On Epilepsy Day (Oct 5, 2022), Prof. Heilbronn was interviewed about the EpiBlock project by VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik.
Find here the link to the VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik interview here.
On EpiEpiBlok Therapeutics GmbH is a spin-off of Charité and the Medical University of Innsbruck, founded by Prof. Dr. Regine Heilbronn and Prof. Dr. Christoph Schwarzer. The focus of the company is the development of a gene therapy for the treatment of drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy. Between 2015 and 2021, Prof. Heilbronn and her team at Charité received funding and mentoring from the SPARK-BIH program, preparing for the foundation of EpiBlok.
The project aims at developing a gene therapy for epilepsy: An adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector will be delivered minimally invasively to the epileptic focus, re-expressing a neuropeptide that will be released in an activity-dependent manner, i.e. in periods of high neuronal activity which precedes the onset of a seizure. Suppression of neuronal excitability thereby suppresses the epileptic event. The team was also supported by GO-Bio funding with 3.3 Mio EUR.
More information about Epiblock GmbH.
