2cureX German subsidiary receives a grant contribution to support the activities towards automation of the IndiTreat® test
Copenhagen — April 29, 2020 — 2cureX AB (“2cureX”, NASDAQ: 2CUREX) announced today that the company’s German subsidiary 2cureX GmbH (“2cureX”) has received a grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research to co-develop an automated system for handling and deposition of 3D-micro-tumors (tumoroids) into 2cureX’s IndiTreat® test system. This project is conducted in collaboration with Hahn-Schickard and the Department of Microsystems Engineering (“IMTEK”) at the University of Freiburg.
The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF) has announced to endorse the engineering project with a grant of one million EUR. Hahn-Schickard, IMTEK and 2cureX will codevelop a platform for in vitro experiments with tumoroids from human tissue that meets the requirements for personalized medicine in terms of miniaturization, standardization, automation, flexibility and throughput. 2cureX will receive 110.458 EUR to validate the novel processing system and integrate it into its IndiTreat® test.
IndiTreat® is a Functional Precision Medicine test that screen available drug treatments against tumoroids from an individual cancer patient and identifies the treatment that most effectively kills the patient’s tumor cells. IndiTreat® has shown clinical validity in international studies and will be marketed in Europe in the second half of 2020. Tissue samples from European patients will presently be tested in 2cureX’s test facilities in Denmark and Germany. To increase market penetration and test volume, 2cureX has launched an IndiTreat® automation program that will allow 2cureX to decentralize the testing activities.
Automation of tumoroid handling will increase the applicability of functional testing in clinical practice and improve the precision of the IndiTreat Test. This will ensure constant operator-independent quality standards across different hospitals where IndiTreat is being implemented.
Jürgen Kupper, Managing Director, 2cureX GmbH says: “Automation of key processes in our IndiTreat testing procedure will provide us with a competitive advantage in performing quality-controlled functional precision medicine tests for cancer patients. I am enthusiastic about embarking on a joint project with a team of highly skilled engineers at Hahn-Schickard and IMTEK, which will strengthen the scalability of our screening activities.”
Peter Koltay, Dr. rer.nat, IMTEK, says: “This project is an exciting opportunity for us to extend our technology for single-cell printing further towards bioprinting of single spheroids and to open up new applications in the field of bioprinting and for personalized diagnostics. We are delighted to work together with 2cureX and Hahn-Schickard towards exciting new products to improve individual treatment of cancer patients”
Sabrina Kartmann, Group Leader Autonomous Fluidic systems, Hahn-Schickard says: “The novel spheroid production and microtumour deposition platform allow Hahn-Schickard to take an outstanding position in an internationally highly competitive and innovative field of research. Further applications beyond personalised cancer therapy can be addressed, such as in vitro experiments with artificial organ models for pharmaceutical drug research. I am very much looking forward to the upcoming collaboration.”
For more information about 2cureX:
Ole Thastrup, Chief Executive Officer
E-mail: ot@2curex.com
Telephone: +45 2211 5399
www.2curex.com
Certified Adviser
Svensk Kapitalmarknadsgranskning AB
Email: ca@skmg.se
Phone: +46 11 32 30 732
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About 2cureX
2cureX has developed the IndiTreat® (Individual Treatment) test. IndiTreat® establishes thousands of 3D micro-tumours that are similar to the patient’s tumour and identifies the treatment that most effectively kills the patient’s tumor. Immediately after the test, the patient can be offered the selected treatment.
IndiTreat® is being clinically validated in clinical studies in colorectal cancer, ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer and preventive cancer medicine. The clinical programs are conducted at major cancer hospitals in Denmark, Germany and United Kingdom.
IndiTreat® is presently being introduced into the European market through an Early Access Program.
The aspiration is that IndiTreat® becomes a standard tool in Precision Medicine for cancer patients.
The company is listed at the Nasdaq First North Growth Market in Stockholm (symbol “2CUREX”).
About Hahn-Schickard
The Hahn-Schickard-Gesellschaft für angewandte Forschung e.V. is a non-profit association located in Southwest Germany. With a team of more than 250 employees at three institutes, Hahn-Schickard offers applied research and development services in microsystems engineering, micro assembly technology, microanalytical systems, medical devices and information technology. Hahn-Schickard develops and validates prototypes up to serial-production quality. It provides services for industry and SMEs.
About IMTEK
The expertise of the research group at the Laboratory of MEMS Applications at the IMTEK at the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg lies in the field of microfluidics and especially in contact-free micro dispensing. Current research topics of the group are related 3D bio-printing for the production of artificial tissue and to the analysis of single cells or bacteria, which are separated and sorted in a controlled manner using drop-on-demand methods and then examined individually using genotyping assays or next-generation sequencing.
