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Markus Berninger
Diplom-Kaufmann, certified graphic designer
Phone: +49 89 / 29 09 19-30
Email:
berninger@max-planck-innovation.de
50 years of technology transfer for the Max Planck Society

A pioneer of technology transfer in Germany becomes 50 years old: Since Max Planck Innovation (MI) was founded in 1970 as a subsidiary of the Max Planck Society (MPG), it has been supporting Max Planck researchers to market their inventions. With the help of MI industrial partners and newly founded companies have transformed thousands of ideas and findings into products for technology, medicine and research.
Read more … 50 years of technology transfer for the Max Planck Society
Midbrain organoids for automated chemical screening and disease research

Sometimes hundreds of thousands of potential therapeutics need to be tested in large-scale, fully automated experiments to identify a single effective drug. Most compounds do not work as desired, and some are even toxic. Since the development of the induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) Cell technology in 2006, researchers have been able to produce stem cells from skin biopsies and blood samples. To approach physiological conditions in the laboratory, many researchers use iPS cell technology to produce three-dimensional, organ-like tissue aggregates (organoids). A team of scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine in Münster has now succeeded in using human cells to produce midbrain organoids in a fully automated process. Such organoids can be produced, grown, and analyzed in detail within a high-throughput workflow. The technology transfer company Max Planck Innovation has now licensed this process to the American biotech company StemoniX, Inc.
Read more … Midbrain organoids for automated chemical screening and disease research
Cellink acquires MPG spin-off Scienion AG

Cellink, the Swedish bioprinting company, has purchased Scienion AG, a spin-off of the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Molecular Genetics based in Berlin. The purchase price was 80 million euros. The Max Planck Society (MPG) will now receive significant proceeds from the sale of its shares. Cellink intends to use the acquisition to drive future growth in industrial and clinical applications.
Launch of Start-up QLi5 Therapeutics

The Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC) and the South Korean drug development specialist Qurient have founded QLi5 Therapeutics GmbH, together with the LDC’s partners, the Max Planck Society (MPG) and Nobel laureate Prof. Huber, emeritus director of the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry. Dortmund based QLi5 Therapeutics licensed novel proteasome inhibitors from LDC and its partners. QLi5 Therapeutics will advance these towards preclinical and clinical development for the treatment of cancers and inflammatory and autoimmune disorders.
Drug candidate for cancer immunotherapy enters Phase I study

The biotech company Qurient Co. Ltd. received a clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its investigational new drug application (IND) for Q702. The technology for the orally available immuno-oncology therapeutic small molecule, targeting different tyrosine kinases, originated from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry. Qurient plans to initiate a Phase 1 clinical study in patients with advanced solid tumors for whom standard of care therapies are currently ineffective.
Read more … Drug candidate for cancer immunotherapy enters Phase I study
Corona: vaccination without a needle?

The Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam and the Technology Transfer Fund KHAN-I are developing a vaccine procedure for SARS-CoV2 together with the Lead Discovery Center in Dortmund. The researchers hope that within the next few years, they will be able to establish immunity to and protection from the virus using targeted vaccine transport via the skin.
New approach to curing HIV

Hamburg-based researchers are seeking to improve future treatment of HIV patients using a new gene and cell method. Under the umbrella of Hamburg biotech startup Provirex, they are developing a new therapeutic approach that uses ‘gene scissors’ to cut out the blueprint of the AIDS pathogen HIV from the genome of the infected cell and eliminate the virus. For the first time, this could make it possible to remove the virus instead of keeping it at bay, as is common with previous forms of treatment. The startup will drive further development of Brec1 technology, particularly with regard to simplified and direct routes of administration. A Max Planck technology contributes to innovative basis for the HIV gene scissors.
Yearbook 2019: Max Planck Innovation – The technology transfer organization of the Max Planck Society

