Spinoff MimeCure: 3 mln EUR for revolutionary treatment 

With an investment of EUR 3 million, spin-off MimeCure can accelerate the development of its therapy for chronic lung diseases such as COPD. With Addington Investment Group as lead investor and Apsara Investments as co-investor, this is a significant step towards a therapy that can help repair damaged lung tissue. In the upcoming phase, MimeCure will complete preclinical studies and prepare for the first clinical trials in humans.

MimeCure is an initiative of Dr. Luke van der Koog, Prof. Erik Frijlink, Prof. Anika Nagelkerke, and Prof. Reinoud Gosens, researchers at the GRIP institute (Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen).

Chronic pulmonary disease with impact

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The disease progressively deteriorates the lung function, making breathing increasingly difficult and significantly reducing a patient’s quality of life. Current treatments focus only on controlling the symptoms, as there are no therapies available that can repair the lung damage caused by COPD.

Protein solution instead of symptom control

The GRIP scientists have developed a groundbreaking treatment which is able to stimulate lung tissue repair and can potentially halt the progression of the disease. This novel treatment uses a specific protein fragment, MC002, to activate self-repair mechanisms of lung cells. It has already demonstrated promising results: in experimental COPD studies, MC002 significantly improved lung function. These findings led to a patent application and the establishment of spin-off company MimeCure.

Read more

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• Science for Society | MimeCure’s revolutionary treatment for chronic lung diseases