Press releases

Fraunhofer ITEM is actively supporting the regulatory development of environmental risk assessments for drugs. The aim of an ERA is to ensure that the drug manufacturer understands the possible environmental risks and takes appropriate steps to minimize these risks.

The OECD Test Guidelines are an important tool for assessing the impact of chemicals on the environment. Updating of the Test Guidelines is organized by the Working Group of National Coordinators for the OECD Test Guidelines Programme (WNT) and the OECD Secretariat. The process is based on proposals from OECD member countries and does not include a regular update review. The Federal Environment Agency commissioned Fraunhofer IME, Fraunhofer ITEM and Ramboll to identify and prioritize a possible need for updating and to prepare a list of possible measures.

Fraunhofer researchers have succeeded in using the bioresorbable silica gel Renacer® to produce an electrospun membrane that is neither cytotoxic nor genotoxic. This model mimics fibrous structures found in connective tissue and is therefore particularly suitable for regenerative applications, such as for improved wound healing.

To prevent testing on animals and create even more precise ways of testing therapeutics, the pharmaceutical industry is increasingly turning to human immune cells. However, the availability of cells like these has been limited to date. Now, Fraunhofer researchers have succeeded in scaling the production of customized immune cells from laboratory up to industrial level.

Despite successful vaccine development, there are still no effective drugs for most viral diseases. This should change as soon as possible. With the project iGUARD (integrated Guided Ultrafast Antiviral RNAi Drug development) a research team of Prof. Armin Braun, Fraunhofer ITEM, and Prof. Axel Schambach, Hannover Medical School (MHH), is developing RNA-based drugs to combat viral diseases using a natural mechanism of our body. The drugs should be able to adapt particularly quickly to different viruses and thus provide protection against emerging infectious diseases. The project has been supported by the Federal Agency for Leap Innovations (SPRIND) for one year and is now receiving follow-up funding of 1.5 million euros for another year.

Within the project “BIOSYNTH – modular high-throughput microplatform for future synthetic biology mass data storage”, funded by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in an internal program, an innovative microchip platform for efficient cell-free and digitally controllable biosynthesis will be developed. The Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP is the consortium leader and will work together with the Fraunhofer Institutes for Photonic Microsystems IPMS, for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine ITEM, and for Cell Therapy and Immunology, Branch Bioanalytics and Bioprocesses IZI-BB on the fundamentals for the mass data storage devices of the future with extremely high storage density.

Artificial hip joints, made-to-measure heart valves or precision-fit blood vessels: implants – particularly those based on scaffolds, i.e. 3D-printed framework structures – are playing an increasingly significant role in regenerative and personalized medicine. It is important for the scaffolds to be readily accepted by the body’s cells and for there to be no rejection reactions. Pre-treatment with plasma can ensure the prerequisites for this. In the High-Performance Center Medical and Pharmaceutical Engineering, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST have succeeded in integrating a plasma source into a 3D printer, thereby enabling the surface to be modified. The aim is to treat the scaffolds with plasma during the actual printing process in order to produce the desired properties.

What happens when we breathe in nanoparticles emitted by a laser printer, for example? Could these nanoparticles damage the respiratory tract or perhaps even other organs? To answer these questions, Fraunhofer researchers are developing the “NanoCube” exposure device. The Nanocube’s integrated multi-organ chip set up in the laboratory of the Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin) and by its spin-off organization “TissUse” detects interaction between nanoparticles and lung cells, the uptake of nanoparticles into the bloodstream and possible effects on the liver.

Prof. Antje Prasse, Dr. Benedikt Jäger and their team provide important insights into idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) – a fatal disease with limited treatment options – with their paper “Airway basal cells show a dedifferentiated KRT17highPhenotype and promote fibrosis in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis” (https://rdcu.be/cWk1T; DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33193-0) published in “Nature Communications”.