Every year, Max Planck Innovation evaluates an average of 120 inventions, with roughly half of these leading to a patent application. Since 1979, approximately 4,450 inventions have been accompanied and around 2,680 exploitation contracts have been concluded. Since the early 90s, 156 newly founded companies (spin-offs) have emerged from the Max Planck Society. Max Planck Innovation advised the vast majority of them. Over 6,000 jobs have been created in these spin-offs since then. Since 1979, MI has achieved a total turnover from license revenues and divestments of around 490 million euros.
LDC-associated company Quench Bio Closes USD 50M Series A Financing to Advance First-in-Class Medicines against Severe Inflammatory Diseases

The Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC), the Max Planck Society (MPG) and Max Planck Innovation (MI) announce that their associated company Quench Bio Inc., Cambridge, USA has raised USD 50 million in a Series A financing round. The financing was led by RA Capital Management (RA Capital) and included Abbvie Ventures as well as co-founders and seed investors Atlas Venture (Atlas) and Arix Bioscience plc (Arix).
Modified tuberculosis vaccine as a therapy for cancer of the bladder

The human immune system can recognize and eliminate not only germs but also cancer cells. This is why treatments with weakened germs can help the immune system in its fight against cancer. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin have genetically modified the tuberculosis vaccine BCG in a way that it stimulates the immune system more specifically. Consequently, the new vaccine offers much greater protection against tuberculosis. A clinical study with patients suffering from cancer of the bladder has now shown that a therapy with VPM1002 could successfully prevent the recurrence of tumours in almost half of the patients who had not responded previously to the BCG therapy. The results could lead to the early approval of the drug for the treatment of cancer of the bladder so that as many patients as possible can profit from this quickly.
Read more … Modified tuberculosis vaccine as a therapy for cancer of the bladder
Tacalyx Raises €7 Million in Seed Funding to Generate First in Class Anti-TACA Antibodies for Cancer Treatment

Tacalyx, a biotech company focused on the discovery and development of novel anti-TACA (Tumor Associated Carbohydrate Antigens) cancer therapies, today announced that it has successfully secured €7 million in seed funding. The funding round involves a syndicate of leading European life science and technology investors co-led by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and Kurma Partners and joined by Idinvest Partners, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), coparion, and Creathor Ventures.
Investment Plan for Europe – Successful launch of Tech Transfer Fund “KHAN-I”

Khanu Management GmbH (Khanu), a drug discovery focused fund management team, announces the successful launch of KHAN Technology Transfer Fund I GmbH & Co KG (KHAN-I), based in Dortmund, Germany.
Read more … Investment Plan for Europe – Successful launch of Tech Transfer Fund “KHAN-I”
Max Planck Society grants license for new drug candidates

Modag further develops drugs for multi-system atrophy and Parkinson’s disease. The protein alpha-synuclein is deposited in the brain of patients with Parkinson’s disease or multi-system atrophy at the onset of the disease. Oligomeric deposits have a particularly toxic effect on nerve cells. With a new patent for chemically modified drug candidates, Modag has now agreed upon another exclusive license with Max Planck Innovation, the technology transfer organization of the Max Planck Society. The company is now testing the active ingredient anle138b for the treatment of multi-system atrophy and Parkinson’s disease. On the basis of the licensed technology, Modag is able to develop next-generation-molecules with pharmacological characteristics, which allow for alternative dose regimens and forms of application. The substances were developed by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen together with the University in Munich.
Read more … Max Planck Society grants license for new drug candidates
Ten years of substance research

In 2008, the Max Planck Society launched the Lead Discovery Center (LDC) in Dortmund. The organization, which is now independent, picks up on the results of basic research and uses them to develop substances that can then be tested by license or cooperative partners in clinical studies with the aim of establishing whether they are suitable for use in drugs. Ten years after its establishment, the LDC can look back on some impressive results: one of its research projects has managed to make the leap to the clinical stage and is currently being tested in a phase 1b study; two others will be following soon. In all, the LDC has filed 23 patent applications and granted licenses to cooperative partners for research into 15 more substances.
Themis Bioscience Announces Exclusive Licensing Agreement with Max Planck Innovation to Develop and Commercialize Oncolytic Virotherapies

