Transcure Biosciences wins venture kick award of CHF130‘000

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16.05.2013
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TransCure Biosciences provides access to humanized immune system (HIS) and HIV mouse models for studying infectious and non-infectious diseases of the human immune system. The start-up also aims at developing a radical, definitive clinical cure against HIV/AIDS.

TransCure Biosciences Holding SA was incorporated in 2011 near Geneva, Switzerland as a spin-off from the University of Geneva, Pretoria, and Zürich. The team has years of experience with reconstituted, humanized immune system mice for drug profiling.

Today TransCure offers access to humanized immune system (HIS) mouse models for preclinical drug development. HIS mouse models are of interest for many therapeutic areas including various infectious diseases (e.g. HIV, CMV, EBV, Dengue Virus, Malaria), tumours and cancers, transplantation immunology, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, as well as vaccine responses. The mouse models have several advantages. For example, they allow cost effective validation in preclinical animal models and are in many diseases, the only alternative to monkey models.

Transcure is already offering mouse models to customers. But the company has a second key area. The start-up is developing a radical cure for HIV by engineering the immune system with proprietary lentivector constructs blocking the functional expression of CCR5, the co-receptor necessary for HIV infection. Transplantation of autologous bone marrow cells made resistant to HIV through functional repression of the patient endogenous CCR5 receptors is the approach. The recent report of an HIV patient who has been cured through transplantation of a CCR5-deficient (= HIV resistant) bone marrow has raised high hopes that such a treatment could for the first time provide a more widely applicable radical cure for HIV.

Regarding the support from venture kick CEO Patrick Nef says: “In addition to the financial support venture kick brought respect in our industry and validated our strategy.”

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