC). He also works for other clients from both the public sector (universities and research institutions) and the private sector (investors, start-up, and spin-off companies). Mikuláš helps i&i Prague with all legal matters and is involved in negotiating transaction documentation with our partners. His knowledge of business, technical and legal matters will help you to tailor the legal framework for your specific needs.

< Back iBodies established cooperation with Ximbio, a TTO within the UK’s largest charity, Cancer Research UK Project iBodies , supported by IOCB Tech and i&i Prague, is focused on developing novel macromolecules designed to fully substitute antibodies in common biochemical methods. Recently, iBodies established a cooperation with the world´s largest non-profit organization focused on life-science research tools of all kinds – Ximbio . Ximbio is a UK based technology-transfer company within the charity Cancer Research UK , which is the largest charitable funder of cancer research in the world. Ximbio’s goal is to make life science research tools widely and easily available all around the world (such as small molecule tool compounds, antibodies, cell lines, proteins, animal models). Ximbio can manage the whole commercialisation of these research tools on behalf of its partner research institutes (providing storage, production, quality control and execution of licence/sales agreements and transfer of material to its global network of both industry and academic scientists). Any revenue Ximbio generates is shared back to the iBodies inventors and their respective research institutes. ​ Including iBodies in their portfolio shows not only the quality of the technology, but again makes this unique, flexible platform available for even more laboratory applications all around the world. ​ In theory, iBodies synthetic antibodies can be custom designed towards any protein of interest (provided a ligand is known), tailored based on the intended applications and used in various methods such as ELISA, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, Western Blotting, protein immobilization and immunoprecipitation methods. In general, these iBodies can target a specific protein such as neuraminidase, GCPII, HIV-1, FAP, CA-IX or can be used for broader spectra of proteins such as His-tagged or GST-tagged proteins. ​ Specifically, anti-neuraminidase iBody , anti-glutamate carboxypeptidase (GCPII) iBody , anti-HIV-1 protease iBody , anti-fibroblast activation protein (FAP) iBody , anti-carbonic anhydrase IX (CA-IX) iBody , anti-HIS tag iBody , anti-GST tag iBody and a negative control iBody are all available online now – HERE. Previous Next

< Back iBodies – synthetic antibodies from Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS iBodies is a project originated at IMC , IOCB and Charles University, which is currently under a pre-seed incubation. The iBodies team focuses on development of the novel macromolecules designed to substitute antibodies in common biochemical methods. Use of such substitutes was successfully tested for wide range of laboratory methods: ELISA, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, Western Blotting, protein immobilization and immunoprecipitation methods. i&i Prague team supports iBodies in business development activities, including a search for potential business partners, co-developers, or iBodies-technology applications with strong market potential. During the last three years, i&i Prague helped iBodies to start multiple collaborative projects and finalized several out-licensing deals. ​ These synthetic antibody mimetics consist of N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide (HPMA) copolymer backbone decorated with low-molecular-weight functional groups: a targeting ligand, an affinity anchor and an imaging probe. In theory, iBodies can be custom designed towards any protein of interest (provided a ligand is known) and tailored based on the intended applications. ​ Moreover, iBodies are highly stable, easy to prepare and modify, can target via an active site which allows them to target groups of homologous proteins and many more advantages. ​ To discover actual products and possibilities, search https://www.ibodies.eu/ . Previous Next

< Back Revolutionary type of catheter raised €2 million from private investors Czech company Riocath Global has introduced a worldwide unique technology applicable to tubular medical devices. This revolutionary technology has been patented and developed in collaboration with the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences ( IOCB Prague ). The urinary catheter is one of the first clinically significant applications. The clinical trials will begin by the end of this year. The RIOCATH® (Reversal Inside-Out CATHetrisation) design greatly reduces the risk of introducing bacterial infection into the body. The current catheter is carrying on its surface microbes from the urethra tip as it makes its way through the urethra. Another danger is the damage to sensitive tissues caused by the insertion of current catheters. The new type of RIOCATH® urinary catheter will be of great benefit to a broad spectrum of patients. Reduction in bacterial infections should contribute significantly to reducing the need for antibiotic treatment. All of this should contribute to significant savings in the health care system and more comfortable patient care. “Unlike old catheters whose casing rubs on the urethra´s wall during insertion, the new technology allows for the catheter to extend by unfolding itself from the inside out, virtually imitating a snail´s eye stalk,” explains Miroslav Svoboda, MD, the project initiator, co-inventor and the CEO of Riocath Global. ​ “Upon completion of clinical trials and marketing of the catheter, the estimated value of the company will grow to tens of millions of euros. Apart from urinary catheters, the principal can be used in a number of other applications which are part of the company´s development portfolio with the considerable market and therapeutic potential,” comments on the importance of the patented technology Jaromír Zahrádka, PhD., the CEO of i&i Prague and a member of the board of directors of the Riocath Global. responsible for the intellectual property protection. The first product market entry is expected in 2019. ​ The full press release can be found here . Previous Next

