AiCubator timeline and important deadlines
Up to 3 projects per year are being selected.
Often, it is not the lack of groundbreaking ideas that prevents the development of novel, innovative anti-infective drugs. Rather, a lack of funding, development and business experience limits resources for start-ups and scientific groups, discouraging the development of new therapeutic options. AiCuris strongly believes that there is a need to encourage the development of more early projects based on new scientific principles to fill pipeline gaps, tackle AMR and prevent future pandemics. Therefore, we are constantly searching for novel technologies and creative approaches to develop more effective treatments against infectious diseases with high medical needs.
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Project description:
Project minimal criteria
Applicant
We encourage you to apply for AiCubator resident status during our call between October 1st and December 31st, 2022, to get insights into the pharmaceutical business. As one of the leaders in anti-infectives, we offer an expert evaluation of your project and support in topics such as pre-clinical and clinical drug development.
Up to 3 projects per year are being selected.
Every year AiCuris selects up to three projects that are scientifically attractive but too early staged for licensing deals. These projects should focus on areas of high priority in the field of anti-infectives.
Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Germany
Researchers from the Institute for Clinical and Molecular Virology at the Universitätsklinikum Erlangen guided by Prof. Dr. Manfred Marschall in cooperation with academic partners at the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, discovered unique structural and functional properties of the globular domain of the cytomegalovirus-specific nuclear egress complex (NEC), thereby nominating generally the herpesviral NECs as novel potential targets for therapy strategies against herpesvirus infections.
MADAM Therapeutics, Netherlands
MADAM Therapeutics, Netherlands Madam Therapeutics is an innovative biotech company from the Netherlands that aims to develop novel antimicrobial therapies. Their AI-driven approach helps to identify specific safe and efficient antimicrobial peptides with strong potential for blood stream infections and topical wounds
Prokaryotics Inc., USA
Prokaryotics Inc., USA (a spin-out from from Merck & Co., Inc.) aim to develop a new antibiotic that targets the fundamentally essential biochemical assembly components of the Gram-negative outer membrane, an intrinsic barrier that naturally restricts antibiotic entry and ultimate efficacy. The most promising enzymes target for drug development in this regard is LspA.
Selmod SA, Switzerland
Selmod SA, Switzerland have developed a novel class of gyrase inhibitors addressing the known target but overcoming fluoroquinolones resistance. With a lead candidate and three further candidates with a broad spectrum of activity against Gram-negative bacteria, Selmod’s project promises to be an innovative approach as a resistance breaking antibiotic.
University of Essen
The University of Essen, Germany have discovered in preclinical studies that specific forms of interferons are more efficient than the standard treatment. Based on that they engineered chimeric interferons with increased antiviral activity. These interferons could improve efficacy of future HBV therapy as well as protection from various viruses, including future pandemics.