Location Hamburg

The Fraunhofer ITMP in Hamburg has extensive expertise in small molecules, which continue to be the dominant drug class. In our laboratories in Hamburg, we have high-throughput screening systems, various compound libraries and a broad portfolio of established assay formats. Our unique selling proposition is our ability to synergistically complement the laboratory research work with the expertise of our data scientists. We also have a powerful medical data science infrastructure with the Fraunhofer Edge Cloud and a toolbox of algorithms and datasets.

To drive our projects forward, we have introduced an agile project management based on agile project teams. There are four agile teams in total: Stem Cell Biology, High-Throughput Screening, Infection Biology and Medical Data Science. These teams enable us to respond to new challenges with high flexibility and develop innovative interdisciplinary solutions for our clients.

Our goal is to formulate and validate hypotheses for curing diseases. Based on these hypotheses, we search for diagnostic and therapeutic answers with chemical entities and transfer them to preclinical development. We test our results in innovative, complex in vitro test systems based on pluripotent stem cells or organoids derived from them, such as a blood-brain barrier model. 

Together with the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), we operate translational laboratories in the fields of renal research and neuroimmunology. In addition, we have established a structural virology unit with the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine and the BMBF Rosenthal junior research group, and a partnership with DESY for protein structure elucidation.

As an EU-OPENSCREEN site and through our involvement in EU research projects, we are also an important part of an established network of academic and clinical partners in the European research landscape.