NEW YORK – Enpicom and Viroclinics-DDL said Tuesday that they have received an MIT-Zuid subsidy worth an undisclosed amount to accelerate a partnership to discover and develop antibodies and vaccines.
The funding, from a program to support innovation in the Dutch province of South Holland, will help the companies expand an existing two-year-old collaboration to provide T-cell receptor repertoire sequencing and analysis services to groups researching diseases of the immune system and potential therapies for these ailments.
Under the newly announced R&D project, Dutch contract research organization Viroclinics-DDL will contribute its in vitro molecular diagnostics and high-throughput sequencing services, while Enpicom will offer in silico bioinformatics and immunomics. The firms will look to create an integrated B-cell receptor repertoire sequencing product to inform development of antibody-based therapeutics.
"The combined expertise of our companies provides an opportunity to extend our service portfolio of tailor-made molecular diagnostic services for our (bio)pharmaceutical customers," Viroclinics-DDL General Manager Desiree van der Kleij said in a statement.
"Viroclinics-DDL's proven ability to perform molecular diagnostic testing at scale provides a tremendous engine to power innovative therapeutics," said Enpicom Cofounder and CEO Jos Lunenberg. "We are confident that our IGX Platform TCR/BCR sequencing analysis and management, combined with Viroclinics-DDL's diversified portfolio of assay tools, will allow us to expedite discovery and development of new revolutionary therapeutics and vaccines."
Enpicom, based in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, previously indicated that 2021 would be the year in which it diversifies into multiomics and begins to unlock some of the promise of personalized medicine, while its clients continue to address the COVID-19 pandemic.