“Best of Biotech” is an international life science business plan competition organized by Life Science Austria (LISA), a program run by the Austria Wirtschaftsservice (AWS) on behalf of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy. On May 6, 2015 an international jury consisting of distinguished experts from the areas of science, industry and finance selected the winners of the competition. 

CeMM congratulates its researchers for being among the top 10 teams in the “Best of Biotech” competition out of 42 applications from 11 different countries.

The project idea: During the management of patients with blood cancers, hemato-oncologists often have the choice between different treatment options but may not be able to predict which is going to be the most effective. Berend Snijder, Nikolaus Krall and Gregory Vladimer, Postdoctoral Fellows in the Giulio Superti-Furga laboratory at CeMM, in collaboration with Professor Heinz Gisslinger at the Medical University of Vienna have started an incubator project to develop an in vitro diagnostic (IVD) test that can predict which chemotherapy, out of numerous possibilities, will help a patient with blood cancer and which is likely to only have side effects, using an innovative high-content automated confocal microscopy screen that allows to monitor the response of all individual cells in the sample. The project aims to help doctors make informed treatment decisions and shall ensure that patients get the best possible care. 

CeMM is committed to tackling biomedical challenges with a focus on cancer, immune disorders, and infectious diseases. In keeping with CeMM´s mission “From the clinic to the clinic” the long term goal lies on developing innovative therapeutics and diagnostics in these disease areas to assist in preparing the predictive, preventive and personalized medicine of the future.