More efficient and ‘gentle’ gene therapy technology wins Nature’s Spinoff Prize 2024
Trince Bio, a spinoff from The University of Ghent, Belgium, has won this year’s Spinoff Prize for its groundbreaking technology that can improve the quality of immune cells for cancer treatment
London | Mainz | Darmstadt, 18 July 2024
Trince becomes the fourth winner of The Spinoff Prize, a Nature Award in partnership with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.
Trince Bio’s LumiPore technology - utilising pulse laser light and photothermal nanoparticles - enables a more efficient and safer method to safely introduce a large variety of functional molecules to an equally large variety of living cells, causing less damage and improving cell recovery time and functionality. Thanks to the reduced impact on cell viability, LumiPore has been shown to produce a higher yield of fully functioning immune cells for blood cancer patients.
Commenting on this year’s award, Richard Hughes, VP, Publishing, Nature said:
“The Spinoff Prize was designed to recognise and provide visibility to young companies with exceptional teams like Trince Bio. Their photoporation method for getting molecules into cells has therapeutic potential in the fight against cancer. The judges were highly impressed with both the underpinning science and the development plan. On behalf of Nature, Nature Awards and The Spinoff Prize judging panel, I congratulate Trince Bio and all of this year’s other finalists and shortlisted companies. We look forward to highlighting other spin-outs in future chapters of the Prize.”
Ulrich Betz, Vice President Innovation, Merck, added: “The contributions that have been showcased by the finalists demonstrate the global excellence in transferring science results from the lab to a new innovative product that changes lives, that we at Merck and Springer Nature are seeking to support and promote with this prize.”
Since it’s launched in 2020, The Spinoff Prize has recognised and championed university spinout companies from around the world that build on high-quality scientific research to address market problems and positively impact society. Following a virtual pitching event, winners are awarded a €30,000 cash prize to help them achieve their commercialisation plan. All shortlisted companies are featured in a special Nature Outlook package that is free to read.
The Spinoff Prize forms part of the wider Nature Awards suite which celebrates scientific excellence globally. Profiles of the 2024 Spinoff Prize winner, finalists and ones-to-watch are available in our Spinoff Prize Outlook
To stay up-to-date with all the latest information about the next cycle of The Spinoff Prize, sign up to our newsletter.
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Notes to Editors:
The term spinoff in this case refers to a company that has been formed specifically to commercialise the outputs generated from research conducted at a university or research institute.
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Merck, a leading science and technology company, operates across life science, healthcare and electronics. More than 64,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From providing products and services that accelerate drug development and manufacturing as well as discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2022, Merck generated sales of € 22.2 billion in 66 countries.
Scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to Merck’s technological and scientific advances. This is how Merck has thrived since its founding in 1668. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck operate as MilliporeSigma in life science, EMD Serono in healthcare, and EMD Electronics in electronics.
Nature/Springer Nature | Corporate Affairs | Theodore HibbertGreaves
