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editorial:
Dear Readers,
LISA VR had its five year anniversary in
2007. Certainly, this was a cause for cele-
bration, but it is also provides a good oppor-
tunity to look back. Over the last five years,
a dynamic life sciences scene has emerged.
Today, Vienna's excellent scientific traditions
form the basis for a lively business landsca-
pe with more than 140 companies employ-
ing around 10,000 people. LISA VR's part-
ners, who are the Austria Wirtschaftsservice
and the Center for Innovation and Techno-
logy, have supported this progress with
around EUR 150 Mio. in total over the last
five years.
The list of outstanding success stories of
the life sciences community in Vienna is
continuously growing. The highlights include
the completion of funding rounds by many
companies that succeeded in attracting pri-
vate investors, Intercell AG going public,
both the Campus Vienna Biocenter and the
Technology Center Muthgasse are being
extended, Viennese companies have expan-
ded internationally and our academic rese-
arch grows stronger.
Looking back at these achievements gives
us courage to look forward to the future.
We already want to draw your attention to
2009 as we have succeeded in attracting
the BIO-Europe 2009 to Vienna. For the
first time, this renowned business conferen-
ce will take place outsi-
de Germany. We are
already looking forward
to welcoming you in
Vienna from November
2 to 4, 2009!
Eva Czernohorszky Michaela FritzExecutive Board
www.lisavr.at
lisavrnews01/2008LIFE SCIENCE AUSTRIA Ü vienna region’s newsletter
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“One of our lead drug candidates, OPM-3023, completely inhibits bone loss in afulminant Periodontitis rat model. Whenwe received these exiting data in spring2008, we knew this was it”, recalls OttoDoblhoff-Dier, COO of onepharm, aVienna-based company that has been setup in 2005 - originally with a strong focuson viral diseases. “We do not know of anyregistered product on the market thatshows similar effects in Periodontitis.” Onthe basis of their new data, onepharmintends to develop a new drug for the tre-atment of periodontal bone loss togetherwith its research collaboration partner, theForsyth Institute in Boston, USA. Thecompany wants to start clinical trials thisyear.
In parallel, onepharm is actively preparingthe first clinical trials for OMP-3001, aninfluenza drug candidate that is beingdeveloped in cooperation with Mino-phagen, Japan. Some of the 25 emplo-yees are also improving onepharm's drugcandidates OMP-3001 and OPM-3023 by
chemical modifications. “We now test ourmodified small molecule drugs for inhibi-tion of various enzymes that play key rolesin inflammation”, explains Oliver Szolar,CSO. “We apply computer pharmacophormodels and a broad range of cell biologi-cal and biochemical methods to test newcandidates.”
Vienna: political backing for biotech and pharma research
Onepharm is an innovative pharmaceuti-cal company with a focus on chemical,clinical and formulation development ofsmall molecule drugs. The company isfunded by private investors as well as aViennese Venture Fund. “Without the sub-stantial backing by Austria Wirtschafts-service, the Austrian Research PromotionAgency as well as the Vienna Center forInnovation and Technology, onepharmwould never have developed this well”,explains Bernhard Küenburg, CEO.
www.onepharm.com
Onepharm: Passion for Innovation
From Influenza to Periodontitis: Onepharm's anti-inflammatory drug candidateOMP-3023 inhibits periodontal bone loss in an animal model
Onepharmteam: Oliver Szolar, CSO Irene Zinoecker, Senior Technican Otto Doblhoff-Dier, COOBerhard Kueenburg, CEO
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LIFE SCIENCE AUSTRIA Ü vienna region’s newsletter
The building, which was officially opened inMay 1988, is home to the Research Instituteof Molecular Pathology (IMP), a basicresearch unit supported by BoehringerIngelheim. What started out as a pioneeringinitiative became a world class center ofexcellence and triggered a dynamic deve-lopment in Vienna's biotech landscape.
