AGILeBiotics is passionately translating innovation into novel antibacterials to treat patients infected by life-threatening hospital-acquired multidrug-resistant bacteria.
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Carduso Capital Groningen invests in PulmoTech BV.
PulmoTech, a young startup located in Groningen, develops a special catheter to guide mechanical ventilation more precisely in patients admitted to the Intensive Care.
Around 30-60% of the patients admitted to the Intensive Care receive mechanical ventilation. Although it is a lifesaving therapy, mechanical ventilation can also lead to injury to the respiratory muscles and the lungs. Mechanical ventilation can cause weakening of the diaphragm, the most important muscle during inspiration, because the patient does not utilize the diaphragm sufficiently. Consequently, a great number of patients experience problems breathing spontaneously after being mechanically ventilated for a long period of time. These complications emphasize the need to accurately and continuously monitor the function of the diaphragm and the lungs during Intensive Care admission.
Current techniques usually measure outside the body. However, it is necessary to assess what the patient is doing (breathing effort) and what the patient needs (support), to prevent unnecessary damage to the lungs and the respiratory muscles. The catheter developed by PulmoTech, an innovative small tube with special sensors, is inserted via the nose or mouth into the esophagus, allowing the possibility to accurately measure the function of the respiratory muscles and the lungs inside the body. This enables additional diagnostic possibilities, individualizing mechanical ventilation, to ensure patients can breath spontaneously as soon as possible. PulmoTech expects that the catheter will have important benefits in comparison to the current technologies available on the Intensive Care.
The investment of Carduso Capital enables PulmoTech to initiate the last phase of the catheter’s clinical development, where the benefits of the catheter will be verified, and start up the production phase. PulmoTech expects that the first catheters will be ready for the market mid-2021.
More information about PulmoTech and its innovative catheter will be available soon on: www.pulmo-tech.com
Groningen , October 25 th , 2019:
For more information:
PulmoTech:
Dhr. Rutger Flink
Tel: +31 (0) 6-14731604
Email: rutger@pulmo-tech.com
Carduso Capital:
Dhr. Frits Kok
Tel: +31 (0) 6-53751211
Mail: frits.kok@cardusocapital.com
Jonge Ondernemingsprijs awarded to Carduso financed entrepreneur Nutte van Belzen
On 3 October, the Jonge Ondernemingsprijs 2019 [JOP, Young Entrepreneurs Award] was awarded to Nutte van Belzen’s Groningen-based company CC Diagnostics. Van Belzen is a UG alumnus who founded his company to exploit an unused patent held by the University, which he and two other students had been allowed to use in an Extracurricular Course on Entrepreneurship of the University of Groningen Centre of Entrepreneurship (UGCE). After completing his course, they took part in the VentureLab Weekend. This was a stepping-stone to the Venture-Lab North programme, after which the young entrepreneur completed his business plan and got financed by Carduso Capital.
CC Diagnostics is developing a new cervical cancer ‘self-sampling’ test using PCR testing of methylated genes, which will replace the current triage test (the Pap smear). The methylation test is more accurate, women-friendly and may decrease the number of ‘missed’ cancer cases from 24% to 3%. It also reduces the number of false positives. The jury was especially impressed by the fact that Van Belzen is a physician and an entrepreneur. The jury also praised him for the development of the new cervical cancer test.
4-Gn start-ups nominated
Four Start-Ups from Groninger are nominated for the “Academic Start-Up competition 2019”. Under them are 2 Carduso Capital participations CC Diagnostics and EV Biotech.
PIMS-E:
Carduso Capital invests in PIMS-E, a University of Groningen Spin-off developing an alternative for the Epipen™ via inhalation of Epinephrine by persons in a life-threatening reaction after exposure to an allergen that is dangerous to them. Think of insect stings such as from bees and wasps, food and drug allergies. The advantages of operation is the very short exposure time of dry-powder inhalation, one no longer has to give oneself an injection and the medicine has a long shelf life (and does not have to be kept in the refrigerator either).
PIMS-E did retrieve additional capital from the Carduso Capital investment fund for the development and commercialization of this Cyclops® dry powder inhalation. Dry powder inhalation is a method in which medicines are administered extremely efficiently through the lungs. The financing supports PIMS-E with the development, clinical testing and marketing of this new application.
The Cyclops® technology ensures optimum respiratory delivery of the medication in the purest form. This prevents unwanted side effects from excipients. PIMS-E sees the lungs as the ideal access to the systemic circulation for epinephrine. This route offers a number of advantages compared to the current most used application via the Epipen ™. The short exposure time and the non-invasive administration in combination with a longer shelf life at room temperature gives a greater ease of use and prevents the risk of puncture accidents.
