MIMETAS, a leader in human-relevant organ-on-a-chip models, has opened their Phenotypic Screening Center. The centre facilitates large-scale screening campaigns on Organ-on-a-Chip models, a powerful technology that improves the human physiological relevance of cultured tissues by utilizing microfluidic techniques. In contrast to other Organ-on-a-Chip platforms, the MIMETAS OrganoPlate technology offers the scalability and the throughput needed for drug discovery studies.

The new screening centre is the first energy-neutral laboratory building in the Netherlands. It is located in the new head office of MIMETAS in Oegstgeest, the largest life sciences cluster in The Netherlands.

“We are very proud to open up this new centre,” said Jos Joore, CEO of MIMETAS. “Our new Phenotypic Screening Center facilitates high-throughput organ-on-a-chip screening combined with high-content imaging and machine learning data analysis to identify drug candidates for today’s unmet medical needs. Our customers understand that human-relevant disease models should be at the basis of every drug discovery effort. Moreover, these cutting-edge technologies stimulate the creativity and purpose of our scientists to make a difference in the lives of patients.”

Largest Organ-on-a-Chip compound screen 

MIMETAS recently reported a successful 1,546 compound screen in duplicate on a 3D angiogenesis assay in the OrganoPlate 3-lane 64. Promising hit compounds from this screen are currently under investigation.

“To our knowledge, this is the largest organ-on-a-chip screen ever reported,” explained Joore. “We partner with large pharmaceutical companies, that need our disease model screening expertise, and can bring promising candidates to the clinic fast. In this way, we make sure that we bring novel drugs to patients in the most efficient manner.”

Veraxa (former Velabs Therapeutics GmbH), a leading company in innovative ADC engineering and functional antibody screening, has entered into a partnership agreement with Quadira Biosciences AG, Zug, Switzerland, to jointly develop a suite of novel ADCs for the treatment of oncological conditions.

The collaboration will leverage both the advantages of VERAXA’s advanced and proprietary position-true click-chemistry-based drug conjugation technology in combination with Quadira’s superior 3D cellular assay and assessment systems. The agreement provides that VERAXA will be entitled to upfront payments and royalties from the worldwide sale of products resulting from the collaboration. Further details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Quadira Biosciences AG is a Joint Venture between abc biopply AG, a Swiss biotech company specializing in the standardization of biological components and complex 3D cell culture systems and Xlife Sciences AG, a Swiss based biotech company. Quadira will, under the partnership, have exclusive access to abc biopply’s proprietary 3D CoSeedis technology platform, a new standard in the industrial application of 3D cell culture systems for preclinical drug validation.

VERAXA Biotech is a pioneer of microfluidic technology for the ultra-fast screening of functional antibodies. The company has developed superior microfluidic hardware and processes to screen for modulatory mAbs on complex target proteins such as GPCRs. In contrast to all other technologies available, VERAXA combines binding and functional assessment in a single step and unravels therapeutic hits out of entire immune repertoires that consists of millions of B cells in less than 48 hours.

Recently, VERAXA acquired Araxa Biosciences GmbH, a biotech company with innovative and proprietary protein engineering and click-chemistry based drug coupling technologies to expand its preclinical antibody capacities from early screening to later stage antibody engineering and to sharpen its profile in personalized medicine and precision oncology. With the novel ADC technology, VERAXA can perform precise site-specific antibody labelling with almost any drug at any position and highest reproducibility. The company has several ADC in production and testing with superior cytotox profiles as compared to benchmark molecules.

Shimadzu, one of the world leaders in analytical instrumentation, has appointed Jürgen Semmler as the new managing director of its European organization from July 1, 2021. Previously, head of Shimadzu Deutschland, he succeeds Jürgen Kwass, who led Shimadzu Europa from 2003 to the present and is now retiring. Semmler and Kwass have both been affiliated with Shimadzu for a long time and joined the company in the second half of the 1980s.

Jürgen Semmler graduated in chemical engineering at Essen University, Germany, before joining Shimadzu in 1987 as an HPLC service engineer. He gained international experience as a European team member in the development of a global software and since 1996 as manager of the European Customer Support Center. In 2006, he was then appointed Managing Director of newly founded Shimadzu Deutschland. Under his management, the company has grown from 60 to more than 150 employees, and its sales from €19 million to over €40 million. Previously independent companies were incorporated into the organization as technical offices under the overall management of Shimadzu Deutschland.

Thanks to Jürgen Kwass

As Shimadzu Europa and Shimadzu Deutschland are both based in Duisburg, Germany, the two Managing Directors have always worked closely together.

Semmler commented: “Under Jürgen Kwass’ aegis, Shimadzu’s network was rolled out to every European country and set up structurally and in terms of staff to serve the customer needs of medium-sized companies as well as global players. Shimadzu’s growth is closely linked to his commitment and name.”

Shimadzu Europa has been active on the continent since 1968. Its medical and laboratory solutions are used in health care, the latter primarily in science and technology, particularly in almost every manufacturing industry such as chemicals, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, food and beverage, advanced manufacturing, automotive, semiconductors and plastics. They serve consumer, patient and environmental protection as well as process and quality control.

Future development and growth trends

With regard to technical trends, such as automation, miniaturization of systems, digitization and hyphenated techniques, ABC has provided significant impetus to the market and initiated developments in recent years.

Semmler noted: “Digitization in particular holds both technological and creative potential. In analytical instrumentation and medical technology, it facilitates seamless workflows as well as simpler, more accurate and faster measurements and tests. It also enables analytics and medical technology to merge to deliver solutions for the most challenging medical conditions, such as the diagnosis and treatment of cancer or dementia.”

Shimadzu Europa is Shimadzu’s oldest continental foreign organization and plays an important role in the company’s growth and globalization process.

Semmler said: “In addition to our technological expertise, we also want to continue to strengthen our presence and network on an organizational level throughout the European region, expand our teams, and increase sales and market share. I am looking forward to the tasks ahead.”