Today, the IMP has 225 employees fromover 30 nations and lies at the heart of theCampus Vienna Biocenter, a bustling con-glomerate of academic and private researchinstitutions, biotech companies and trainingfacilities. Over the past 20 years, IMP rese-archers have published more than 1,500scientific articles. Their discoveries have ledto 90 patents filed on behalf of Boehringer
Ingelheim. Participating in the InternationalPhD Programme, over 200 students startedtheir career at the IMP.
The focus of research at the IMP has shif-ted over the years, following developmentsin the molecular life sciences. Today, theIMP's activities concentrate on the areas ofmolecular cell biology, neurobiology andmechanisms of disease.
The scientific discoveries are manifold.While most of them add but a tiny yet signi-ficant amount to our pool of knowledge,some are considered major breakthroughsand have found their way into the textbooks.Among the most fundamental contributionsto biology that came from the IMP are disco-
veries of mechanisms that make sure cellsdivide timely and correctly. Other significantdiscoveries include the unraveling of the“epigenetic code”, the identification ofgenes involved in neural circuit assemblyand function, the description of factors thatcontrol tumor formation and the characteri-zation of the amazing properties of stemcells.
The IMP's success story is based on ratherobvious yet very effective strategies: scien-tists enjoy maximum freedom in choosingwhat to study, who to work with and how tospend their budget. They are supported bycentralized service facilities, dedicated staffand excellent equipment. Administration islean and efficient, ensuring fast decisionsand minimum bureaucracy. And all thatcomes with an expiry date: with few excep-tions, scientists are employed on limitedcontracts, thus a constant influx of newideas is guaranteed.
20 years of life science research at the IMP
20 years ago, a team of enthusiastic scientists, technicians and administrative staffmoved to their new workplace in Vienna's third district. They happily settled intotheir sparkling new labs and bright offices. The surrounding area, however, lookedless inviting, with dusty shed halls on one side and an abandoned slaughterhouseat the back. But that was to change soon.
© IMP-IMBA Graphics Department
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lions US$ and is growing by 5% annually. Theworld market for hematology diagnostics isvalued at 1.4 billions US$ and is growing annual-ly (annual report 2006 Beckmann Coulter Inc.,USA) by 3%.
The system automatically searches andquantifies leucocytes, as well as classifyingthem into 13 different subpopulations. Clas-sification is done by the so-called “SupportVector Machine Technology”, a trainableexpert system. The results are observer in-dependent (e.g. not influenced by fatigue orstress) and help the haematologist to make amore precise and rapid diagnosis. Savingthe images offers the possibility for long timestorage, as well as electronical world-widecommunication with specialists in case ofneed.
Reliable single cell recognition within theexamined blood smears and the automatedanalysis processes are unique advantagesin comparison with previous products. “Theacquisition of the software costs less thanthe examination of one leukaemia patient”,states Univ. Prof. Dr. Richard Moriggl of theLBI Cancer Research Institute in Vienna.“TissueGnostics provides a unique way tomeet the increasing requests for qualitymanagement in the field of blood analysis.”
www.tissuegnostics.com
TissueGnostics expands itsbusiness to Japan and the USA
The company's core competence is imageanalysis, one of the most promising futuretechnologies. Cutting edge dynamic algo-rithms developed for cell analysis have beenpatented worldwide and have been veryquickly appreciated internationally.
Recently TissueGnostics was certified ac-cording to EN ISO 13485:2003, for highestquality standards in developing, manufactu-ring, distribution and maintenance of medicaltechnical systems and products. This is asignificant step for the future clinical diagno-stic use of TissueGnostics systems andsolutions.
“Since one and a half year Athena WienBeteiligungs AG is one of the investmentpartners and greatly facilitated the entry intothe worlds markets”, states Katja Österrei-cher, responsible for Marketing and PR. “Theproducts are displayed on national and inter-national congresses.”
During the last year the entry into the US mar-ket has been successful and TissueGnosticsis now represented in Los Angeles through adaughter company. Since January 2008TissueGnostics is represented by Rikaken-Novel Science on the Japanese market aswell. Rikaken-Novel Science with its registe-red office in Nagoya is the second largestdistributor for scientific instruments withmore than 145 millions US$ annual turnover.150 sales representatives are covering morethan 60% of the market, mostly in the easternpart of Japan, including Tokyo.