PIMS-E is a pharmaceutical company based in Roden, The Netherlands, with in-house development and manufacturing capabilities and is established in collaboration with the University of Groningen’s Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmacy of Professor Dr. H.W. Frijlink. Because of this unique partnership, PIMS-E possesses a skilled, enthusiastic and passionate team of researchers, pharmacists, pharmacy assistants, pharmaceutical professionals, QA/RA officials and product and process developers. For more information about PIMS-E, the director Reinier Schwietert can be contacted.
Carduso Capital is an investment firm based in Groningen, The Netherlands that participates in innovative technology companies that have strong technology links with the University of Groningen (RUG) and the University Medical Centre of Groningen (UMCG) and its affiliates. Carduso Capital believes it is important to invest in innovative companies that are early stage or at a certain moment search for capital to finance their growth. Carduso Capital supports initiatives within the main themes Life Sciences and Energy and aims for long-term cooperation’s. Besides participations with capital Carduso Capital also provides proactive management support and the use of its broad international network.
For more information about Carduso Capital: www.cardusocapital.com
Roden, Groningen, April 26 2019
For further information:
PIMS-E:
Mr. Reinier Schwietert
Tel: +31 (0) 6-51148308
Mail: rschwietert@pureims.com
Carduso Capital:
Mr. Frits Kok
Tel: +31 (0) 6-5375 1211
Mail: frits.kok@cardusocapital.com
EV Biotech kicks off, Investment from Carduso Capital, UMCG-Hanzepoort and RuG-Holding
Shifting the chemical market from petrochemical-based to biological-based compound production: a revolutionary step for a more sustainable world.
EV Biotech has been granted investments from Carduso Capital, in addition to the UMCG-Hanzepoort and RUG-Holding cooperation, to develop their microbial cell factories. EV Biotech creates micro-organism that effectively produce high value chemical compounds in a biological fashion. These organisms will be used for industrial scale production of these chemicals. The method EV Biotech uses to create their cell factories is revolutionary to the field. EV Biotech has created a digital laboratory to test all cell possibilities in advance, limiting time, waste, expenses and carbon footprint. A green and biological way to produce molecules used in Fragrance, Flavour, Pharma, Plastic, Agricultural and Fuel industries. 3 former PhD students from the University of Groningen founded the company
EV Biotech creates a new production platform for high value chemicals using computational modelling and micro-organisms. The production of the molecules will be biological, green and effective. The products made through this platform are of high purity, which is often hard to reach with chemical synthetic production. EV Biotech has been operational since July 2018 and is kicking off its laboratory activities now in the InnoLab AgriFood on the Campus Groningen. The technology used by EV Biotech creates a more sustainable production platform. EV Biotech has created a digital laboratory that can predict the most effective organism to produce specialty chemicals. Directly after the closing EV Biotech is strengthening its team to 6 people working on the developments.
“The investment in EV Biotech will allow the company to prove the effectiveness of their novel production pipeline by creating 4 proof of concept micro-organism factories which will be implemented into the market. EV Biotech serves the need of great chemical production firms. The investment together, with RUG-Holding and UMCG-Hanzepoort will help EV Biotech to break the petrochemical based chemical market to become bio-based.” Says Koos Koops, one of the Carduso fund managers. Founder and CEO Linda Dijkshoorn adds: “To reach a sustainable future we need to move away from chemical synthesis and use natures inventions to our advantage. Having 3 strong partners as investors will help us achieve this goal faster and more effectively.” EV Biotech will work on their proof of concepts in the coming two years to enter the market with their proof of concepts and start CRO activities.
For more information: www.evbio.tech
Patrick Brouns as representative of the province of Groningen, also a partner of Carduso Capital through its Investeringsfonds Groningen (IFG) says: “Because of the possibilities Carduso Capital has to offer new initiatives, potential ‘hidden gems’, will come to the surface and further energise the regional economic activity; one of our main goals with IFG.”
Carduso Capital is an investment fund based in Groningen that participates in innovative technology companies with strong technological connections with the University of Groningen (RUG) and the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) and knowledge institutions within its network. Carduso Capital considers it essential to invest in early stage, innovative companies; or companies that at some point need financing to continue growing. Carduso Capital supports initiatives within the areas of Life Sciences, Energy and Sustainability on the basis of long-term cooperation. In addition to financing, Carduso Capital offers management support and the possibility to use their worldwide international network. Investors in Carduso are: EIF, Investeringsfonds Groningen, NOM, De Friesland Participaties and RUG/UMCG.