< Back Startup Riocath is among Hello Tomorrow’s top 500 stratups in the world Hello Tomorrow, which recently partnered with i&i Prague to advance its mission of fostering advancements in deep technology startups and businesses, will hold its global summit in Paris on 14-15 March. As part of the summit program, Hello Tomorrow highlights 500 of the most outstanding startups in the field of deep technology. This year’s top 500 selection includes another of i&i Prague’s very successful partners, Riocath, a company specializing in tubular medical devices. Included with this honour is the opportunity for Riocath to compete for one of the limited showcase positions at Hello Tomorrow Global Summit 2019 . Previous Next

< Back Martin Kovalčík Communications For almost 13 years, Martin worked as a media coordinator for the respected Czech non-profit organization, People in Need, where he was responsible for the media service for a team of 300 people. Also, he has experience working in several editorial offices. He left his most significant mark at the Metro newspaper, where he worked for over 5 years, the last two as the deputy editor-in-chief.

< Back License for use of iBodies® bought by Immunotech, a member of the Beckman Coulter group! The Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB Prague), the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IMC), and Charles University have signed a licensing agreement with the company Immunotech, a member of the Beckman Coulter group, for the use of iBodies®, a joint technology for measuring free testosterone in blood. The new iBodies provide an alternative to the radioactive tracer method, thus simplifying the measurement of free testosterone in clinical laboratories. Measuring free testosterone is important in determining the correct therapy for a number of health problems and serious diseases. In women, for example, it is measured in cases of menstrual disorders and conception problems. In men, it can help identify the causes of obesity, erectile dysfunction, depression, sleep disorders, and osteoporosis. The actual measuring, however, is complicated: the amount of free testosterone is either inaccurately derived from overall levels of testosterone in the blood, or it is measured using radioactive tracers, which provide accurate results but also present a variety of complications arising from the use of radioactive material, among them its relatively low stability.Typically used as synthetic antibody substitutes, iBodies are complex molecules that enable imaging of specific proteins on the surface of cells. “The iBodies molecules constitute a fully synthetic system based on a water-soluble polymer that forms a basic backbone. Other components are added to this polymer backbone, such as a fluorescent label, an affinity tag, and the specific ligand responsible for detecting free testosterone. Choosing the right individual components lets us prepare iBodies with great variability for a wide range of biochemical applications,” says Vladimír Šubr of IMC. ​ In this case, iBodies are being used for the very first time as so-called tracers, i.e. nonradioactively labelled molecules that can be detected with a high degree of accuracy, making it possible to derive free testosterone levels. Therefore, iBodies represent a key component that facilitates sensitive detection of free testosterone. ​ “The license is evidence of the broad scope of applications that our iBodies technology offers, and in areas we hadn’t originally considered and where application hadn’t occurred to us,” says Jan Konvalinka of IOCB Prague in discussing the new use for iBodies. “ This is only the beginning – we’re working toward the application of our technology in other fields, too." The results of the new iBodies, their sensitivity, and their long-term stability caught the attention of the Beckman Coulter group, which, with the license, will use them as an important component for its new nonradioactive (ELISA) kit for determination of free testosterone and will add them to its standard in vitro kits for clinical laboratory diagnostics. ​ What are iBodies? iBodies® ( www.ibodies.eu ) were developed by Pavel Šácha, Tomáš Knedlík, and others in the laboratory of Jan Konvalinka at IOCB Prague and Charles University in collaboration with the team of Vladimír Šubr of the Department of Biomedical Polymers, headed by Tomáš Etrych, at the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences. iBodies comprise a polymer backbone with a small organic molecule bound to it that can bind to the target receptor of tested cells. A component of the complex is a molecule that serves as an anchor for use in various separation techniques and, in some cases, also a fluorescent label facilitating imaging of iBodies with various laboratory methods. All this together gives the technology considerable potential for use in clinical laboratories, either as substitutes for nonsynthetic antibodies that are otherwise not readily available, or as tracers for measurement. ​ Development of a free testosterone determination kit Development of a kit for the determination of free testosterone began in 2017 with collaboration between the company Immunotech and the Department of Advanced Materials and Organic Synthesis at the Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals of the Czech Academy of Sciences as part of grant project of the Ministry of Industry and Trade FV20061. To improve the characteristics of the proposed kit, work was undertaken in 2018 between the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Vladimír Šubr, Libor Kostka), the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Pavel Šácha, Natan Sidej), and the companies IOCB Tech and i&i Prague (Jiří Moos, Jan Plicka) on development of a technology for measuring free testosterone using iBodies, which was completed at the beginning of 2020. Correlational studies and tests of several hundred samples have demonstrated that ELISA technology using iBodies is more sensitive than commercially available kits with radioactive testosterone. Another significant advantage of the new iBodies is their long-term functional stability as compared with radioactive or protein-based tracers. Previous Next

< Back Jiří Růžička Project Manager Jiri Ruzicka is a Project manager at i&i Prague. He is responsible for the analysis of projects, mainly from the scientific and technological aspect. Before joining our company Jiri worked as a Research Associate at the Institute of Experimental Medicine (IEM, part of the Czech Academy of Sciences), as well as within the international research center of IEM, University of Cambridge, and University of Leeds, called Neurorecon. He holds BSc. and MSc. Degrees from the Faculty of Science, Charles University. He has done his Ph.D. at IEM, AS CR, and the 2nd Faculty of Medicine of Charles University. During his postdoc as a member of the Neurorecon team he spent several months at Imperial College London and had close collaboration with the University of Cambridge, including several short research stays. He has 14+ years’ experience in the fields of neuroscience and regenerative medicine with a broad focus on brain/spinal cord injuries, neurodegenerative diseases, and aging. He has been dealing with enzymatic, gene, or cell therapies, biomaterial applications, and genetic models of neurodegenerative disorders.

