CombiGene is awarded EUR 481,000 in project grants and broadens cooperation in the lipodystrophy project to include the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf and the CRO company Accelero, who receives EUR 265,000 and EUR 136,500 respectively within the same project grant
CombiGenes project CGT2 aims to develop a gene therapy for the treatment of the rare disease partial lipodystrophy. Thanks to funding from Eurostars, CombiGene can now expand the cooperation within the CGT2 project to include the University of Hamburg and Accelero. At the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf there is a research group with experts in lipid research that now will be linked to the CGT2 project. Accelero is a German CRO company that will help develop analytical methods to measure the effect of CGT2. EU’s Eurostar program, aimed at SMEs wishing to cooperate in research and development projects, has now allocated a total of EUR 882,500 in development funding to the CGT2 project. The money is distributed to CombiGene with EUR 481,000, Accelero with EUR 136,500 and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf with EUR 265,000.
Eurostars is the largest international financing program for SMEs wishing to cooperate on R&D. Competition is high and funding is only allocated to projects that come high in the rankings.
“The news that CombiGene’s lipodystrophy project CGT2 is awarded approximately SEK 9 million is of course extremely gratifying,” says CombiGene’s Preclinical Project Manager Annika Ericsson. “The grant itself is important because it allows us to drive the project forward at full pace. Our high ranking among the companies that have applied for funding from the Eurostars program, I also see as confirmation of the project’s scientific height and CombiGene’s ability to, in cooperation with external partners, run an effective and successful development work. This is a great day for CombiGene’s lipodystrophy project and for all those patients who are waiting for effective treatment of this severe disease.”
About the lipodystrophy project CGT2
The CGT2 project aims to develop a gene therapy treatment for partial lipodystrophy. The project was inlicensed from Lipigon Pharmaceuticals AB in 2019 and is in early preclinical development with a focus on the design and testing of gene therapy vectors.
Lipodystrophy is a rare disorder that is characterized by abnormal distribution of fat in the body. Patients suffer from lipoatrophy, which means that body fat is lost. In the absence of normal body fat different organs begin to accumulate fat, which subsequently leads to serious metabolic complications, among them, extreme insulin resistance, hypertriglyceridemia (elevated levels of the blood fat triglyceride) and hepatic steatosis (fatty liver disease).
There are currently a few treatments that can alleviate the symptoms of lipodystrophy, but no form of therapy that is targeted directly at the fundamental cause of the disorder. For patients suffering from partial lipodystrophy there are currently no treatments whatsoever.
About the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE)
UKE is an important research facility and hospital in Hamburg. UKE researches in five main areas; neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular research, health sciences research and immunology. Professor Jörg Heeren and his team have significant expertise in the target protein of CGT2, its function in the adipose tissue and its influence on lipid metabolism.
About Accelero
Accelero Bioanalytics is a GLP certified laboratory specializing in delivering bioanalytical services for the drug development industry since 2011 and located in Berlin, Germany.