Selection of AID research projects – In-house research & international cooperation projects with universities and institutes

The objective of INNOVA4TB is to enhance and strengthen the collaborative research among clinical, research and diagnostic sectors and to form a network, aimed to perform high-quality and translational research in the field of diagnosis and management of tuberculosis (TB). The consortium is constituted by 12 institutions from 8 countries that combine complementary and synergic expertise: clinical management (hospitals), basic science and new technologies (academic institutions), and industrial development and entrepreneurship culture (SMEs).

In this project, a novel flow cytometric principle combined with the well established EliSpot technology will be used to develop a test system that allows the identification of autoreactive T cells and therefore an earlier, improved and definite diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS, also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata).

The major goal of the PACE project is to transform the treatment of patients suffering from critical limb ischemia (CLI) who presently have limited treatment options and poor outcome. Within PACE, a randomized, double-blind, multicentre, placebo-controlled, parallel group phase III study is conducted, applying a novel, off-the-shelf allogeneic PLacenta-eXpanded stromal cell product (PLX-PAD), optimized to support regeneration and therefore vascularization, from Peripheral Arterial Disease.

The overall aim of this project was to develop an optical method, automatable, direct, quantitative and non-invasive, which can be used to test the virucidal effectiveness of disinfectants. By adaptation with laboratory automation technologies already available on the market, this development enables a high-throughput method for testing the virucidal potency of disinfectants.

The testing of drinking water for Legionella is regulated in the “Trinkwasserverordnung”, where the analysis is carried out visually by evaluation of selective media. The aim of the project was the development of a reproducible, simple and automatic analysis system for the detection, counting and archiving of Legionella analysis based on the legal “Trinkwasserverordnung”. Within this project, the AID GmbH has developed a complete platform that provides high accuracy for use in high-throughput laboratory analysis.

The central focus of the BIO-DrIM project (BIOmarker-Driven personalized IMmunosuppression) is the implementation of biomarker-driven strategies for personalized immunosuppression. Biomarker-guided management of immunosuppressive therapy is an ambitious undertaking that started time ago with other projects (IOT and RISET). Within these earlier projects, a set of promising biomarkers had been identified. Based on these previous studies, a transplantation network was established for a coordinated evaluation of the usefulness of the EliSpot technology and the AID reader system in outcome prediction and post-transplant follow up.

The aim of the project was the development of a novel fluorescence EliSpot Reader System as well as in vitro diagnostic test kits for the detection of the immune response after infection and for vaccination monitoring. The use of fluorescence technology enables the measurement functional of T-cell populations, visualized based on their cytokine release, in one single approach. Thus, infection courses and vaccination success can be characterized in more detail. This has been demonstrated within the project in clinical studies (1, 2, 3). Patent according to this project EP2223111, US9874561

Literature: (1) Essone et al, Respiration, 2014 (2) Bittel et al, Infection 2014 (3) Zhang et al, 2017