Themis announced today that it has entered into a license agreement with Max Planck Innovation GmbH, the technology transfer agency of the Max Planck Society in Germany, granting it exclusive worldwide license to develop, manufacture and commercialize therapies based on an oncolytic measles virus platform that was jointly developed by the Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen and the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Alnylam´s Worldwide First RNAi Medication is based on Max Planck Technology

Alnylam Announces First-Ever FDA Approval of an RNAi Therapeutic, ONPATTRO™ (patisiran) for the Treatment of the Polyneuropathy of Hereditary Transthyretin-Mediated Amyloidosis in Adults Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. the leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ONPATTRO™ (patisiran) lipid complex injection, a first-of-its-kind RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutic, for the treatment of the polyneuropathy of hereditary transthyretin-mediated (hATTR) amyloidosis in adults. ONPATTRO is the first and only FDA-approved treatment for this indication. The therapy is, among others, based on patented research findings from the Max Planck Society, which have exclusively been licensed to Alnylam by the technology transfer organization Max Planck Innovation. In addition to polyneuropathy, hATTR amyloidosis can lead to other significant disabilities including decreased ambulation with the loss of the ability to walk unaided, a reduced quality of life, and a decline in cardiac functioning. In the largest controlled study of hATTR amyloidosis, ONPATTRO was shown to improve polyneuropathy –with significant benefit on the neurological components of the disease in a majority of patients – and to improve a composite quality of life measure, reduce autonomic symptoms, and improve activities of daily living.
Read more … Alnylam´s Worldwide First RNAi Medication is based on Max Planck Technology
BinNova licenses technology to produce ultra-thin metal fibers with unique material properties

The BinNova Metal Fiber Technology GmbH company has licensed a technology from the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, which makes it possible to produce micro-metal fibers that are extremely fine and, at the same time, extremely robust. Following the successful development of the research concept and a research facility by the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, the company will now begin developing a production facility and will very soon commence distribution of the innovative metal fibers and non-wovens.
IBI licenses Silibinin for the use in Cushing´s Disease

The pharmaceutical company IBI (Istituto Biochimico Italiano Giovanni Lorenzini SpA) obtained a license from Max Planck Innovation for the use of Silibinin in the treatment of Cushing´s disease. Based on research findings from the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry IBI aims to develop a non-invasive treatment option replacing conventional methods like pituitary surgery. IBI is now planning GLP preclinical trials and initiates orphan drug application.
Read more … IBI licenses Silibinin for the use in Cushing´s Disease
Max Planck Society, Lead Discovery Center and Grünenthal enter into a research collaboration on Charcot-Marie-Tooth 1A (CMT1A)

Grünenthal, Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC), Max-Planck Innovation and the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine (MPI-EM) have entered into a research collaboration to develop novel therapies for patients suffering from Charcot-Marie-Tooth 1A (CMT1A), an inherited neurological disorder. The collaboration combines the disease proficiency of MPI-EM, the drug discovery expertise of LDC and Grünenthal’s competency in drug discovery and development as well as pain management. The project’s scientific foundation was laid at MPI-EM by Michael Sereda, Klaus-Armin Nave and Moritz Rossner.
European Inventor Award for fast MRI in medical diagnostics: Jens Frahm wins in the category Research

With the European Inventor Award 2018, the European Patent Office (EPO) honored Jens Frahm of the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen for his ground-breaking advances in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In two steps, the physicist and his team succeeded in speeding up MRI by a factor of up to 10,000 and established it in clinical practice.
ENVIRAL® acquires licence for smart pigments for environmentally friendly, sustainable anticorrosion coatings

