INCYPRO: A key technology to enable the broad application of proteins in diagnostics and therapeutics

Introduction

Proteins are not only one of life’s main building blocks, but also key tools for many industrial applications, ranging from drug discovery and diagnostics to chemical production processes. The main limitation of proteins is their low stability at non-physiological conditions, as they are commonly required in industrial, medical, and biotechnological processes.

Challenges of Protein Stability

Consequently, proteins often lose structural integrity and activity under relevant conditions. There are thousands of proteins with large potential, for instance, in the context of protein targets related to diseases with high unmet need, point-of-care diagnostics, and protein therapeutics. However, many cannot be utilized due to a lack of generally applicable technologies that allow straightforward and meaningful protein stabilization.

Need for Innovative Solutions

To address the challenges associated with protein stabilization, a versatile technology overcoming costly, time-consuming, and uncertain trial-and-error approaches is required.

Project Overview

The INCYPROnext project aims to provide a universal solution to the stabilization of proteins for biotechnological and biomedical applications. In the frame of the ERC PoC project, INCYPRO, we have developed a radically new technology for stabilizing proteins that has been validated in the lab.

Innovation and Technology

Our innovation combines structural and molecular biology as well as chemistry to provide a highly effective and efficient technology for the stabilization of a broad range of proteins that are currently impossible to stabilize. This delivers minimally modified proteins with a highly stabilized structure and retained functionality.

Market Potential

This is an ideal value proposition to play a key role in a growing >170 B€ market, which can allow us to both offer B2B services to customers in the pharma, biotech, research, and industrial processes segments, as well as to start our own internal drug discovery and development pipeline.

Project Goals

In this EIC Transition project, we will validate the INCYPRO technology in a real operating environment (TRL5).