Valo Therapeutics has announced the exclusive licensing of intellectual property rights (IPR) from the University of Helsinki for the institution’s innovative PeptiCHIP technology.

Following further validation by ValoTx, and the achievement of specific milestones, the IPR will transfer in full to the company. This is a strategically important addition for the company as it will enable the rapid identification of tumour antigens for the development of new cancer immunotherapies using Valo’s existing technologies and opens the possibility for a tumor specific personalized approach in the future, it states. In addition, due to the advantages PeptiCHIP offers in comparison to existing antigen identification approaches, ValoTx expects to be able to commercialise the technology through creating a revenue-generating business unit.

“Precisely knowing the antigen profile of a tumor is crucial in developing new and effective immunotherapies in the treatment of cancer and particularly so when developing a personalized approach. PeptiCHIP enables us to identify these antigens faster than existing technologies and, in combination with our lead delivery platform, PeptiCRAd, we see significant potential for the development of personalized cancer immunotherapies across a wide range of cancers both for our partners and in-house programmes,” says Paul Higham, CEO of ValoTx.

Helsinki Innovation Services Ltd, an innovation and commercialization company owned by the University of Helsinki, managed the intellectual property rights for PeptiCHIP and the commercial negotiations with ValoTx.

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