Further notifications

The newly established Early Clinical Trial Unit (ECTU) at the Fraunhofer ITMP site TNM in Göttingen provides the opportunity to conduct early-phase clinical trials in close cooperation with the University Medical Center Göttingen.
As part of the multicenter phase I clinical trial “RED4MS” study, sponsored by Cellerys, the first patient has now been treated with a novel therapeutic approach for multiple sclerosis. Red blood cells isolated from the patients are coupled with disease-specific antigens through a specialized procedure, and then reintroduced to the patient. The aim of this therapy is to induce immune tolerance, thereby avoiding the conventional immunosuppressive treatment approach.

A panel discussion with invited stem cell researchers will take place in Jena as part of the 12th annual conference of the German Stem Cell Network (GSCN). The role of stem cells in cancer research, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, therapeutic approaches for diabetes and the discovery of new »old« drugs (drug repurposing) for rare diseases will be explained. Short films will present the scientists' research and the discussion will focus on the current status and future of applied stem cell research.

At the invitation of the French Embassy in Berlin, we presented the results of the AIOLOS (Artificial Intelligence Tools for Outbreak Detection and Response) project to more than 40 public health experts, scientists, policy makers and representatives of the WHO, HERA and French and German authorities. It was discussed how the use and integration of real-time data from different sources in combination with AI-based models can improve the detection and monitoring of respiratory disease outbreaks and thus support prevention.

The LMU Clinician Scientist of the Year 2024 prize was awarded to Dr. Laura Olbrich from the Institute of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine of the LMU University Hospital Munich for her research Developing and evaluating diagnostic tools to detect tuberculosis in children with less invasive methods and with faster results than the standard sputum tests is also an important part of her research at the Fraunhofer ITMP site Immunology, Infection and Pandemic Research IIP in Penzberg/Munich.

Fraunhofer ITMP is part of the EU-funded COVend consortium, which has now announced the enrolment of first patients in the IXION 2.0 clinical trial at the Goethe University Hospital Frankfurt. Following a strategic change in the project's objective in light of the evolving dynamics of COVID-19, the study aims to investigate the potential benefits of the innovative therapeutic agent FX06 for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients.

Does a SARS-CoV-2 infection result in an increased risk for damage to the brain, including Alzheimer or Parkinson disease? This pressing medical question forms the basis of the EU-funded COMMUTE project (COMmorbidity Mechanisms UTilized in HealthcarE). Based on artificial intelligence driven prediction of common druggable disease mechanisms, Fraunhofer ITMP supports this joint research consortium with patient-derived in-vitro models of the brain and the brain vasculature based on induced pluripotent stem cells.

Fraunhofer, DESY, Hereon and EMBL sign MoU for closer collaboration. Fraunhofer ITMP participates in the health area and already brought this cooperation to life with the “Fraunhofer at DESY: Focus on BioMed” workshop on November 9th 2023. The joint proposal on “The role of antibiotic influx and efflux in antimicrobial resistance of Gram-negative bacteria” from ITMP (experiment design, probes), IAP-CAN (nanoparticle markers) and DESY (imaging) has been awarded as one of the pilot projects.

The Summer School of the Innovation Center TheraNova took place in Darmstadt on September 11 and 12, 2023. Invited speakers reported on various aspects of the translation of cell and gene therapies into clinical application. Participants had the opportunity to exchange information on their projects’ progress, take part in an excursion to the European Space Agency ESA, engage in a workshop on the topic of intellectual property, and learn about spin-offs and entrepreneurship in an open roundtable discussion with startup founders.

The increasing resistance of bacteria against antibiotics represents a major threat for human health. On May 25 the University of Aix-Marseille, the Universität Hamburg and Fraunhofer ITMP signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Marseille to jointly develop novel drugs that eliminate resistance mechanisms in bacteria and thereby improve the efficacy of antibiotics.

Immune diseases, such as rheumatism or psoriasis, are systemic diseases that often affect several organ systems simultaneously. An interdisciplinary approach is absolutely necessary for the optimal care of patients. This is implemented at Fraunhofer ITMP in the concept of the 4D Clinic. Professor Frank Behrens, deputy director of the institute, describes in the Fraunhofer podcast why the 4D Clinic is unique and what the concept can achieve for patients and research.

A digital patient model as the basis for personalized treatment of chronic diseases - Fraunhofer's MED²ICIN dashboard helps medical staff in day-to-day clinical and practice work to gain a quick overview of the patient file. PD Dr. med. Irina Blumenstein, specialist for internal medicine, gastroenterology and nutritional medicine at the University Hospital Frankfurt am Main, reports on her experiences.