The company ENVIRAL® Oberflächenveredelung GmbH has licensed a corrosion protection technology from the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces based on recent developments in the field of nanotechnology. The new smart pigments for use in anticorrosion coatings have “self-healing” properties and increase the protective effect of coatings while improving their environmental compatibility. They are based on micro- and nanovessels that are filled with organic corrosion inhibitors and encapsulated in a polyelectrolyte shell. The tiny vessels can be added to paints without weakening the physical properties of the anticorrosion coating. Local pH changes due to the onset of corrosion causes the polyelectrolyte shell to swell and release the corrosion-inhibiting agents from the tiny vessels, thus nipping the corrosion reaction in the bud.
Max Planck Society grants license for protein analysis technique

ProteoPlex has exclusively licensed a technology from the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen and has launched the MacroDSF, an instrument aimed at helping research institutions, pharmaceutical companies and contract research organisations solve problems in structural biology. In addition, ProteoPlex has also gained access to additional technologies, including a novel protein purification process and an algorithm for determining the optimum stability parameters for macromolecular proteins.
Read more … Max Planck Society grants license for protein analysis technique
Licence for better text comprehension

Based on research by the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, Ambiverse has developed a software application that can understand and analyze large volumes of text. The technology means that homonyms can be correctly interpreted, opening up corporate access to more relevant information on the Internet and improving access to information in their own data inventories.
Aircloak closes seed investment

Aircloak, a leader in the field of privacy enhancing technology received a $1.3M equity investment from Speedinvest and Constantia New Business with existing shareholders Max Planck Innovation and Elephant & Castle Capital joining the round. The “Aircloak Insights” solution, which allows companies worldwide to have GDPR compliance at a click, has been approved by the independent French data protection authority, CNIL, for all data types and use cases. Aircloak was founded in 2014 to commercialize and build on privacy protection research done at the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems.
BORN2GROW supports biotech start-up Venneos with its further growth

Venture capital fund BORN2GROW has invested in Stuttgart-based Venneos GmbH, a spin-off from Max Planck Society, in the current round of series A financing. The start-up is successfully developing and marketing the CAN-Q – a silicon chip-based imaging system for analysing biological cells.
Read more … BORN2GROW supports biotech start-up Venneos with its further growth
Daiichi Sankyo, Max Planck Innovation and Lead Discovery Center Announce Cancer Research Collaboration

Daiichi Sankyo, Max Planck Innovation GmbH and the Lead Discovery Center GmbH have signed an agreement providing Daiichi Sankyo with the option to receive the exclusive rights to a new lead compound for the treatment of cancer to be discovered and developed at the Lead Discovery Center.
FluxPharm licenses process for the cost-effective production of active pharmaceutical ingredients

The company FluxPharm has acquired a licence for a chemical process developed at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam. Using flow chemistry technology, the researchers at the Institute can now produce a variety of standard ingredients with much greater efficiency and more cost-effectively than with conventional methods. FluxPharm now intends to develop the technology and make it commercially available. The development of this process will boost the future production of Efavirenz, an active pharmaceutical ingredient used in the treatment of HIV. This in turn will mean that greater numbers of people in poor countries will have access to medications. The relevant negotiations with drug-producing companies are already at an advanced stage.
terraplasma medical successfully completes financing

The Munich-based medical technology company terraplasma medical GmbH successfully completed the first round of major financing (seed). The raised money, a seven-figure Euro amount, will be used to develop plasma care and establish the market approval. This mobile, battery-powered medical device for in- and outpatient treatment of chronic and acute wounds using cold plasma, which destroys fungi and even multi-resistant bacteria, is based on research of the Max Planck Institute for extraterrestrial Physics.
Read more … terraplasma medical successfully completes financing
Cardior Pharmaceuticals raises €15 million

Cardior Pharmaceuticals today announced the completion of a €15 million series A financing round. Cardior is pioneering its proprietary RNA technology to revolutionize predicting and treating heart failure. The main technology is based on research from the Medical School Hannover (MHH) in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for biophysical chemistry in Göttingen, amongst others.
Teaching Robots to see what they do

