PANOSOME
Harnessing Immunity
A new path to immunity
Panosome is a biotech startup with a novel, proprietary platform to generate antibodies to small molecules, peptides, and proteins for a wide range of research, diagnostic, and therapeutic needs.
Massive Antigen Array: The densely-packed surface of the African Trypanosome
Panosome possesses a unique and powerful antibody generation platform (VAST) based on a highly immunogenic surface array of over ten million proteins with the option to convert this array into scalable nanoparticles spanning several orders of magnitude in size.
We are able to attach to this immunogenic coat a wide variety of antigens, including proteins, peptides, small molecules, sugars, and lipids. This technology has undergone a stepwise development over a decade and has outperformed more traditional approaches both in antibody titers and in protection.
Because there has been little success with standard methods of antibody production against several classes of targets (such as small molecules, certain viruses, sugars, and lipids), the initial focus of the company is on generating products for targets that have to-date proven intractable (“do what others can’t”). We are partnering with several leading pharmaceutical companies to develop products tailored to their needs.
Panosome is pursuing immunotherapeutics in several other medically significant areas. These include monoclonal antibodies against tumor-specific carbohydrates (such as MUC1) as well as T cell receptor-like antibodies to target intracellular cancer antigens displayed on antigenic presenting cells (in this case, such as in the rare disease Midline glioma).
Panosome Management Team
Prof. Nina Papavasiliou, PhD, Co-founder and Managing Director
Erec Stebbins, PhD, Co-founder and Managing Director
Sebastian Kruse, PhD, Co-founder and COO
Joey Verdi, PhD, Co-founder and CSO
Location
“One thinks Heidelberg by day - with its surroundings - is the last possibility of the beautiful; but when he sees Heidelberg by night, a fallen Milky Way, with that glittering railway constellation pinned to the border, he requires time to consider upon the verdict.”
Panosome GmbH is located in the thriving R&D environment of Heidelberg, Germany. Heidelberg is the oldest university town of Germany harboring research centers and institutes such the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, and the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics. Panosome was spun off from the German Cancer Research Center and shares in the rich Heidelberg culture of startup enterprises in diverse scientific fields.