“Qiagen initiative sees the first prize, products and instruments worth up to $100,000 going to OncoBone Therapeutics”
OncoBone Ventures (www.oncoboneventures.com), a UK start-up biotech company seeking to develop novel therapies for cancer patients with currently incurable bone metastases, is delighted that its wholly owned Finland-based subsidiary, OncoBone Therapeutics Oy (“OncoBone Therapeutics”), has been named winner of the new Biotech Grants 2021 programme, a competitive worldwide initiative run by Qiagen N.V. (“Qiagen”). Qiagen are the leading global provider of Sample to Insight solutions that enable customers to gain valuable molecular insights from samples containing the building blocks of life.
Qiagen’s programme is designed to specifically support small companies and start-ups to grow their businesses. This is with the aim of turning promising scientific visions into commercially viable and socially relevant missions. This inaugural initiative is also part of Qiagen’s commitment to building strong partnerships with biotechnology and pharma businesses and helping them succeed in the market.
“Qiagen embodies the global biotech community”, commented Dr Tiina Kähkönen, Founding Director of OncoBone Ventures & CSO of OncoBone Therapeutics (Finland). “It is a privilege for us to win the first prize in Qiagen’s Biotech Grant programme, which will be very important for advancing our drug discovery programmes. Qiagen’s large portfolio of high-quality products will be used to address the unique genetic landscape in bone metastasis, which will guide us in turn to identify novel drug targets that we hope to develop into safe and effective immunotherapies for patients with currently incurable bone metastases. Moreover, we are delighted that Qiagen is willing to support start-up companies like ours and to help turn ideas into successful businesses.”
The programme was open to all companies founded within the last two years in North America and Europe. This time, Qiagen products and instruments with a total value of $200,000, will go to three main winners in the US – BrickBuilt Therapeutics, Glyphic Biotechnologies and RheumaGen – as well as to one winner in Europe – namely OncoBone Therapeutics, who are seeking to develop novel therapies for cancer patients with currently incurable bone metastases. All runners-up will also get the opportunity to join Qiagen’s Biotech Accelerator Programme and benefit from comprehensive research and business support.
“All winning companies are extremely worthy winners of a very competitive race for Qiagen’s first Biotech Grants,” said Thomas Schweins, Senior Vice President, Life Science Business Area of Qiagen. “We had so many great projects to choose from that we had to name more winners than one. It is amazing to see so many companies driving inventions and innovations to become products that can benefit society.”
Qiagen‘s press release re the Biotech Grants programme has been published to the Qiagen website and is also available on a number of Social Media channels, as below:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CY6kZjuKKnc/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/QIAGEN/posts/4658995147489633
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6889571100485787650
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Tiina Kähkönen
OncoBone Therapeutics (Finland)
Chief Scientific Officer
Tel : +358 44 328 5136
Email : tiina.kahkonen@oncobone.com
Tarquin Edwards
Peckwater PR / OncoBone Ventures (UK) Tel : +44 (0) 7879 458 364
Email : tarquin.edwards@peckwaterpr.co.uk
Notes to Editors
About OncoBone Ventures
www.oncoboneventures.com
OncoBone Ventures is a UK start-up biotech company seeking to develop novel therapies for cancer patients with currently incurable bone metastases. Working together with its wholly owned Finland-based subsidiary, OncoBone Therapeutics, the Company will see the utilization of its proprietary Biomarker Discovery Engine technology and a novel osteoimmuno-oncology (OIO) concept, first described by its directors, to guide the development of effective and safe immunotherapies for cancer patients with bone metastases.
Bone metastases provide a high unmet clinical need. About 70-80% of advanced breast and prostate cancer patients develop bone metastases and there are no effective treatments currently available. Furthermore, bone metastases often decrease quality of life, are painful and can cause severe bone complications, such as spinal cord compression and fractures.
About Qiagen
http://www.qiagen.com
Qiagen is the leading global provider of Sample to Insight solutions that enable customers to gain valuable molecular insights from samples containing the building blocks of life. The Netherlands-based holding company provides sample technologies that isolate and process DNA, RNA and proteins from blood, tissue and other materials. Assay technologies make these biomolecules visible and ready for analysis.
Bioinformatics software and knowledge bases interpret data to report relevant, actionable insights. Automation solutions tie these together in seamless and cost-effective workflows. Qiagen provides solutions to more than 500,000 customers around the world in Molecular Diagnostics (human healthcare), Applied Testing (primarily forensics), Pharma (pharma and biotech companies) and Academia (life sciences research). As of December 31, 2020, Qiagen employed more than 6,000 people in over 35 locations worldwide.
