Pitching for personalised medicine

November 25, 2014

A Max Planck initiated spin-off project, Precision Proteomics, will participate in the life sciences and biotech pitches at the Innovation Days 2014. This project, initiated by researchers Garwin Pichler, Nils A. Kulak and Matthias Mann from the Department of Proteomics and Signal Transduction at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, is aimed at establishing the use of mass spectrometry based proteomics in research and clinical diagnostics.

In July 2014, the biotech venture already took third place in the Munich Business Plan Competition 2014, Munich's prestigious business plan competition. The contest, established by industry and universities, helps start-up companies to set up their businesses and offers networking opportunities for entrepreneurs in the Munich and Bavaria Area. The team from Martinsried was also among the winners of the pre-seed funding m4 Awards 2013, presented by the Bavarian Ministry of Economics to promising science teams in Bavaria in the field of personalised medicine. 

Precision Proteomics aims to develop innovative technologies for clinical diagnostics in the field of personalized medicine, which should enable the customization of healthcare, tailored to the individual patient using molecular analysis and employing accurate measurements of parameters like proteins from cells or body fluids like blood plasma and urine. Diagnostic testing is employed, for example, for selecting appropriate and optimal therapies based on the context of a patient’s data. 

Mass spectrometry (MS) - based proteomics allows the sensitive and accurate quantification of almost complete proteomes of complex biological fluids and tissues. At the moment, however, the routinely usage of MS-based proteomics is prevented and complicated by the very complex work flow comprising sample preparation, chromatography, MS measurement followed by data processing and evaluation. The new technologies, products and assays developed by Precision Proteomics could help enabling and establishing mass spectrometry (MS) - based proteomics in academic and pharmaceutical research as well as in clinical diagnostics.

Thanks to the patented technologies, comprising a sample preparation kit, every customer should be able to prepare and measure samples in a highly reproducible, easy and fast way. The researchers hope that these advancements will allow for a breakthrough of MS-based proteomics for many applications in research and clinical diagnostics.

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