Research Centre of Medical Technology and Biotechnology (fzmb GmbH)

 

The fzmb GmbH is a private non profit research company for medical technology and biotechnology. It has 110 fellows in the 4 departments, Animal clinics (horse, cow, companion animal), Diagnostics (veterinary, food control), Biotechnology (antibodies, recombinant proteins, cartilage cell culture) and Bio-instruments (Immunoassay analyzer, near infrared spectroscopy NIR, ion mobility spectroscopy IMS).

The mission of the company is to provide research services for small and medium size companies (SMEs). The major FZMB research and development areas are: 1) immunology and antibody technology; 2) arthritis and cartilage regeneration; 3) gas (IMS) and food analytics (NIR)

In the field of antibody technology the fzmb has a complete horizontal technology portfolio which comprises antibody generation, characterisation, immobilisation and various applications in biological assays (immunoassays) and down stream processing (affinity chromatography, magnetic bead separation). The fzmb has been working many years together with Russian research partners to develop new antibodies and innovative immunological methods - in particular for “point of care testing”.

Currently the fzmb GmbH and the RCMDT Research Center for Molecular Diagnostics and Therapy use a Joint German-Russian funding competition of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Russian Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises (FASIE) in the area of applied, industry-related, innovative research and development. In this joint project (project number: 01DJ14011A) “The development of highly sensitive recombinant antibodies for the establishment of rapid tests based on the 3-D-immunofiltration for the detection of toxins” we jointly develop a new method for in vitro generation of monoclonal antibodies. The partner combine their expertise in genetic engineering (RCMDT), Cell biology (FZMB) and testkit production (Senova GmbH) to generate a novel antibody based rapid test kit for the detection of microbial toxins.

In the field of arthritis and cartilage regeneration the fzmb has developed a method to produce 3Dscaffold-free cartilage transplants (SFCT). Cartilage constructs produced by SFCT-technology provide promising opportunities to restore cartilage defects in humans and horses. In addition, SFCT-technology presents a new suitable and promising approach to reduce and replace animal testing that can be used in different fields of interest such as pharmacological screenings in frame in vitro arthrosis research.

In the scope of the «Trilateral Partnerships» programme funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, together with Ukrainian (Institute for Genetic and Regenerative Medicine, Kiev) and Russian (Baltic Federal University of Immanuel Kant, Kaliningrad) colleagues we want to apply our SFCT-technology for regeneration of ligaments and tendons.

In the area for IMS and NIR the fzmb is involved in several joint product developments with industrial partners aiming to provide portable devices for on spot testing of voitals substances (IMS) and foodstuff composition (NIR).