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Spin-off of the University Medical Center Freiburg and the University of Freiburg receives an EIC Transition Grant of around 2.5 million euros

Cancers such as advanced colorectal cancer pose major challenges for medicine. The start-up EMUNO Therapeutics GmbH, a spin-off of the University Medical Center Freiburg and the University of Freiburg, is working on the foundations for a future clinical application of a new active substance to support the immune system in the fight against cancer. The company has now been awarded an EIC Transition Grant of around 2.5 million euros for this project. The funding enables the further development of the active substance EMT-224, which was developed in the working group of Prof. Dr. Olaf Groß at the Institute of Neuropathology at the Freiburg University Medical Center with the support of the Cluster of Excellence CIBSS - Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies at the University of Freiburg.

"This award is a big step for our team," says Dr. Emilia Neuwirt, CEO of EMUNO Therapeutics and pharmacist in Prof. Groß's research group. "In preclinical studies, our active substance EMT-224 has shown the potential to become an important building block in the fight against advanced colorectal cancer. We now need to carefully develop the initial results further and work towards a possible clinical application."

New approach for difficult-to-treat tumors

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide. While modern immunotherapies have improved the treatment of some cancers, many patients with advanced colorectal cancer do not respond to them. The reason: their tumors are "cold" - meaning they evade the immune response. The active substance EMT-224 could help to make these tumors "hot" so that the immune system can fight them better.

The IMMUNOCON project is now investigating how safe and effective EMT-224 is in preclinical models. One focus is on the preparation of clinical trials and the production of the active ingredient under strict standards in order to reach market maturity.

"This award for our spin-off EMUNO Therapeutics is an outstanding example of the progress made possible by the close combination of cutting-edge research and entrepreneurial commitment," says Prof. Dr. Frederik Wenz, Chief Medical Director and Chairman of the Board of the Freiburg University Medical Center.

EIC Transition Grant

The EIC Transition Grant supports scientific findings in their further development into promising technologies. The aim is to transfer research results from the laboratory into real areas of application and at the same time create the economic basis for commercial success.

Link to the EIC website: EIC Transition - European Commission

Link to the EMUNO website: https://www.emuno.com