20 Med Therapeutics BV (20Med)
20Med Therapeutics was founded as a spin-off company of the University of Twente, based on the discovery of a novel generation of polymeric nanoparticles with a unique combination of chemical and biological properties essential for successful intracellular delivery of (oligo)nucleotides.
Supported by Twente Technology Fund, 20Med has further developed these nanoparticles towards a proprietary platform of bioresponsive multifunctional polymeric nanogels. 20Med Nanogels are non-toxic and can be easily loaded with genetic materials, giving unprecedented efficacy in intracellular delivery and functional activity of gene therapeutics into targeted cells.
The company`s strategy is to further exploit the high potential of 20Med`s delivery technology for application in a diversity of gene related diseases, and to demonstrate their great potential for safe and efficient gene therapy in a clinical setting.
20Med Therapeutics offers innovative solutions for efficient intracellular drug delivery and is open for collaboration with biotech and pharma companies to solve specific needs for novel therapeutic formulations. The application potential of our nanogels is not limited to gene therapy only, but covers a broad field of drug delivery. For example, our recent research shows that 20Med`s nanogels tailored with complementary sites for reversible, noncovalent binding of low molecular weight drugs like doxorubicin, peptides, and proteins show high loading capacity and efficient delivery into the cytoplasm of in vitro cultured cells.
20Med Therapeutics is located in the laboratories of the MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine of the University of Twente. At this location 20Med has available all infrastructure of the University with state-of-the-art equipment for advanced R&D in the field of nanotechnology and cell biology for biomedical applications. In particular 20Med takes advantage of these in house facilities in the design, synthesis and characterization of multi-functionalized materials, and the evaluation of their (physico)chemical and cell biological properties for controlled drug and gene delivery applications. This makes development of novel products in a short time frame possible. Our team has excellent interactions in the Institute with experts in organic chemistry, polymer chemistry, biochemistry, biomaterials technology, cell biology, molecular biology, and pharmacology.
Drienerlolaan 5
Zuidhorst Building 252
7522 NB Enschede
The Netherlands
Johan Engbersen is Chief Scientific Officer of 20Med Therapeutics BV and em. professor of Biomedical Chemistry at the MIRA Institute of Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine of the University of Twente (NL). His research during the 15 years is focused on the development of multifunctional nanosystems for controlled drug and gene delivery. In this multidisciplinary research he builds on his experience for almost four decades during his academic career in organic synthesis, molecular reaction mechanisms, polymer chemistry, physical-organic chemistry, bio-organic chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, and molecular interactions in cell biology and pharmacology related with drug delivery. Based on an innovative class of highly potent gene delivery carriers developed in his research he founded 20Med Therapeutics B.V. in 2011 as a spin-off company of the University of Twente.
Dennis Lensen obtained his PhD degree in bio-organic and polymer chemistry in 2011 at the Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands. The topic of his thesis was about encapsulation using biodegradable polymers for biomedical applications. From 2011-2013 he worked as a post-doc bridging the field of applied physics and chemistry thereby investigating single molecule catalysis using STM in the Applied Physics department at the Radboud University Nijmegen. Between 2013-2016 he worked as a senior scientist on high throughput phenotypic screening of small molecule libraries using zebrafish larvae at Teleos Therapeutics (Boston, USA). He joined in September 2016 20Med Therapeutics as a principal scientist on developing innovative solutions for efficient intracellular delivery of (oligo)nucleotide therapeutics (siRNA, miRNA, mRNA, DNA) for treatment of genetic diseases.