HemoFAXS® - objectivity through automatisation
TissueGnostics latest economic successeshave been in the field of biomedical research,a 15 billion US$ market. Now TissueGnosticsis focusing on the clinical diagnostic marketwith its newly developed HemoFAXS®. In thismarket the big players in biomedicine, e.g.Beckmann Coulter Inc., have annual expan-sion rates in double figures.
Diagnostic precision has crucial influence ona long chain of therapeutic decisions. Theteam at TissueGnostics developed a novelsystem for the evaluation of blood smearse.g. in case of leukaemia. In addition to thewell established solutions for tissue and cellanalysis (e.g. TissueFAXS®), TissueGnosticsis entering the field of haematological diffe-rential diagnosis. The volume of the globalClinical Diagnostic Market is valued at 32 bil-
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The Austrian TissueGnostics Inc. is active in the field of biomedical technologies and develops and distributes worldwide. The team, led by founders Georg Steiner and Dr. Rupert Ecker, two highly experienced scientists from Vienna MedicalUniversity, is focussing on diagnostic tools for single cell detection in solid tissue, cell cultures and blood smears.
The newly developed HemoFAXS®
system for counting and classifying leucocytes in blood smears.
TissueFAXS® systemshowing TissueQuestCell Analysis Software.
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creditsLISA Vienna Region Ebendorferstrasse 41010 ViennaAustriaPHONE: +43-1-4000-86934FAX: +43-1-4000-86587E-MAIL: [email protected]: www.lisavr.at
The focus of Apeiron Biologics is the deve-lopment of a recombinant human enzyme forthe treatment of a variety of organ-relatedacute syndroms and diseases, as well asnovel immunotherapeutic approaches againstcancer.
Austrianova Biomanufacturing is a pioneerand technology leader in cell encapsulationand focuses on the clinical development ofhighly effective cell therapies for the treat-ment of difficult to treat solid tumours.
Avir Green Hills Biotechnology is focusedon product development of therapeutic stra-tegies against viral infectious diseases, inparticular influenza and cancer.
f-star is an antibody engineering companydeveloping improved therapeutic antibodiesand antibody fragments based on itsModular Antibody Technology, which intro-duces additional binding sites into antibodiesand antibody fragments.
Fibrex Medical develops and commerciali-ses innovative therapeutics in the fields ofcardiovascular diseases and inflammation.The company has a core competence inanalysing fundamental mechanisms gover-ning inflammation in the human body andconverting this knowledge into products.
Onepharm focuses on exploiting the thera-peutic value of its lead compounds in chro-
lisavrnewslisavrnews
nic inflammatory diseases and influenza andgenerates new lead compounds by chemicalmodification.
Oridis Biomed provides research servicesand solutions for the analysis of human tis-sue, delivering medical validation to drug andbiomarker development programs (“clinicaltrial on a chip”).
Sanochemia's focus is on the developmentand manufacture of novel drugs and diagno-stics for indications such as neurodegenera-tion, pain, oncology and diagnostic investi-gations based on contrast media.
Vela Laboratories focuses on the develop-ment of innovative cancer therapeutics, withemphasis on monoclonal antibody therapyand multi-epitope cancer vaccines. Additio-nally, Vela provides analytical and qualitycontrol services for biotech and pharmaindustry.
In addition to these companies, which sharethe Austrian Pavilion, also Intercell (Booth921) focused on smart vaccines andSandoz (Booth 2631), specialist on manu-facturing, are present at BIO 2008.
The LISA VR team is available to answer yourenquiries at booth 501 - please e-mail us toarrange an appointment: [email protected]
www.lisavr.at
LIFE SCIENCE AUSTRIA Ü vienna region’s newsletter
BIO 2008AUSTRIAN PAVILION, BOOTH 501TUESDAY, JUNE 175:00 - 6:30 P.M.
Dancewith usAustria invites you to learn the Viennese Waltz
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Meet us at BIO 2008Get to know the Vienna Region as a prime location for life sciences at BIO 2008(booth 501). The following companies present themselves at the Austrian Pavilion:
