Erasmus MC spin-off oncoChem participates in Venture Challenge Winter 2025
Six teams have started the Venture Challenge Winter 2024, of which one spin-off from Erasmus MC and the Erasmus MC Technology Transfer Office: oncoChem. The starting Life Sciences entrepreneurs in the Venture Challenge will learn everything about building and pitching a business plan, and get a huge boost to take their idea to the next level. Not only does the Venture Challenge provide one-on-one coaching, the teams will also get the chance to pitch to investors and get in touch with seasoned entrepreneurs.
Team left to right: Hanyue Ma, Yann Seimbille, Carmen Correa Martin
Based on a novel family of compounds developed at Erasmus MC, this venture will translate these into imaging probes that can be used to see malignant tumours during diagnosis and surgery, and into therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. oncoChem has developed a library of inhibitors (approx. 50 compounds named eFAP) against fibroblast activation protein (FAP), a protein almost universally present in solid tumours. By substituting these eFAP compounds with various payloads, such as radionuclides, fluorophores and cytotoxic drugs, they can be used at all stages of cancer patient management. For example, one of their variants can be labeled with fluorine-18, allowing diagnosis of cancer via positron emission tomography (PET); while other compounds were specifically designed to complex radionuclides, such as 90Y, 177Lu and 225Ac for therapeutic applications. Their most advanced candidate, eFAP-24, an imaging probe equipped with the near-infrared (NIRF) dye will shortly be entering into a phase I/IIa clinical study to evaluate its use for intraoperative guidance of pancreatic cancer surgery.
The Venture Challenge is an initiative from LifeSciences@Work, powered by Health~Holland. The winner of this round of the Venture Challenge will be announced at Innovation for Health on April 3. To learn more about all six teams participating in the Venture Challenge Winter 2025, click here.
Date: January 30, 2025
Source: LifeSciences@Work