The technology transfer organisation of the Max Planck Society has come to an agreement with the US start-up company Lula Robotics to use a technology for “continuous motion optimization and control”. Based on the technique from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Tübingen Lula Robotics is developing robots, which can act independently in complex environments. The goal is to create the bedrock for artificial aides supporting people in everyday life in the future.
Life science technologies from the Max Planck Society at BioVaria

On 22 and 23 May, Max Planck Innovation will present two promising inventions at the BioVaria technology fair in Munich, one of which is a new therapy based on adult stem cells that makes continuous skin regeneration and the sustainable growth of new hair possible. An innovative diagnostic approach allows early non-invasive detection of lung cancer by means of a simple breath test. The technology transfer organization of the Max Planck Society is looking for industrial partners at the fair to develop its patented technologies to market maturity.
Read more … Life science technologies from the Max Planck Society at BioVaria
PreOmics granted licence for proteomics technique

The start-up company PreOmics licenses several technologies of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried for the preparation of samples for proteomic research through Max Planck Innovation. In particular, an innovative sample preparation kit facilitates the use of mass spectrometry for research into proteins. In the future this could open up new opportunities in pharmaceutical development and diagnostics.
Read more … PreOmics granted licence for proteomics technique
FLASH technology - Jens Frahm inducted into the Hall of Fame of German Research

The physicist Jens Frahm, head of Biomedizinische NMR Forschungs GmbH at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, has been inducted into the Hall of Fame of German Research. With this induction, ‘manager magazin’ is honouring the researcher for his pioneering further developments of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The FLASH technology he invented has made MRI today’s most important imaging method in clinical diagnostics and one which is used around the globe. An extension, which Frahm developed only recently, is now even enabling real-time recordings from the inside of the body, and is currently being tested for clinical use.
Read more … FLASH technology - Jens Frahm inducted into the Hall of Fame of German Research
Vaxxilon named "Science Start-Up of the Year 2016"

Under the motto "Building bridges, transcending borders", 23 start-up companies presented their research projects at the Falling Walls Venture science competition on 8 November in Berlin. The company nominated by Max Planck Innovation, Vaxxilon, emerged as the winner and was proclaimed the "Science Start-Up of the Year 2016" for its development of a carbohydrate-based agent. The new agent should make vaccinations against bacterial infections cheaper in the future and thereby also improve access to vaccines in poorer countries.
Read more … Vaxxilon named "Science Start-Up of the Year 2016"
License agreement: Photoswitch Biosciences develops drug discovery technology using optogenetics

Light-sensitive proteins discovered by Max Planck scientists are changing the way scientists study how new drug candidates affect critical properties of heart and nerve cells. Researchers can incorporate light-sensitive channelrhodopsin proteins into model cells grown in miniature test tube arrays. Using an instrument developed by Photoswitch Biosciences Incorporated, these light-sensitive ion channels can then be used to control the function of other ion channels of interest. Monitoring tiny electrical changes in the cells allows researchers to screen chemical libraries for new drug candidates or to evaluate the safety of new drugs for use in humans.
Abberior Instruments Licenses Next Generation STED Technology

STED microscopy is a Nobel Prize awarded technology that allows to create highly resolved fluorescence images far below the diffraction limit. Earlier this year, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen have proposed and demonstrated their new Protected STED concept which enhances the image contrast and reduces photobleaching in STED microscopy by up to an order of magnitude. It is expected that their invention will particularly boost life-cell and medical applications of STED microscopy.
Read more … Abberior Instruments Licenses Next Generation STED Technology
Novel approach for the treatment of schizophrenia

The Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC), Max Planck Innovation GmbH and Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH have signed an agreement providing Boehringer Ingelheim with the option to receive the exclusive rights to a new lead compound for the treatment of schizophrenia to be discovered and developed at the LDC.
Read more … Novel approach for the treatment of schizophrenia
Max Planck Innovation joins TechnologieAllianz

