17 marzo 2025

Development of start-ups in the life sciences, especially in the biotechnology and drug discovery sector: thanks to a collaboration agreement signed with EXTEND, CDP Venture Capital's National Technology Transfer Hub for the biopharmaceutical sector, CEINGE-Biotecnologie Avanzate Franco Salvatore of Naples is set to become the southern Italian hub for technology transfer specialising in tech incubation and business creation, developing inventions, discoveries and patents deriving from biotechnological and biomedical research. CEINGE has a long tradition of promoting and incubating translational research projects, also in collaboration with the incubator CampaniaNewSteel.

EXTEND is the national technology transfer hub entirely dedicated to the biopharmaceutical sector set up on the initiative of CDP Venture Capital through its Tech Transfer Fund and with the co-investment of partners Evotec and Angelini Ventures. Extend invests in the best new drug development initiatives and new therapeutic approaches produced in university laboratories and research centres to turn them into innovative start-ups, supporting the initial stages of project development, from target identification to lead optimisation, to achieve preclinical proof of concept.

With this collaboration, CEINGE joins the network of Scientific Promoters that EXTEND uses, which currently includes the IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, the Universities of Milan, Florence, Modena and Reggio Emilia, Trento, Padua, La Sapienza in Rome, and the regional research district of Apulia through H-Bio.

“The objective of the agreement we entered into is to strengthen technology transfer and exploitation of research results by fostering the creation and development of new companies”, explained CEINGE's Chief Executive Officer Mariano Giustino. “EXTEND focuses on the development of innovative therapies in different areas, such as oncology, neurological diseases and rare diseases, with a particular focus on strategies based on gene and RNA therapy and the development of monoclonal antibodies. CEINGE can make a great contribution in this area and can become a point of reference for the EXTEND initiative for Campania and the South in general”.

Indeed, in recent years CEINGE has intensified its activities related to the support of start-ups established or set up at CEINGE, both in terms of organisation and approaching the market: Elysium Cell Bio Ita, a start-up from the Department of Molecular Medicine of the Federico II University of Naples, just placed two pharmaceutical products on the market born out of scientific research at CEINGE; and in recent weeks NutriTechLab, an academic spin-off from Federico II University established in July 2024, began developing customised solutions for the prevention and treatment of allergies. Also based at CEINGE is Kimera, a start-up developing innovative strategies for the treatment of familial hypercholesterolaemia.

Extend has a total budget of 32.95 million euro and currently manages a diversified portfolio of 16 projects from university research in key therapeutic areas including musculoskeletal disorders, neurology, oncology, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders and autoimmunity. The portfolio includes, for example, companies such as Aptadir Therapeutics (dealing with myelodysplastic syndromes and fragile X syndrome), Imgen-T (specialising in synthetic immunology), Novystem (developing treatments for Friedreich's ataxia), Sintica Biotech (developing therapies for melanoma) and Synaptic Brain Therapeutics (dealing with epilepsy). Extend remains actively engaged in the identification and development of new projects, strengthening the bridge between academic research and the market.