Partners

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Link to SME partners:
SamaBriva
Transalgae Ltd
AlbaJuna Therapeutic SL
Diamante SRL
Leaf Expression Systems Ltd

Link to Academic and Public
research organization partners:
St. George’s Hospital Medical School
The University of Rouen Normandie
The UdL
The John Innes Centre
CSIC
University of the Arts London
University College London
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
Fraunhofer IME

SME

AlbaJuna Therapeutics SL

www.irsicaixa.es/en/albajuna-therapeutics-sl

AlbaJuna Therapeutics SL, a spin-off from the IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute in Badalona, Barcelona, Spain, founded in January 2016 aims, to develop a new treatment strategy based on antibody-like molecules with the potential to neutralize HIV and activate the “natural killer” cells responsible for destroying cells infected by the virus. This is an entirely new approach for HIV treatment with and has tremendous potential.

AlbaJuna Therapeutics aims to develop an innovative strategy to treat HIV by manufacturing multifunctional antibodies. When they act acting against a virus, antibodies bind to a region of the external protein of the virus that participates in the infection process, thereby neutralizing it. In general, each antibody only recognizes a single region. What is unique about Albamab, Junamab and Martamab, the three monoclonal antibodies that AlbaJuna Therapeutics will be focusing on three unique monoclonal antibodies, Albamab, Junamab and Martamab is their capacitythat are recognised for their ability to interact with several regions of the HIV virus, thus increasing their neutralizing capacity. At the same time, they have been designed to increase the activity of the natural killer cells responsible for destroying any cells infected by HIV. The three candidate molecules available have demonstrated in vitro results that are 100 times more powerful than those obtained to date by any other molecule with similar characteristics.
Key people:

Dr. Julià Blanco, Workpackage 6 Lead

Dr. Blanco been senior researcher and leader of the Virology and Immunology Group at the AIDS Research Institute IrsiCaixa since 2006. He combines the academic research activity with the position of Chief Scientific Officer of Albajuna Therapeutics since 2016. He has published over 100 peer- reviewed manuscripts on HIV pathogenesis and immune responses and is inventor of 5 issued patents on the field of immunology and vaccinology.