BioMed X and AbbVie Extend Research Collaboration in the US

HEIDELBERG, Germany, January 16, 2023 (Newswire.com) - BioMed X, an independent German biomedical research institute, announced today the extension of its ongoing research collaboration with AbbVie. This marks the launch of the first BioMed X Institute in the US, to be located in New Haven, Connecticut. Following a first joint research project on Alzheimer's disease at the BioMed X Institute in Heidelberg, Germany, the new US-based research collaboration will focus on immunology and tissue engineering.

"Extending our successful partnership with AbbVie to our new site in the US is a big milestone for our institute," said Christian Tidona, Founder and Managing Director of BioMed X. "We are grateful to be able to bring our unique innovation model to New Haven and Yale University, one of the top places in the world for groundbreaking discoveries in biomedical research," added Tidona.

The new BioMed X Institute will be managed by Mark Johnston, an experienced biotech entrepreneur and business leader who recently joined the BioMed X family. "My role is to synergize the BioMed X know-how with the invaluable local resources in New Haven to add a new dimension to the global BioMed X network," explained Johnston. Neighboring the historic campus of Yale University, the US branch of BioMed X will be embedded in the New Haven life sciences hub. "Yale is devoted to academic leadership as well as global strategic partnerships to foster innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit. We welcome BioMed X to our biosciences community and appreciate the opportunities this alliance ushers in, including cooperation with international industry partners and networking with the European biotech ecosystem," said Josh Geballe, Managing Director at Yale Ventures.

BioMed X was founded 10 years ago on the campus of one of Europe's most renowned universities in the life sciences and medicine, the University of Heidelberg, operating at the interface between academia and industry. With its unique innovation model, BioMed X identifies the world's best early career academic scientists and relocates them to a BioMed X institute to solve a major challenge in biomedical research in close collaboration with a global pharmaceutical company.

Our industry's understanding of human disease biology is limited by the availability of relevant model systems that truly mirror the complexity of diseased human tissues, which hampers drug discovery and development. There are currently no good ex vivo models available involving human immune cells migrating through an organotypic human tissue microenvironment and recapitulating the molecular processes that typify human disease both spatially and temporally. Such models would allow for the generation of new insights into human disease biology, the identification and validation of new drug targets, and the development of new therapeutic concepts for the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory conditions. 

The current partnership with AbbVie is focused on the development of a new tissue engineering platform to produce complex human ex vivo models (disease-on-a-chip) from primary human cells and tissues to study human tissue inflammation. Interested candidates who would like to start or join a new fully funded research group at the BioMed X Institute in New Haven are invited to apply by submitting a project proposal via the BioMed X Career Space https://career.bio.mx/call/2023-NHV-C01 before March 12, 2023.

"AbbVie is encouraged by the potential of this collaboration with BioMed X to change the paradigm in drug discovery and expand the understanding of human disease biology," said Timothy Radstake, Executive Director and Head of Early Immunology Discovery at AbbVie.

About BioMed X

BioMed X is an independent research institute located on the campus of the University of Heidelberg in Germany, with a worldwide network of partner locations. Together with our partners, we identify big biomedical research challenges and provide creative solutions by combining global crowdsourcing with local incubation of the world's brightest early career research talents. Each of the highly diverse research teams at BioMed X has access to state-of-the-art research infrastructure and is continuously guided by experienced mentors from academia and industry. At BioMed X, we combine the best of two worlds - academia and industry - and enable breakthrough innovation by making biomedical research more efficient, more agile, and more fun.

Source: BioMed X Institute