A novel immunomodulatory adjuvant therapy to increase the window for survival in severe sepsis cases that has been co-developed by Bengaluru-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) and Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) Bhubaneswar is successfully licensed out to the Dutch biotechnology company, SurvivX. 

Polymicrobial sepsis is a worldwide challenge, with approximately 50 million cases and 11 million sepsis-related deaths worldwide, accounting for 20% of all global deaths. The new compound, called SUR-101, is an immune stimulating therapeutic in sepsis patients with signs of immune suppression. It could be the first step towards personalisation and precision in sepsis medicine that has thus far been treated as a drug discovery problem.

The technology presently at the preclinical stage is a discovery by a team of scientists led by Prof Ravindran Balachandran from ILS. It has been translated and co-developed by the translational research group of Dr Taslimarif Saiyed at C-CAMP.

Speaking on the licensing effort, the Dutch Ambassador to India, Marisa Gerards, said, “Life Sciences & Health remains a priority sector for the bilateral cooperation between the Netherlands and India. We have successfully been working in this field for many years, and this new partnership is a great example of what India and the Netherlands can do together. Sepsis is an important global societal challenge, and it is in need of innovative solutions.”

“This is one of the first global technology transfers by C-CAMP of an academic invention developed exclusively in India," Dr Saiyed said.

SurvivX CEO Remko van Leeuwen said, “SurvivX needs to show the safety and activity of the protein in humans before it can be tested as a novel therapeutic approach”.