The unique PeptiCHIP technology from the University of Helsinki, Finland, has been licenced exclusively to Valo Therapeutics Oy, a company that develops novel, adaptive immunotherapy platforms for cancer and infectious disorders. The IPR will fully transfer to the company after additional validation by ValoTx and the fulfilment of key milestones. This is a strategically significant expansion for the business since it will speed up the identification of tumour antigens for the creation of fresh cancer immunotherapies utilising Valo’s current technology and pave the way for a tumor-specific tailored approach in the future. Additionally, because PeptiCHIP offers advantages over current antigen detection techniques, ValoTx expects to be able to commercialise the technology through creating a revenue-generating business unit.
“Precisely knowing the antigen profile of a tumor is crucial in developing new and effective immunotherapies in the treatment of cancer and particularly so when developing a personalized approach. PeptiCHIP enables us to identify these antigens faster than existing technologies and, in combination with our lead delivery platform, PeptiCRAd, we see significant potential for the development of personalized cancer immunotherapies across a wide range of cancers both for our partners and in-house programmes.”
Paul Higham, CEO of ValoTx
The PeptiCHIP technology combines an immunogenic peptide identification software algorithm with a microfluidic device for neoantigen identification. Together, the hardware and software create a simple lab instrument that makes it possible to quickly and accurately identify tumour antigen patterns.
“This is another successful IP acquisition from our long-standing innovation partnership with the University of Helsinki. PeptiCHIP technology opens new avenues for partnerships and our in-house programmes focused on new and personalized immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer.”
Dr Sari Pesonen, CSO of ValoTx
In comparison to current approaches, the PeptiCHIP technology is anticipated to make neoantigen detection easier and more affordable while requiring less tumour material. As a result, tumour antigen identification in routine biopsy clinical workflows should proceed more quickly.
The University of Helsinki’s innovation and commercialization organisation, Helsinki Innovation Services Ltd, handled the commercial talks with ValoTx and the management of PeptiCHIP’s intellectual property rights.
