Pharmaceutics / Medical Equipment

A Dutch-British contract research organisation (CRO) is an immunology CRO specialised in immune modelling and immune response studies using in vitro and ex vivo cell culture systems, working in preclinical drug research and development, nanotech, medtech, cosmetics and nutrition. The company has experienced and highly specialised scientists, able to design and apply experimental models and use customised immune assays as well as standard assays tailored for the right solution. Immune modelling is the modelling of a system to test the immune response that may be associated with a drug, an infection or a metabolite. To support drug developing companies, the CRO provides various immunologic, in vitro, protein based and bioanalytical assays using cell lines and primary cells. These are provided either as standard assays or as custom designed assays. Through their defined assays they help pharma companies and institutes to study drug impact on immune response, protein expression, cell to cell interaction, migration, proliferation, cell death and cytotoxicity, functional assays using gene knockdown, lymphocyte functions, cytokine expressions, etc. One of their most successful assays is a macrophage polarisation assay. Many therapeutic strategies in immunooncology are focussed on macrophage polarisation. For many years the company developed novel assays in their highly equipped laboratory to meet the specific and unconventional needs of their clients. As a consequence, these fruitful years of research have led to new insights and strategies and creative ideas for conducting internal research. Today, recent outcome of this internal research on post-translational modification of immune cells, in particular macrophages, has developed into an immuno-therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is generally regarded as an aggressive, highly fatal, and often late-diagnosed malignancy: - Pancreatic duct adenocarcinoma (PDAC): 5-year survival rate <10% - Limited treatment options, late detection, high resistance - Urgent unmet need for effective, targeted therapies Their solution is a therapeutic development that enables targeted modulation of macrophages in pancreatic tumour microenvironment to induce tumour killing. Partnering, resources and funding sought to advance to the next phase Next step is to generate compelling preclinical data that further supports the feasibility, specificity, and efficacy of the approach An investment agreement or a strategic R&D cooperation agreement is foreseen. Advantages and innovations: Pancreatic cancer is generally regarded as an aggressive, highly fatal, and often late-diagnosed malignancy: - Pancreatic duct adenocarcinoma (PDAC): 5-year survival rate <10% - Limited treatment options, late detection, high resistance - Urgent unmet need for effective, targeted therapies Technical Specification or Expertise Sought The foreseen partner will be involved in funding the next steps in pancreatic cancer drug development. The next step is to generate compelling preclinical data that further supports the feasibility, specificity, and efficacy of the approach. Expected role of a partner: The foreseen partner will be involved in funding the next steps in pancreatic cancer drug development. The next step is to generate compelling preclinical data that further supports the feasibility, specificity, and efficacy of the approach.