HZI spin-offs at a glance
Scientists at the HZI regularly and successfully transfer their results and technologies into start-ups and spin-offs. Here we present some of the companies.
Point-of-Care Molecular Diagnostics
Molecular diagnostics is central to patient health but has been confined to centralized laboratories due to the need for advanced instrumentation and highly trained personnel. Leopard Biosciences was founded by Prof. Chase Beisel and Dr. Mikkel Noerholm to democratize diagnostics by putting the power of molecular testing in the hands of doctors and patients at the point-of-care. Toward this goal, the company is commercializing LEOPARD, a unique CRISPR technology from the Beisel Lab at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) that offers simple-to-use, multiplex tests combining accuracy and sensitivity equivalent to PCR with the ease and accessibility of rapid antigen tests.
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Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System (SORMAS)
The SORMAS Foundation gGmbH is a non-profit organization. Its purpose is the sustainable international promotion of public health, in particular the prevention and control of communicable diseases, development cooperation as well as science and research for the benefit of the general public. It achieves this purpose by developing, promoting and implementing digital systems to support public national and international organizations in the early detection and containment of epidemics in a local and international context.
SORMAS was originally managed by the Department of Epidemiology at the HZI, but was spun off in June 2022 with the support of the Förderverein des HZI e.V., which is also the sole shareholder of the SORMAS Foundation gGmbH.
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Mammalian cell systems as decision tools for drug development processes
InSCREENeX produces cellular systems for drug development. By using state-of-the-art genetic manipulation techniques in the development of cells, InSCREENeX offers novel, user-friendly mammalian cell systems as decision tools for drug development. InSCREENeX GmbH was founded in December 2009 out of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) by Dr. Roland Schucht and Dr. Tobias May and is located on the Science Campus Braunschweig-Süd.
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Novel chemical diversity for the pharmaceutical industry
Nature is a historically valuable source of small molecule therapeutics. MyxoTech offers a library of natural products produced by strains from the phylum Myxococcota (commonly known as myxobacteria) to pharmaceutical companies developing drugs in indication areas outside of infectious disease.
If one were to envision chemical space representing the entire potential diversity of small molecules, myxobacterial metabolites occupy exclusive regions with proven therapeutically relevant bioactivities. Only MyxoTech is able to access these exclusive regions for the pharmaceutical industry due to the challenge culturing the diversity of these strains in the lab.
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Novel therapy for the treatment of liver diseases
HepaRegenix GmbH is a clinical stage company developing novel therapies for the treatment of acute and chronic liver diseases, founded in 2017. The concept is based on research results that co-founder Prof. Lars Zender and his team achieved when they were still working at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and the Hannover Medical School (MHH).
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