< Back Iva Machová Project Manager Iva Machová is a Project manager at i&i Prague. She is responsible for the analysis of project technology. Before joining our company, Iva worked as a postdoc researcher at the Biomedical Center of the Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen. She holds BSc and MSc degrees from UCT Prague, Czech Republic, and she did her Ph.D. at the Institute of organic chemistry and biochemistry, AS CR. Iva spent several months on a postdoctoral fellowship at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Due to her scientific experience in biochemistry, she is focused on projects in the field of drug discovery and cell therapy.

< Back A novel early cancer diagnostics method has been developed at University of Pardubice, partnered with i&i Prague Pancreatic cancer is one of the most dangerous and most aggressive types of cancer. According to recent data, the twelfth most common malignant disease in the world. It is also associated with a high mortality rate, and it is the seventh of the most common causes of deaths for both sexes in cancer in general. In addition, the incidence has increased in recent years and can be expected to move to the third position ahead of breast cancer. Scientific teams around the world are looking for methods for early diagnostics of cancer. Among these is the team of Prof. Michal Holčapek of the University of Pardubice. „We have developed new methods for the lipidomic analysis of body fluids, predominantly blood, which distinguish patients with several types of cancer from healthy volunteers. We are currently working on pancreatic cancer data, where early diagnosis in early stages is the only chance for survival,“ described Prof. Holčapek the goal of the project. ​ The research project of Prof. Holčapek has been awarded the European Research Council (ERC) grant and has been financially supported by the Ministry of Education of the Czech republic. Recently, the University of Pardubice has signed the memorandum with Czech Biotech incubator i&i Prague establishing a strategic collaboration towards further commercial development of the technology in order to introduce the novel diagnostic methods into the world market. i&i Prague is going to support the project with 20k EUR in the very first phase to ensure the business plan development and to cover further analyses to verify the commercial potential of the method and develop solid patent protection of the technology. ​ i&i Prague incubator support „Ones we are able to confirm the potential of the technology, we are ready to invest up to 200k EUR in this project and invite further co-investors,“ commented Jaromír Zahrádka, CEO of i&i Prague, adding at the same time: “Prof. Holčapek’s project is a world-class science. However, it need to be properly developed to become the comprehensible and ready-made business opportunity for investors and corporate partners. This is a necessary step to offer this promising technology to patients in future". „The accuracy of our method is more than 90% for the very first stage of pancreatic cancer. However, the accuracy of other state-of-the-art and promising method was reported to be only 43%, according to the results published in Science magazine. The high accuracy of the method for early stages is a key parameter. Early diagnostics in oncology is crucial to improving patient prognosis and increasing survival chances, “ commented further Prof. Holcapek a key competitive advantage of his technology. ​ The project is currently undergoing the clinical testing and beside the pancreatic cancer detection, highly promising results has been obtained for other cancer types which uncovered a potential for further exploitation of the technology. Biotechnology Incubator i&i Prague supports projects by scientists and researchers focusing on technologies in medicine, biotechnology, diagnostics and drug development. It takes care of the business part of the projects, leads and plans their business direction, looks for partners and takes care of technological marketing. The full press release can be found here . Previous Next

< Back DIANA Biotechnologies – technology that raised EUR 3M in 3 years DIANA Biotechnologies started as a project of a PhD. student at IOCB. After less than 3 years of pre-seed incubation it developed into an independent biotech company, with their own laboratories, impressive portfolio of projects and products and stable venture capital funding. The technology originated from IOCB lab and its incubation has been supported by IOCB Tech, the Technology transfer office. The company has been established in summer of 2018 thanks to raising of EUR 3 m from BPD Partners investorsand it is further supported by i&i Prague team. DIANA is a multi-well plate assay, where target protein is selectively captured to the solid carrier and then bound by a unique detection probe consisting of a small-molecule ligand linked to a DNA-oligonucleotide. Subsequently, the probe is detected and quantified by qPCR. For drug discovery, the assay utilizes competition between the probe and the test compounds to measure their binding affinity. ​ DIANA is a platform technology and its applications are effectively developed and used for both, super-sensitive Diagnostics (both for research use and clinical applications) and effective Drug discovery ( high throughput screening , affinity measurements and selectivity profiling , assay development , lead compound optimization, ADME pharmacology ). ​ To learn more about this technology: dianabiotech.com . Previous Next