OUR PARTNERS
LiverTarget is a coalition of 9 European partners from Finland, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Greece, The Netherlands, Sweden and Portugal coordinated by Tampere University, Finland. LiverTarget participants are operating at the international forefront in their respective fields, creating a core nucleus of experts in all fields needed to carry out a highly successful modern early phase drug discovery project.
TAMPERE UNIVERSITY
Tampere University is a community of 21,000 students and over 4,000 staff members, and it is one of the most multidisciplinary universities in Finland. Almost all internationally recognised fields of study are represented at Tampere University, which brings together research and education in technology, health and society.
Two research groups from Tampere University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology (MET) are working at LiverTarget project. The coordinator Reijo Laaksonen and his team is one of the research groups integrated in the Finnish Cardiovascular Research Centre in the Tampere University. The main interest of the group is coronary heart disease (CHD) with a special focus in identification and treatment of high-risk CHD patients. In addition to LiverTarget we are coordinating a large scale randomized clinical trial, CoroPrevention.
Dario Greco is professor of bioinformatics and director of FHAIVE, the Finnish Hub for Development and Validation of Integrated Approaches at MET. FHAIVE is a GLP accredited laboratory and is the Finnish national reference laboratory for the EURL-ECVAM validation network (NETVAL) for alternative methods to animal testing. The mission of FHAIVE is to develop and validate IATA for chemical safety assessment and drug development by integrating advanced in vitro techniques along with AI-based data analytics and predictive modelling.
UNIVERSITY OF MILAN
The University of Milan is a leading Italian university for investment in research infrastructure and human capital: two essential elements for tackling the complex challenges of knowledge in a rapidly changing social and industrial context. As a public institution concerned with the development and progress of knowledge, the University has always been committed to research projects that influence the quality of life of citizens. Research at the University of Milan is mostly conducted in the departments and the many specialised structures, favouring the creation and growth of networks of collaboration locally, nationally and internationally.
Laboratory of Experimental Pharmacology and Integrative Biology of Atherosclerosis
The main objective of our research is to improve the understanding of the onset and development of atherosclerosis, with a special focus on the role of dyslipidemias, metabolic diseases and immunity in this pathological condition. The laboratory's interest extends to the study of the impact of the gut microbiota in atherosclerosis. This knowledge is integrated and used for the identification of new targets for therapy.
SITOOLS BIOTECH GMBH
siTOOLs Biotech GmbH is an independent, research oriented biotech developing and producing molecular tools for academic and industry organizations active in the field of genomics and drug development. In particular, siTOOLs Biotech focusses on RNAi based reagents for high specificity gene silencing. Founded 2013 in Munich, Germany, the company has grown organically through its products and services. SiTOOLs continues to expand its offerings, seeking collaborations with parnters in industry and academia and investing into the development of new technologies.
THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN DENMARK
The University of Southern Denmark have five faculties with more than 27,000 students, almost 20% of whom are from abroad; and more than 3,800 employees distributed across our main campuses in Odense, Slagelse, Kolding, Esbjerg and Sønderborg. Several international studies document that SDU conducts world-class research and are one of the top fifty young universities in the world. At the affiliated Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology we study basic molecular and biochemical processes in living organisms. In particular, we use highly advanced mass spectrometry-based techniques and computational tools to characterize and understand protein structure and function as well as membrane dynamics at the systems-level.
BIOMEDICAL REASERCH FOUNDATION
ACADEMY OF ATHENS
The Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens (BRFAA) is the most recent addition to the Life Sciences Research organizations in Greece, which begun its activities in 2004. The main goal of BRFAA is to achieve excellence in the Biomedical Sciences by recruiting high quality investigators carrying out cutting-edge basic and translational research and by training young researchers in a state-of-the-art facilities, which provide a particularly stimulating scientific environment and strong research infrastructures.
At present, BRFAA consists of 4 Research Centers (Institutes) specialized in different aspects of Biomedical Research: (1) Center of Basic Research, (2) Center of Clinical and Translational Research, and Experimental Surgery (3) Center of Systems Biology and (4) Center of Environmental Health
LAMDA THERAPEUTICS
Lamda Therapeutics is a pre-clinical phase start-up developing an innovative approach for the treatment of diabetes harnessing a natural control mechanism preventing adipose tissue inflammation and insulin resistance. This stems from years of research from the founders identifying a novel natural mechanism controlling immune system homeostasis at the adipose tissue which, when disturbed or inactivated, leads to chronic low grade adipose tissue inflammation causing obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. The Lambda Therapeutics approach thus focuses on the development and administration of novel first-in-class molecules to restore normality at the adipose tissue, benefitting diabetic patients (both type 1 and type 2 diabetics) as well as a broad spectrum of patients with cardiometabolic and other diseases.
UMC UTRECHT
In the UMC Utrecht research is concentrated in six strategic themes with each a limited number of disease targets. Patient care is integrated in these themes. A multidisciplinary approach guarantees patients benefit from the latest available expertise and innovative technological solutions.
Cardiovascular disease is one of the main causes of death in both men and women and, with the current aging population and rise in cardiovascular risk factors, this is not likely to change without a collective effort. To address this challenge, cardiovascular investigators, clinicians and educators from UMC Utrecht have assembled into one program: Circulatory Health. The mission of our program is to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease worldwide.
VISIT CIRCULATORY HEALTH SECTION
The Nanomedicine group focuses on drug delivery strategies to target drugs to the right place at the right time for optimal therapeutic efficacy. We do this especially for biologics such as RNA and proteins.
ASTRAZENECA
AstraZeneca is a global, innovation and research-driven biopharmaceutical business that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of prescription medicines, primarily for the treatment of cardiovascular, metabolic, renal, respiratory, inflammation, autoimmune, oncology, infection and neuroscience diseases. AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries. The innovative portfolio of medicines of AstraZeneca are used by millions of patients worldwide. AstraZeneca is working across biologics, small molecules, immuno- and nucleotide therapies, protein engineering and devices
VECTOR B2B
VectorB2B is a non-profit Association created in January 2019 and awarded with the title of Collaborative Laboratory (CoLAB) by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, the Portuguese public agency that supports science, technology and innovation.
VectorB2B offers both CDMO and CRO activities for small and large molecules, covering the entire supply chain from early discovery to clinical studies in a smooth and efficient way. In additional to their internal teams, VectorB2B also relies on a trusted network of renowned academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies within Portugal’s health sector. VectorB2B is a one-stop shop offering a wide range of services in Discovery, Toxicology, GMP manufacturing and Clinical trials.
VectorB2B services span multiple therapeutic areas and classes of molecules, offering the scientific expertise and technical capabilities required to support a new project from target identification all the way through IND submission.