PamGene International BV (www.pamgene.com) is a high-tech post-genomics company which has developed a unique microarray technology that can be used for the rapid development of both diagnostics and pharmaceutical products. The company was founded in 1999 as a spin-off from the diagnostic company Organon Teknika. Of her employees, more than half are active in research and development. PamGene won the Rising Star Award and this high-tech SME is anchored in science and business through the support of international well-known scientists and universities as well as through commercial relations with first class companies. This places PamGene in a unique position to have insights into healthcare from both academia and industry. PamGene has developed a 3-dimensional flow-through microarray technology that can be used for the analysis of both proteins with a focus on protein activities (kinases, phosphatases, glycosyltransferases, etc). This proprietary technology is protected by a series of patents. This biomarker platform is applied in immune oncology to predict a patient’s response to therapy. A multimodal approach ((de)phosphorylation and (de)glycosylation) is enabled on one and the same micro-array platform.
PamGene offers their advanced integrative microarray platform exeprtise to the partners. It involves immobilisation of carbohydrates and can monitor binding or reaction events over time, adding the kinetic dimension over other mostly static end-point based array systems. While already used in collaboration with UU for the identification of multivalent carbohydrate binding, here a specific goal is to create a glycomimetic chip displaying all the glycomimetics building blocks the consortium has to offer and will be leading in the world. This will enable immediate identification of suitable mimetics, a crucial step in the development of glyco-drugs and their crucial biomarkers.