For more info on Carduso Capital: www.cardusocapital.com
For further information :
EV Biotech:
Linda Dijkshoorn
Tel: +31(0) 6-50919901
Mail: l.dijkshoorn@evbio.tech
Carduso Capital:
Koos Koops
Tel: +31 (0) 6-22989098
Mail: koos.koops@cardusocapital.com
The EV Biotech team:
Carduso Capital participation ‘BioBTX’ and Teijin Aramid are looking at sustainable feedstock for super fiber.
Groningen, Nederland, 30 Oktober 2018
The Japanese company, Teijin Aramid, and the Dutch BioBTX are working on a synthetic fiber made entirely of sustainable materials. The initiative that is about to start is financially supported by the provinces of Drenthe and Groningen and by Chemport Europe. Teijin Aramid has production facilities in Emmen and Delfzijl. The initiative contributes to making the industry greener. It also strengthens the position of the Northern Netherlands chemical cluster, also known as Chemport Europe.
Teijin Aramid produces super strong fibers in the Netherlands under the brand name Twaron®. In the Netherlands, the company has facilities in, among others, Delfzijl and Emmen. Their fibers are used worldwide in products that need to be made stronger, lighter and more durable. For example, in car tires, light freight containers, and protective clothing. To produce Twaron® fossil resources are used for which there are currently no sustainable alternatives.
Site Manager, Edward Groen, from Teijin Aramid in Delfzijl explains that his company wants to examine the possibility of producing a so-called bio-based version of their Twaron® fiber. “Sustainability is an important subject for us. We are focused on both sustainability improvement by the application of our products in the chain with a lighter weight and longer lifespan, and reducing our CO2 footprint during production. In production the focus is on reducing energy flows and making them more sustainable. We’re also exploring possibilities for greener raw materials. It’s fantastic to do this scouting with a partner in Groningen.”
BioBTX
To develop a green feedstock Teijin Aramid works together with the company BioBTX in Groningen. This company developed a sustainable technology that can transform renewable resources, such as biomass and residual products, into chemical resources, mainly benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX). With the BioBTX technology, it is possible to produce these so-called aromatics in a sustainable manner and, thus, largely reduce CO2 emissions. BioBTX recently opened a pilot plant to produce aromatics on the Zernike Campus in Groningen. Based on these aromatics the chemical company Syncom will produce specific building blocks. The polymer and fibers will be made in the Research Center at Teijin Aramid in Arnhem, based on the processes in Delfzijl and Emmen.
Pieter Imhof, CEO at BioBTX, responds enthusiastically. “We have already demonstrated that it is technically feasible to make bio-based BTX and polyester. Via this path and with the renowned Teijin Aramid, we want to demonstrate that it can also be used as a raw material for high-quality applications that have very strict quality requirements!”
Carduso participation Deam receives innovation award from Mona Keijzer, state secretary for economic affairs.
On 4 October, the no. 1 Eurostars Projects of the past 3 years were presented with an innovation award during the Innovation Expo 2018 in Rotterdam.
BioBTX commences operation of pilot plant for production of sustainable platform chemicals
Groningen, the Netherlands, September 13th, 2018
BioBTX B.V., a sustainable technology development company, today announced the official opening of the pilot plant for the production of sustainable platform chemicals in Groningen, the Netherlands.
BioBTX is developing a technology to convert non-food biomass and end-of-life feedstock materials into cornerstone aromatic chemicals, with a focus on Benzene, Toluene and Xylenes (“BTX”), which drop-in chemical intermediates are widely used for the production of plastics. By using renewable carbon sources, a significant contribution to the circular economy will be made, reducing the use of fossil feedstocks and lowering emission of greenhouse gases.
This pilot plant will initially convert non-food liquid biomass, like glycerol and fatty acids. In a second stage, the unit will be made suited to process solid biomass and end-of-life materials, like plastics and composites as well.
The pilot plant is located at Zernike Advance Processing (“ZAP”) site in Groningen the Netherlands, a semi-industrial environment with a focus on bio-based products, where knowledge institutions and businesses can take the important step from lab bench to medium scale production in green chemistry and biotechnology. Earlier this year, the offices of BioBTX have moved to this site, thus facilitating optimal communication and operation.
