The FIT selection committee has awarded a grant of CHF 100’000 to Alithea Genomics. Moreover, due to the financial and logistical difficulties caused by the pandemic, the three projects Flowbone, Limula and SenSwiss, which had been awarded a FIT Innogrant in 2019, received an exceptional extension of CHF 20'000.
Alithea Genomics designs low-cost transcriptomics solutions, which consist of the study of messenger RNAs produced during genome transcription. The technology enables large-scale studies to be conducted in the pharmaceutical and biomedical fields, such as the diagnosis of COVID-19. The start-up provides high quality, highly informative data that can be directly exploited by R&D platforms, thus making efforts to functionalize biobanks and drug screening more productive for successful discoveries.
With its innovation, Alithea Genomics hopes to facilitate basic- and clinical research projects, such as biomarker discovery or drug development, which was previously unfeasible due to economic and practical reasons. To support its development, EPFL and FIT have awarded CHF 100’000 as part of an Innogrant scholarship to Alithea Genomics.
Additional funding for three medtech start-ups
Following the outbreak of the coronavirus, the EPFL campus and laboratories closed their premises, which drastically halted research activities. Subsequently, the EPFL conducted a survey on its projects to assess the impact of the crisis on their progress and financial situation. Due to the worrying results, EPFL Start-up Unit and FIT have decided to grant an additional CHF 20’000 to projects that have been awarded an Innogrant in 2019. The extension of these grants, whose primary objective is to cover the teams’ salaries, will enable the selected three start-ups to conclude the developments planned and slowed down by COVID-19.
The supported startups are
Flowbone – is developing a gel capable of locally strengthening the bones of people with osteoporosis, a disease characterized by an increased risk of fractures and affects 250 million people worldwide.
Limula Biotech – is developing an all-in-one manufacturing platform focusing on cell and gene therapies (CGT) rapid and safe production of treatments directly at the patient’s bedside.
SenSwiss – is developing an affordable biosensor that detects the amount of vancomycin antibiotic in less than five minutes with just a few drops of blood. Vancomycin has serious side effects on the kidneys, hence it must be monitored regularly.
(RAN)
Image: Fotolia Wael Kahlil
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