AATec Medical works with the active ingredient alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT). This human serine protease inhibitor (SERPIN) protects tissue from protease damage and has both anti-inflammatory and antiviral effects. The startup has found a way to industrially synthesize AAT, which previously could only be produced from human blood plasma. This significantly reduces the price of the active ingredient.
ATL-105 is the startup's first product candidate based on AAT and will now be further tested in collaboration with Sprind. This includes the use of so-called "lung-on-a-chip" models, which use human lung tissue and computer-aided simulations to study the distribution of the drug in the lungs. In this way, the partners aim to generate clinically relevant data on the drug's effects in the human lung before clinical trials begin. Sprind is supporting the testing and providing funding for the project work.
AATec Medical aims to “develop effective solutions to the growing global threat of respiratory diseases”
Sigrid Koeth, Innovation Manager at Spring, emphasizes the importance of the project:
"With Sprind, we want to create new breakthrough innovations from Germany. The collaboration with AATec Medical is an example of our commitment to combining scientific research with entrepreneurial action and thus promoting innovative solutions in healthcare."
Dr. Rüdiger Jankowsky, co-founder and CEO of AATec, comments on the cooperation:
"The partnership with Sprind enables us to accelerate our research and development work and realize our innovation potential more quickly. Our goal is to utilize recombinant alpha-1 antitrypsin with state-of-the-art protein inhalation technology to develop effective solutions to the growing global threat of respiratory diseases. In addition to treating viral respiratory infections, we focus on inflammatory diseases such as COPD, asthma, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and other respiratory diseases with high unmet medical needs."
AATec's technology is based on research by co-founders Dr. Manfred Stangl, Head of Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation at the University Hospital of Munich and Chief Scientific Officer of AATec, and Dr. Michael Strassmair, Head of the Department of Hand Surgery at the Manus Sana Hospital in Starnberg, Munich, and Chief Medical Officer of AATec. Last summer, the startup successfully secured its first round of financing. Unnamed private investors, industry experts, and family offices invested €2.7 million in the company.
