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(CONNECT) Arlene Sharpe and Gordon Freeman are the first researchers to be awarded the Gretener-Thürlemann Prize by the University of Zurich (UZH). This, UZH's biggest prize, is endowed with 500,000 Swiss francs. It is awarded on behalf of the Gretener-Thürlemann Foundation to scientists from all over the world for outstanding achievements in medicine, chemistry and physics. According to a UZH report, Sharpe and Freeman accepted the award on December 3 at the Baur au Lac Hotel in Zurich.

Arlene Sharpe and Gordon Freeman, who both completed their doctorates between 1979 and 1982, met in a German course at the beginning of their studies at Harvard University. They became a couple in their private lives and also went down the same academic path. Their common interest was and is research into the human immune system, as a detailed portrait of their home university shows. To this day, the Boston research teams of the two are cooperating to further decode the immune system.

Starting in the 1990s, they discovered important signaling pathways that inhibit the immune response against tumors. Around the year 2000, it became apparent that her new knowledge could also be used therapeutically. It is thanks to them that checkpoint inhibitors are now used in oncology for more than 25 types of cancer.

"We didn't know at the beginning where our research would take us," Sharpe is quoted as saying. "Today we can see that basic research is leading to therapies that we would never have dreamed of. This is very motivating for young researchers." Now, according to Freeman, the aim is to use new technologies to decode the signaling pathways of the immune system even further and to discover other genes and molecules involved. ce/mm

(CONNECT) Neurimmune is expanding its collaboration with the British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. To this end, the biopharmaceutical company, which was spun off from the University of Zurich in 2006 and is based in the Biotechnopark Schlieren-Zurich, has entered into a partnership with Boston-based Alexion - AstraZeneca Rare Disease entered into an exclusive global collaboration and licence agreement.

For the development and marketing rights transferred to Alexion, Neurimmune will receive an upfront payment of an undisclosed amount as well as additional milestone payments of up to 780 million dollars and licence fees for any approved drugs, according to a statement. Neurimmune will continue to be responsible for preclinical development, initial manufacturing activities and conducting the first human clinical trial.

Like Neurimmune, the subsidiary of the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, which specialises in rare diseases, is currently in clinical phase III with a fibril remover. Alexion calls this program CARES. It is intended to help improve the survival rate and heart health of patients with advanced AL kappa amyloidosis. If left untreated, the accumulation of these toxic amyloid deposits, particularly in the heart and kidneys, can lead to progressive organ damage and dysfunction and death, usually due to heart failure.

Neurimmune has developed a novel antibody for the same toxic amyloid deposits. It aims to remove lambda light chain fibrils and deposits from affected tissues and organs in light chain amyloidosis (AL). "NI009 shows broad efficacy against amyloids of different lambda light chain subtypes in patients despite the high clonal heterogeneity of the disease," Roger M. Nitsch, President and CEO of Neurimmune, is quoted as saying.

Now Alexion is looking to add the capabilities of Neurimmune's antibody to the breadth of its proprietary anti-fibril program to "potentially benefit more people with AL amyloidosis," said Gianluca Pirozzi, Alexion's vice president and head of development, regulatory and safety. ce/mm

(CONNECT) The Schlieren-based company Oncobit, a spin-off from the University of Zurich, has raised 1.9 million Swiss francs in a financing round. Oncobit intends to use the fresh capital to drive forward its monitoring platform in cancer diagnostics, particularly in the areas of validation, approval and marketing, according to a press release. In addition to the strategic partner ID Solutions, the investors include existing and newly acquired private investors and business angels.

For the extended cancer indications, the company can build on its IVDR (In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation) and ISO 13485 certifications as well as on a network of clinical and industrial partners. Oncobit offers various test procedures for the examination of blood and tissue samples, such as for the diagnosis of melanoma and colon cancer.

"We are very pleased to have successfully completed this financing round with the continued support of our investors and the acquisition of new shareholders," Claudia Scheckel, CEO of Oncobit AG, is quoted as saying in the press release. "This investment underlines the confidence in our technology and our team and enables us to pursue our mission of making accurate cancer monitoring universally accessible." ce/ww