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Nerai Bio - Unlocking the full potential of gene editing

Redaktion

The project management is responsible for the content of the information provided.

Projektdaten

  • Projekt-Nr: GRS-035/24 
  • Förderbeitrag: CHF 150'000.00 
  • Bewilligung: 03.07.2024 
  • Dauer: 09.2024 - 02.2026 
  • Handlungsfeld:  InnoBooster, seit 2018

Projektleitung

Projektbeschreibung

Gene editing, particularly through CRISPR-Cas9, has revolutionized our approach to diseases and medicine. Millions of patients and families affected by once intractable genetic conditions now have renewed hope. Despite remarkable progress made at an unprecedented pace, these technologies remain in their infancy and encounter limitations that restrict their applications. Specifically, the Cas9 protein only safely targets approximately 20% of all human genes and often with sub-optimal editing efficiency. To address these limitations, Nerai Bio developed an AI-assisted, fully automated platform for high-throughput protein engineering. This programmable platform generates enhanced CRISPR-based tools, introducing novel genome editors of expanded targeting range and increased efficiency, specificity, and safety. Our vision is to break the walls confining genome editing and unleash the future of medicine to patients once deemed uncurable.

Stand/Resultate

Nerai’s core technology fusing AI to programmable biology has been developed and validated through leading academic collaborations. The power of the platform was demonstrated by turning unusable and basic genome editors into clinically-meaningful therapeutic candidates of extreme precision and high performance. These strides generated significant scientific and industry tractions. Nerai is now set to incorporate as a pioneering gene editing company to merge the gap between the academic validation and commercial translation of its unique portfolio of editing tools. The next proximal goal for Nerai is to complete the proof of concept of its technologies in gold-standard animal models of a selected set of highly impactful indications. However, as the overall medical need is vastly greater than one could tackle alone, we aim to join forces with industry leaders, leveraging their resources to accelerate the deployment of Nerai’s cutting-edge therapeutic candidates to patients in need.

Links

Am Projekt beteiligte Personen

Kim Marquart, Co-founder & Head of Screening Platform, University of Zurich
Vincent Forster, Co-founder & CEO
Lukas Schmidheini, Co-founder & Head of Engineering Platform, University of Zurich
Sasha Melkonyan, Co-founder & Head of Robotics and ML, University of Zurich

Letzte Aktualisierung dieser Projektdarstellung  09.09.2024