The first biotechnological spin-off company of Masaryk University, Enantis, has recently achieved significant success by concluding a license agreement with the world’s leading distributor of products for science and research. This will increase the production volume of a patented fibroblast growth factor called FGF2-STAB, which will reach laboratories around the world. Revenues from its sales will also flow to MU.
Growth factors are important biomolecules of living cells and the synthesis and degradation of growth factors at different stages of cell division and differentiation ensure that a living organism develops and grows healthily. FGF2 is one of the key molecules added to culture media for the production of embryonic stem cells, which are widely used in biomedical research and clinical practice today.
When Petr Dvořák and Pavel Krejčí from the Department of Biology of the Faculty of Medicine first started working with Fibroblast growth factors, the proteins that support cell growth and division, they focussed on FGF2. They discovered and described some of its properties and, mainly thanks to protein engineering, they managed to stabilise the factor, allowing it to work for more than twenty days, even at temperatures around 37 degrees Celsius, which is crucial for biological applications.
Because they work closely with the team at Loschmidt’s laboratories (RECETOX and the Department of Experimental Biology of the Faculty of Science), they agreed to test the newly developed FireProt stabilisation platform on these biomedically interesting molecules with limited stability. “FireProt is a computing system that helps us find the right modifications for molecules that make them useful in practice. FGF2 was the first medically usable system on which we successfully applied our platform, bringing the next step closer to its current success", said Jiří Damborský, Head of the Loschmidt Laboratories.
Protein engineering modifications to FGF2 lasted three years and focused on the thermodynamic stability of the protein. “We gradually exchanged some amino acids in its structure for others, introducing so-called point mutations. Through this process, we strengthened interactions between the amino acids, thereby increasing the overall robustness of the protein. We mastered the design of mutations and their construction quickly, but then followed a long period of testing their effect on FGF2 biological activity. We had to be very careful not to damage the protein, so we tested each of the thousands of protein variants individually", added David Bednář, one of the main authors of the FireProt platform.
Stabilised FGF2 can be used by researchers to work with stem cells as it stimulates their proliferation. It can also be used in cell therapies or the treatment of badly healing wounds, e.g. in burns victims or diabetic patients. The molecule is protected by a patent co-owned by MU and Enantis. This year, the product FGF2-STAB obtained a European patent and patent proceedings are ongoing in other countries.
It is Enantis who is in charge of the commercial use of the molecule. After almost a year of negotiations, the company managed to conclude a license agreement with an American company, which will produce the stabilised growth factor and further develop possibilities in its use. “The negotiations were not easy but, in the end, we are glad that such a major global company has decided to license our technology and satisfy the growing demand for our product”, said Roman Badík, CEO of Enantis.
While the name of the global company and other details of the license agreement remain secret, this is a unique situation for Masaryk University. “Every year, Masaryk University concludes dozens of license agreements for the use of intellectual property created at the university. However, from the point of view of its significance and future benefits, this is one of the most important contracts in this case. This represents a unique achievement in the field of biotechnology, not just in South Moravia but in the Czech Republic as a whole”, added Radoslav Trautmann, Head of MU Technology Transfer Division.
Translated by Kevin Roche
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