“We are excited that we can make this next step in commercialization of our technology following successful laboratory experiments in collaboration with the University of Groningen”, Pieter Imhof, CEO of BioBTX says. “This is a milestone in our work to support the transition to a sustainable and circular economy. With this pilot plant we will be able to proof and optimize the technology, and provide samples to our partners for product and application research, for example by conversion into bio-based plastics.
The support of the shareholders as well as national (RVO), regional (SNN, Provinces of Groningen and Drenthe and municipality of Emmen) and European subsidies has enabled us to make this important step for our company.
We are looking forward to the outcomes from our pilot plant operation, which will allow us to commercialize our technology”.
About BioBTX B.V.
BioBTX B.V. is a sustainable technology development company. BioBTX is developing the ICCP (Integrated Cascading Catalytic Pyrolysis) technology for the cost competitive production of sustainable, aromatic chemical intermediates, like Benzene, Toluene, Xylenes, which are cornerstone chemicals for the production of plastics.
The technology is highly flexible with regards to feedstock materials, including non-food liquid and solid biomass as well as end-of-life materials.
The ICCP technology will contribute considerably to the circular economy making the chemical and plastics industry more sustainable.
BioBTX works with partners in the whole value to develop the technology
For further information contact:
Dr. Pieter Imhof, BioBTX B.V.
Tel: +31 (6) 5152 1179
Mail: pieter.imhof@biobtx.nl
Carduso Capital invests in “AGILeBiotics”
A breakthrough in the development of antibiotics against resistant bacteria
Carduso Capital invests in the Groningen start-up AGILeBiotics that is applying its platform technology, developing new antibiotics in the fast-growing markets of hospital-treated multidrug-resistant infections. The founding of AGILeBiotics is based on the worldwide patented platform ‘OxaSelect’, which gives quick access to various novel antibiotics based on an existing drug class. The technology was developed within the RUG. With OxaSelect a broad variety of drug candidates can be generated, leading to new antibiotics for the treatment of hospitalized patients infected by multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria.
AGILeBiotics develops new antibiotics through a specific platform, called Oxaselect, and combining it with different synthetic steps to create the right molecule. Since March 2017, AGILeBiotics operates as an early-stage drug development company that focuses on the identification of novel antibiotic candidates based on aminoglycosides for clinical trials. The long-term goal of AGILeBiotics is to out-license novel drug candidates after clinical Phase IIA to the pharmaceutical industry. The proven technology OxaSelect allows rapid modification of existing aminoglycoside antibiotics avoiding the need for new target- and hit identification. In this way, novel antibiotics with improved safety profile and overcoming antibacterial resistance will be evolved by structure-based design in a much more cost- and timely efficient manner as performed in the pharmaceutical industry.
“By investing in AGILeBiotics a ground-breaking technology, invented at the RUG, is being applied for the development of novel antibiotics. Our investment, in this stage together with other RUG/UMCG bounded investment-initiatives, which will help this development against hospital-treated infections caused by bacteria that are resistant against current antibiotics.” says Koos Koops, one of the Carduso Fund managers. Founder and CEO Andreas A. Bastian, adds: “Due to the financial participation of Carduso Capital we have a long-term committed partner on board”. “AGILeBiotics is planning to develop a few candidates including clinical Phase studies in patients and that will take some years. All of this has provided us with the opportunity to further explore our promising technology.”
The province of Groningen is also a partner of Carduso Capital, through its Investeringsfonds Groningen (IFG). Representative Patrick Brouns says: “Because of the possibilities Carduso Capital has to offer new initiatives, potential ‘hidden gems’, will come to the surface and further energise the regional economic activity; one of our main goals with IFG.”
For more information: www.AGILeBiotics.com
Carduso Capital is an investment fund based in Groningen that participates in innovative technology companies with strong technological connections with the University of Groningen (RUG) and the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) and knowledge institutions within its network. Carduso Capital considers it essential to invest in early stage, innovative companies; or companies that at some point need financing to continue growing. Carduso Capital supports initiatives within the areas of Life Sciences, Energy and Sustainability on the basis of long-term cooperation. In addition to financing, Carduso Capital offers management support and the possibility to use their worldwide international network. Investors in Carduso are: EIF, Investeringsfonds Groningen, NOM, De Friesland Participaties and RUG/UMCG.
For more info on Carduso Capital: www.cardusocapital.com
Groningen, 20th 2018.
For further information please contact:
AGILeBiotics:
Dr. Andreas Bastian
Tel: +31 (0) 6-39607999
Mail: a.a.bastian@agilebiotics.com
Carduso Capital:
Koos Koops
Tel: +31 (0) 6-22989098
Mail: koos.koops@cardusocapital.com
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