Max Planck Innovation together with six other new members reinforces the nationwide Verband für Wissens- und Technologietransfer (Federation for the Transfer of Knowledge and Technology) from German universities and research facilities. The country's largest network for the exploitation of research results from the German scientific community offers industry access to Germany´s largest pool of patented high technology.
Venneos raises seed round of 1 million euros

Venneos GmbH is based in Stuttgart and develops a novel imaging system for the analysis of biological cells. A consortium of business angels and family offices, along with the High-Tech Gründerfonds and Max Planck Society invest in the company to develop a market-ready product and prepare the market entry of the first product generation.
The vaccines company
Sugar does not just make vaccines sweet. Some vaccines owe their effect to carbohydrates, to which sugar belongs. Vaxxilon, a company jointly founded by the Max Planck Society and the Swiss firm Actelion Ltd, will carry out research and development of these carbohydrate-based vaccines and bring them to market. The synthetic vaccines will primarily provide protection against bacterial infections. With a view to launching them on the market, Vaxxilon has acquired the exclusive rights to various preclinical vaccine candidates and methods from Max-Planck-Innovation GmbH, the Max Planck Society’s technology transfer company. The scientific basis for Vaxxilon’s business model was established by a team of scientists headed by Peter Seeberger, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam/Golm.
Licence Agreement on Novel Anti-cancer Compound

The Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC), a renowned translational drug discovery organization established by Max Planck Innovation, and Qurient Co., Ltd have signed a licence deal providing Qurient with exclusive worldwide rights to a series of highly-selective CDK7 inhibitors discovered at the LDC for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and viral infections. The partners will closely collaborate to advance the approach from the validated lead stage into clinical development. Upon successful proof-of-concept in humans they will jointly identify a suitable partner for follow-on licensing.
IT incubator to commercialize research results of computer science in Saarbrücken

The ideas and inventions arising from research projects of the joint venture between Max Planck Society and Saarland University’s computer science department will in future to be further developed on campus and then marketed for application. Scientists can either set up their own companies or develop the technology to the stage where established businesses can purchase these licenses. In support of these scientists, Max Planck Society and Saarland University co-founded the IT Inkubator GmbH to create structures, which inventors and young entrepreneurs need in order to bring new technologies to market.
Read more … IT incubator to commercialize research results of computer science in Saarbrücken
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2014 for Max Planck researcher Stefan Hell

Stefan W. Hell, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen has been awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He shares the prize with Eric Betzig and William E. Moerner.
Read more … Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2014 for Max Planck researcher Stefan Hell
Profitable exit: KonTEM trade sale to FEI Company (NASDAQ: FEIC)

KonTEM GmbH, an HTGF-financed spin-off of the Max Planck Society and the research centre caesar, was taken over by FEI Company on a share deal basis. Thus the phase contrast technology developed by KonTEM is absorbed in the portfolio of a globally operating market leader in the field of high-performance microscopy workflow solutions.
Read more … Profitable exit: KonTEM trade sale to FEI Company (NASDAQ: FEIC)
LDC Forms Early Drug Discovery Alliance with Daiichi Sankyo

The Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC), a renowned translational research organization, and Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. (hereafter, Daiichi Sankyo), Japan, have teamed up to discover new medicines for the treatment of disease with high unmet medical needs. The partners will focus on targeted disease areas and novel mechanisms of strategic interest to Daiichi Sankyo, including oncology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
Read more … LDC Forms Early Drug Discovery Alliance with Daiichi Sankyo
New 3D-image modelling technology enables anyone to have a 3D digital doppelgänger

Body Labs, Inc., a company based in New York City, has developed the world's most advanced technology for creating 3D digital avatars in a fully automated way. The technology, based on nearly a decade of research from Brown University and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, makes it possible to easily create highly accurate and realistic avatars that can mimic the entire range of human motion. This capability opens up new possibilities for clothing and product design, 3D printing for specialty equipment and apparel, gaming, animation and online apparel sales.
Read more … New 3D-image modelling technology enables anyone to have a 3D digital doppelgänger
LMU / MPG spin-off fights neurodegenerative diseases

