LMU start-up Epicure receives m⁴ Award

The award, which is endowed with 500,000 euros, supports academic research groups in translating promising scientific findings into concrete applications - in this case, the development of novel cancer therapies. Dr. Matthias Heiß, Dr. Corinna Pleintinger, Yasmin Gärtner, Professor Thomas Carell, Dr. Mike Rothe and Professor Franziska Traube from the Department of Chemistry accepted the award in Munich at the beginning of July.

The m⁴ Award is presented every two years by BioM - the network organization of the biotechnology industry in Bavaria - and the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy to five outstanding biomedical research projects. The aim is to promote innovative technologies, products or services that contribute to solving urgent medical problems.

Epicure focuses on epigenetically active substances that specifically target disease-relevant molecular mechanisms - with the aim of making cancer treatments more effective and at the same time more tolerable. There is a great need for new therapies, particularly in the area of malignant diseases of the blood and lymphatic system: Despite medical advances, more than 750,000 people worldwide die from hematologic neoplasms every year, as existing treatments are often insufficiently effective or highly toxic.

Thanks to the funding from the m⁴ Award, Epicure can now carry out important preclinical studies that will create the regulatory basis for the first clinical trials in humans - and bring the project one step closer to the planned spin-off.