Collaboration & grant for innovation in rare diseases

KIEMOkklo Life Sciences partners with Dutch universities and SME

Dr Jeroen Codee (Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden), Prof Dr Hans Aerts (Medical Biochemistry, University of  Amsterdam) and  Dr  Daniel Zollinger (Okklo Life Sciences, Oss) receive a KIEM-grant for their project  ‘Designer cyclodextrins  & sphingolipids involved in lysosomal storage disease’.

In this project, which also involves the participation of BioAxis Research (Oss), a number of new cyclodextrins will be designed, synthesized and tested as potential medicines for certain rare diseases.

Such conditions (lysosomal storage disorders such as Gaucher disease or Pompe disease) are characterized by the accumulation of undesirable natural products, due to genetic deficiencies.

For many of these diseases there is an urgent need for (better) treatments and the cyclic sugar derivatives (cyclodextrins) which Okklo develops can potentially be deployed against these illnesses.

This very innovative  approach is an excellent example of an initiative from the Pivot Park, where Okklo Life Sciences and BioAxis Research are based.

About KIEM

KIEM, ‘Kennis – Innovatie Mapping’ is one of the public-private partnership programs funded by Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).

KIEM facilitates collaborations between a mid-sized/small company and one or more research institutes and initiatives from chemistry start-ups.