The first Summer School of the Innovation Center »Innovative Therapeutics« (TheraNova) took place in Mainz, October 13 to October 14, 2022. Project updates were given by participating PhD students and clinician scientists from Johann Wolfgang Goethe University and the Fraunhofer Institutes ITMP and IGD, and invited speakers highlighted current developments in the fields of innovative therapeutics, personalized medicine and entrepreneurship.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP opened an Early Clinical Trial Unit (ECTU) at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) on September 15, 2022. The focus is on first clinical testing of compounds for the treatment of largely intractable (autoimmune) diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), such as multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's disease. The goal is a rapid and targeted implementation of scientific findings to diagnostics, therapies and prevention.

On September 21, 2022, the Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP was officially opened. The institute, which was already transferred to an independent Fraunhofer Institute at the beginning of last year, has since developed into an important component and leading institute of Fraunhofer health research. During the opening ceremony at the University Hospital Frankfurt, Volker Bouffier was also honored with the Fraunhofer Medal.

"Phialogics", the barely six-month-old spin-off of the Frankfurt site of the Fraunhofer ITMP, wins Sanofi's "Golden Tickets" competition. This enables the Fraunhofer spin-off to stay free of charge for one year at BioLabs in Heidelberg, which is becoming a hotspot for start-ups based on a concept imported from the USA.

"Transkript.de" reports on Phialogics and its success in the "Start-up of the Week" section.

In mid-April, the first scientists of the Fraunhofer ITMP in Penzberg start work in rented laboratory space at Roche. The new center for Immunology, Infection and Pandemic Research is expected to be ready in 2-3 years. Süddeutsche Zeitung interviewed Gerd Geißlinger, head of the institute, and Michael Hoelscher, head of the Munich/Penzberg site, about the purpose of the future center: A conversation about new viruses and why diseases can be stopped with "4D".

Neurological complications associated with COVID-19 occur frequently. Although the SARS-CoV-2 virus has already been detected in the brain tissue of patients, its routes of entry and the resulting consequences are not well understood. A team of researchers from Fraunhofer ITMP and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) has now shown that cells of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) can be infected in vitro by the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen and that this can be attenuated pharmacologically.

Patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria are severely impaired in their quality of life. Unfortunately, standard therapy with antihistamines is not efficacious in many affected patients. However, these patients can now have hope. A new clinical trial with the participation of Fraunhofer ITMP in Berlin shows promising results for the efficacy of a new drug.

Fraunhofer ITMP is a partner of the LOEWE centers DRUID (Novel Drug Targets against Poverty-Related and Neglected Tropical Infectious Diseases) and TBG (Translational Biodiversity Genomics). Following the successful completion of the start-up phase, both LOEWE centers will now continue to receive funding from the state of Hesse in their operational phase and will receive project and construction funding totaling approximately 34.4 million euros for the duration of three years.

The COVend research project aims to deliver a new therapy against COVID-19 that prevents the severe stages of the disease. Fraunhofer ITMP is one of the partners of the multidisciplinary consortium, which unites 17 partners from 13 European countries with expertise from different disciplines, including (cell) biology, ICT expertise for AI based evaluations, pharma, economics, and social sciences, as well as clinical expertise. 

Optimum prevention, diagnosis and treatment in just one click: As part of the “MED²ICIN” lighthouse project, seven Fraunhofer Institutes, among them Fraunhofer ITMP, are presenting the first prototype of a digital patient model. This prototype revolutionizes the very foundation of personalized and cost-optimized treatment, opening up new perspectives. It has already been tested at University Hospital Frankfurt.

The University of Southern Denmark (SDU) awards honorary doctorates to researchers whom the University wishes to honour for their scientific work. As part of the annual University Celebration on October 29, 2021, Fraunhofer ITMP employee Prof. Jennifer Dressman received an honorary doctorate from SDU's Faculty of Science for her work on the pharmaceutical ecosystem.

PD Dr. Frank Behrens, Deputy Director of Fraunhofer ITMP and Head of the Clinical Research division, is listed as an expert in psoriatic arthritis on the Expertscape expert platform. This places him in the top 1% of scientists worldwide who have written on the topic of psoriatic arthritis in the last 10 years. 

Expertscape uses PubMed-based algorithms to objectively rank individuals and institutions according to their expertise in more than 29,000 biomedical topics.

After the recent successes in vaccine development, drug development against the COVID-19 disease is moving into focus. Fraunhofer ITMP is applying Drug Repurposing strategies in various projects focusing on SARS-CoV-2. Repurposing strategies use substances that have undergone clinical testing in other disease indications and investigate their effect against COVID-19. These strategies can not only identify effective substances for different stages of the disease, but also contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms of action of this disease. 

Fraunhofer ITMP is a temporary project partner for the additional research project focussing on the development of inhalable drugs to combat SARS-CoV-2, started in May 2020 within the frame of the international iCAIR® consortium. The iCAIR® research team, coordinated by Fraunhofer ITEM, can already report promising results for this project.