Neurodegenerative diseases are diseases of the nervous system that often progress slowly and are characterized by a loss of mental and physical abilities. The deposition of disease-relevant accumulations of protein in the brain plays an important role in the pathogenesis of many neurodegenerative diseases. Scientists at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) and the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen have successfully developed a drug candidate that can significantly reduce the formation of these deposits. In the joint spin-off company MODAG GmbH the active substance anle138b is now to be developed up to market maturity to stop diseases such Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Creutzfeld-Jakob in the future. To this effect, MODAG successfully concluded its first round of financing with up to EUR 8 million in participation with the Bayerische Patentallianz GmbH representing the two research institutions LMU and Max Planck Society (MPG).
Read more … LMU / MPG spin-off fights neurodegenerative diseases
Anti-Cancer Program Originating from LDC Reaches Clinical Trials

The Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC) announces today that an innovative kinase inhibitor program licensed to Bayer Pharma AG, Germany (Bayer) in 2011, has been progressed to clinical trials. By 2012, Bayer had successfully advanced a lead compound from the program to the preclinical development stage. This fall, Bayer enrolled the first participant into a Phase I study to determine the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetic profile in patients with advanced cancer.
Read more … Anti-Cancer Program Originating from LDC Reaches Clinical Trials
Lead Discovery Center GmbH Announces Five-year Strategic Partnership with Merck Serono

Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC) a renowned translational research organization, today announced a five-year strategic partnership with Merck Serono, Darmstadt, Germany, the biopharmaceutical division of Merck. This collaboration integrates the expertise and resources of both organizations to expedite the discovery of promising lead structures and to optimize the development of therapeutic candidates in areas of high unmet medical need.
Read more … Lead Discovery Center GmbH Announces Five-year Strategic Partnership with Merck Serono
Dolby Licenses Max Planck Imaging Technology

Dolby Laboratories, a world leader in audio and imaging technologies, has licensed an innovative imaging patent portfolio from the Max Planck Institute for Informatics – The technology relates to High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging and increases the ability of images to show real world light intensities and color levels, while also reducing storage requirements. The technology provides an innovative design which makes it possible to achieve high picture quality from HDR-capable displays, while also providing backward compatibility with existing low-dynamic range (LDR) displays. Dolby is now aiming to develop the technology for use with next generation displays.
Serum Institute of India acquires rights to German TB vaccine – Researchers continue to refine classic TB vaccine

Hopes are high for a new and improved tuberculosis vaccine: Serum Institute of India is planning on taking a promising vaccine - originally developed in Germany - and introducing it into the clinical setting. Studies have shown that the new vaccine is more effective and better tolerated than currently available options. By signing a contract with the Hannover-based Vakzine Projekt Management GmbH (VPM), Serum, one of the World’s leading vaccine manufacturers, has effectively secured the license to the various patents and technologies related to the new vaccine.
Licencing agreement for high-resolution images in medical research

STED microscopy creates high-resolution images far below the diffraction limit of visible light. However, the technique’s engineering aspects remain comparatively complex, which impedes its dissemination and use. A technology called EASYDOnut, developed by the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry and the German Cancer Research Center, simplifies the optical system considerably and has now been licenced by spin-off Abberior GmbH. EASYDOnut precisely guides the laser beams of the STED microscope onto the sample being investigated by means of a single optical element. This innovation can encourage the spread of STED microscopy and benefit medical research. STED microscopy permits significant information to be obtained, even from living human cells.
Read more … Licencing agreement for high-resolution images in medical research
MPI of Biochemistry, LDC and Qurient Close License Deal on a New Compound against Metastatic and Drug-resistant Cancers

The Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (MPIB), the Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC) and Qurient Co., Ltd have entered into a license agreement providing Qurient with world-wide, exclusive rights to a new kinase inhibitor for the treatment of metastatic cancer.
LDC forms Drug Discovery alliance with AstraZeneca

The Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC) and AstraZeneca have joined forces to discover new medicines for the treatment of human diseases with high unmet medical need. Through a two-year collaboration, AstraZeneca will add 250,000 high-quality compounds to LDC’s internal screening collection to pursue projects in the areas of oncology, neuroscience, respiratory and inflammation, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and infection research.
Read more … LDC forms Drug Discovery alliance with AstraZeneca
MPG Spin-off DRDx Concludes First Round of Financing with Support from QIAGEN and High-Tech Gründerfonds

The Hennigsdorf firm Drug Response Dx GmbH (DRDx GmbH) successfully concluded its first round of financing with High-Tech Gründerfonds and QIAGEN. The investment will serve to develop a biomarker test kit for rheumatoid arthritis treatment guidance with so-called TNF-alpha inhibitors. The test is secured by a unique patent platform exclusively in-licensed by the Max Planck Society (MPG).
Combination of two pharmaceuticals proves effective in the treatment of multiple sclerosis

Joint Press Release of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and the Max Planck Research Unit for Enzymology of Protein Folding
Anti-Cancer Project Originating from LDC Reaches Next Milestone

The Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC) announces today that an innovative kinase inhibitor program licensed to Bayer Pharma AG, Germany (Bayer) last year, has reached an important transition milestone. Bayer has successfully advanced this kinase inhibitor program into pre-clinical development with the goal of eventually advancing this candidate into oncology clinical development. Protein kinases are key components of cellular signaling pathways that control tumor cell growth, metabolism and metastasis. They have therefore become prime targets for oncology drug discovery and clinical development.
Read more … Anti-Cancer Project Originating from LDC Reaches Next Milestone
TandemLaunch licenses new 3D technology

Max Planck Innovation, the technology transfer organization of the Max Planck Society together with the Patent Marketing Agency of Saarland Universities have licensed a new method for processing digital stereo image content to TandemLaunch Technologies, a Canada based company, which develops multimedia inventions into consumer technologies. The new “Backward-compatible Stereo 3D” technology makes it possible to watch movies in 3D, when wearing glasses, and 2D without glasses at the same time.
CARE will come

Professor Hans Schöler, Director of the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Molecular Biomedicine in Münster, welcomes the clear commitment to CARE made by the state government of North-Rhine Westphalia: “We are delighted to report that a firm agreement has been reached on the development of this important institute.” The proposed translational research centre will jointly further develop insights from basic research together with the business community so that they can provide a real benefit for patients in the form of new treatment and diagnostic processes. CARE was initiated by the MPI in Münster and Max Planck Innovation, the Max Planck Society’s technology transfer organisation.
Incubation: Gentle stimuli for pain relief

Life Science Inkubator promotes new research team --- Scientists from the Life Science Inkubator (LSI) in Bonn, which was established by the technology transfer organisation Max Planck Innovation with the aim of facilitating spin-offs in the field of the life sciences, want to explore new directions in the area of pain therapy. The aim is to suppress pain using weak electric and mechanical stimuli. The stimulation will be generated using special bandages with integrated high-tech chips. Preliminary studies indicate that this process is particularly suited to the alleviation of chronic pain.
High-Tech Gründerfonds invests in KonTEM GmbH

Joint press release of High-Tech Gründerfonds, Max-Planck-Innovation GmbH, Center of advanced european studies and research (caesar) and KonTEM GmbH --- KonTEM GmbH, a spin-off company of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG) and the Center of advanced european studies and research (caesar), has developed an innovative phase contrast system for transmission electron microscopes (TEM). The system combines enhanced image contrast with high object resolution and thus opens up new possibilities for the analysis of biological specimen. With its investment, the High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) supports the operational ramp-up and growth of the young company and emphasizes the high potential of this innovative technology.