QurieGen
We have pioneered a single-cell sequencing-based method to map the changes in transcriptome, membrane and 100’ of intracellular (phospho)proteins simultaneously across multiple pathways (IP filed) to obtain a high-resolution map of cellular response. Current providers miss a key layer of information - intracellular (phospho)proteome, which is absolutely crucial to determine intracellular changes to drug perturbations.
The near-term business goal is to build our reputation as a leader in the field and engage with pharma R&D to identify the most suitable pathways and disease areas. To achieve this goal, we will arrange collaborative paid-for pilot and service projects with pharma companies, in which we will quantify the dynamic cellular changes in response to drug perturbations. The potential of our technology is appreciated by key players in the field, as evidenced by our pilot trials with Aduro Biotech (Oss, the Netherlands), Janssen Pharmaceutica J&J (Beerse, Belgium), and Acerta Pharma (part of AstraZeneca, Oss, the Netherlands).
Our method will have a major impact on the drug development process as it provides insight into patient response to drugs, identifies promising drug targets, and opens up new routes for studying (new and more effective) drug combinations, or finding new disease patterns. The long-term goal is to enable the data-driven discovery of new cellular response patterns and new drug targets. By quantifying the cellular response to 100 cancer drugs, we will generate a large data set necessary to train algorithms that can identify cell-type- or patient-specific responses to drugs, and new drug targets. We are now taking the first steps towards the algorithm-driven approach by studying the mode of action of four BTK-inhibitors used for B-cell cancer treatment.
The founding team consists of three co-founders: Dr. Eng. Kinga Matuła (CEO), Dr. Francesca Rivello (CSO), and Prof. dr. Wilhelm Huck (board member, co-founder of Sphere Fluidics and Cytofind Diagnostics, Spinoza prize winner), and an advisor - Dr. Hans van Eenennaam (who has >20 years of experience in pharma R&D, co-founder of BioNovion, co-inventor of Keytruda and former executive VP of Aduro Biotech Europe). Monoceros Analytics is searching for the first investment (€ 4M) to build a proprietary database on cell response patterns that will cement our trajectory to a data-driven company.