a:head bio: Mini brains for drug discovery
Founded in 2019, a:head bio, an Austrian #biotech company, aims to #develop new #therapeutics for the treatment of #brain #disorders based on human #cerebral #organoids.
The #venture is based on #groundbreaking #technology developed at the #Institute of Molecular Biotechnology GmbH (IMBA) in #Vienna, Austria and substantially funded by red-stars.com data AG, a Viennese high-tech holding company.
a:head has been co-founded by Jürgen Knoblich, IMBA´s #scientific director and #neuroscientist Madeline Lancaster from the MRC Laboratory of #Molecular #Biology (LMB), Cambridge, UK, who have been pioneering 3D in vitro modelling of the human #brain to study #psychiatric #disorders.
According to Oliver Szolar, founding partner and CEO of a:head bio, #CNS #drug #discovery is amongst the most challenging endeavours in the #pharmaceutical industry; however, a:head bio’s #disruptive #technology using complex human #brain #tissue for drug design has the potential to herald a new era in the development of #novel #medicines for the #treatment of brain #diseases.
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