Dr. Setu Kasera, Head of Science and Engineering, is taking the lead on LEON’s new lab
Martinsried near Munich, 27 April 2023 – The Innovation and Start-up Center for Biotechnology (IZB), one of the leading biotechnology centers in Europe, and home to almost 50 biotech start-ups, today announced that the pharmatec company leon-nanodrugs GmbH (“LEON”) has moved into the IZB. LEON is a disrupting enabler of nanotechnology for the pharmaceutical industry. The new R&D capacities at the IZB set the stage for completion of product development for LEON’s manufacturing devices and will afterwards be used to showcase the devices and provide process development services to clients using LEON’s equipment.
LEON’s product platform is built on their proprietary innovative FR-JET Technology that enables a huge efficiency increase in the formulation process of active ingredients into nanodrug carriers such as lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). LEON’s devices, NANOme and NANOus, are designed for aseptic process GMP-compliance and quick scale-up. NANOme is optimized for small-scale individual patient and clinical trial-size production. NANOus is a fully-automated, aseptic device enabling the LNP-encapsulation of APIs from medium- to large-scale with high throughput using process analytical technology (PAT).
Dr. Setu Kasera, Head of Science and Engineering commented: “We are truly excited about moving into the IZB. As one of the key biotech hubs in Germany, the IZB provides not only lab facilities, but also an unparalleled environment to foster innovation and growth. The local proximity to biotech start-ups, academia, VCs and big pharma creates an ecosystem that facilitates networking in- and outside of your peer group, setting the stage for future cooperations and partnerships. We are looking forward to using our new capacities to complete the development of our devices for the market, while we pursue and build on opportunities for collaborations by providing access to our devices and process development services.”
“We welcome LEON to our vibrant biotech center. At IZB, we strive to support companies that bring new technologies and approaches to the biotech industry, and I am confident the resources and network available at the campus will support LEON in their late-stage product development,” added Dr Peter Hanns Zobel, Managing Director IZB.
About leon-nanodrugs
leon-nanodrugs GmbH (“LEON”) is a pharmatech company specializing in the development and marketing of devices built on its innovative FR-JET technology for the encapsulation of genetic material and other active substances into nanodrug carriers, such as lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). The Munich-based private company was initially focused on solving small molecules bioavailability challenges. It has since 2020, refocused its efforts to enable pharma companies, small biotech as well as CDMOs, to optimize nanomedicine manufacturing and take full advantage of the significant progress in advanced therapies
LEON’s GMP-compliant, aseptic devices NANOme and NANOus enable an efficiency increase in the production of nano drug carriers and are suitable for both clinical scale and commercial production. In addition to its own equipment platform, LEON will offer in-house laboratory capacity for process development at the IZB.
For further information, please visit leon-nanodrugs.com and follow LEON on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Company contact :
leon-nanodrugs GmbH
Dr. Setu Kasera, Head of Science and Engineering
Phone : +49-89-41424889-0
E-mail : s.kasera@leon-nanodrugs.com
Media inquiries:
MC Services AG
Katja Arnold / Eva Bauer
Phone: +49-89-210228-0
E-mail: leon-nanodrugs@mc-services.eu
About the Innovation and Start-up Center for Biotechnology (IZB) in Martinsried near Munich
The Fördergesellschaft IZB mbH, founded in 1995, operates the Innovation and Start-up Center for Biotechnology (IZB) with sites in Planegg-Martinsried and Freising-Weihenstephan. The IZB is one of the leading biotechnology centers in Europe. More than 40 biotech and life science companies with over 700 employees are currently located on 26,000 square metres. Here, work is being done on developing drugs for the most serious diseases, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, and various autoimmune diseases. A key criterion for the success of the IZBs is the physical proximity to cutting-edge research on the Martinsried/Grosshadern campus and the Weihenstephan campus. The infrastructure measures, such as the Faculty Club G2B (Gateway to Biotech), the hotel CAMPUS AT HOME, the kindergarten Bio Kids as well as the restaurants SEVEN AND MORE and THE BOWL Food Lounge, are also location factors that are highly valued by the founders of the companies. Successful companies that emerged from the IZB include adivo (now Zoetis), Corimmun (today Janssen-Cilag), Crelux (today Wuxi AppTec), Exosome Diagnostics (bought by Bio-Techn), ibidi, Immunic Therapeutics, Medigene, Micromet (today Amgen), MorphoSys (soon Novartis), Octopharma or Rigontec (now MSD) as well as SIRION Biotech (today Perkin Elmer). More information at www.izb-online.de.
Press contact and photo material requests:
Marion Köhler, Head of Public Relations
Fördergesellschaft IZB mbH,
Innovations- und Gründerzentrum Biotechnologie
Am Klopferspitz 19
D-82152 Planegg-Martinsried
Phone: +49 (0)89/55 279 48-17
E-Mail: koehler@izb-online.de
Website: www.izb-online.de
