Next generation discovery.
Actome GmbH, a life‐science start‐up company from the University of Freiburg and Hahn‐Schickard,
Germany has closed a seed investment agreement with b.value AG, Düsseldorf, Germany and further
investors. The seed investment will be used to establish the operative business and to bring Actome’s
first commercial products to the market. The first in class products will support life science researchers
by enabling the quantification of proteins and protein interactions in biological samples with hitherto
unseen sensitivity and specificity.
The unique performance of Actome’s products is based on the patented "Emulsion Coupling" technology
that detects single protein molecules and protein interaction complexes by translating protein status into
DNA‐barcodes. These barcodes are then detected by the method of digital PCR and decoded by a
proprietary software developed by Actome. “Our technology expands the capabilities of digital PCR from
nucleic acids to proteins. The application of our technology in the fields of proteomics, molecular pathway
research and biomarker discovery will help to increase our knowledge about molecular biological processes
and will transform medical diagnostics in an unprecedented way.” says Csaba Jeney, co‐founder, CEO, and
inventor of the technology.
Proteins control and direct biological processes through their interactions, the so‐called interactome, by
which they determine our health and wellbeing. Tools to study the interactome enable the understanding
of cellular processes and open up an enormous potential for research, diagnostics and therapies. Tackling
these challenges, Actome's innovative technology is a breakthrough that will revolutionize research and
biomedicine. The managing director of b.value AG, Peter Kallien, is excited about these opportunities:
“This is why Actome fascinated us from the first moment on. We have been impressed how the team
developed an extraordinary precise technology with huge benefits for proteomics research, which will allow
to define better diagnostic biomarkers and therapies.”
In addition to the investment, b.value AG will actively support Actome’s business development in the
future to increase outreach and accelerate growth. Further continued support by the University of
Freiburg, Hahn‐Schickard, BadenCampus, Life‐science Accelerator Baden‐Württemberg, bwcon and
Science4life is gratefully acknowledged by Actome.
About Actome GmbH
Actome is a privately held young life‐science startup founded in 2017. The year before Dr. Jeney moved
from Budapest to Freiburg to partner with Dr. Koltay and to leverage his start‐up experience and the
excellent environment provided by the University of Freiburg and the research provider Hahn‐Schickard
in Freiburg. Actome provides assay kits, bioinformatics software and services for the sensitive, highly
parallel and quantitative measurement of proteins and protein interactions. The long term vision of
Actome is to decode the whole interactome and to exploit these discoveries in molecular diagnostic
products for personalized medicine. Actome’s first products will target the research market with a specific
focus on assay‐kits for multi‐omics and single cell analysis.
www.actome.de
About b.value AG
Beyond investing as a seed venture capital provider for biotechnology, life sciences and chemistry, b.value
AG actively support their portfolio companies in the development with the unique “b.value Company
Building” approach: Portfolio companies benefit from the high level of technological expertise and
operational experience of the b.value team. The managing team has more than 40 years of experience in
setting up, leading, and developing technology companies and commercializing biotechnological
developments. Moreover, they profit from the accumulated experience of b.value ́s supervisory board and
broad network.
www.b‐value.de
Interactomics deals with the interactome. In cells, the proteins, nucleic acids etc. are connected by physical interactions, they form the ever changing molecular interaction networks establishing the dynamics of the life. Most commonly, interactome refers to protein–protein interaction (PPI) networks but the protein–DNA interactome, formed by transcription factors, chromatin regulatory proteins, and their target genes also has great interest. The detailed understanding of the interactome is the ultimate aim of life sciences providing insights of health and disease,
Emulsion coupling is an enabling proteomics/interactomics technology with no close competitor techs in sight. Emulsion coupling, actually, is a diversified portfolio of many cutting-edge technological solutions, and it is based on a very active research hub involving partners from many countries. The scientific and commercial potential of these technologies is best exploited through partnering. Do you have a proteomics/interactomics problem, research direction? We offer, co-development in various licensing frameworks, including free licenses.
The concept of emulsion coupling technology. Specific antibodies labeled with unique nucleic acids (UNALs) are used to reveal the co-localisation information of interacting proteins (a) UNAL-antibodies are in equilibrium binding on their targets, (b-c) compartment based PCR dimerisation of the unique antibody UNALs, (d) dimers are detected using ddPCR technology. Letters/colors indicate dimer compositions. Patent pending (WO 2016083793 A1).