Chairman of the advisory board of DecoDerma awarded by The Albert Lasker prize
The DecoDerma team is led by Professor & Chief Surgeon Tero Järvinen (MD, PhD) from Tampere University (Finland). The team is developing a life-saving drug for rare pediatric skin disease, epidermolysis bullosa. Their molecule is a recombinant, multi-functional fusion protein that has both a targeting peptide domain (tCRK peptide) for a delivery to normal skin and skin wounds and Decorin (DCN) anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic protein as an active therapeutic component. DCN was actually discovered by Dr. Ruoslahti.
Project team is targeting to create novel treatments for lethal skin diseases, but the molecule has other potential disease indications within derma-space; among them scar reduction after surgical procedure and suppression of tumor growth.
DecoDerma has carried out proof-of-concept studies successfully, received in Europe the orphan drug designation for their molecule and the company was selected as one of the most promising startup companies in Scandinavia by both the Nordic Innovation Fair and the Nordic Life Science days. DecoDerma is currently raising capital for moving the molecule to clinical trials in RDEB patients to address the unmet medical need.
SPARK Finland program congratulates both Dr. Ruoslahti for the prestigious award and DecoDerma team for the success of their development work!
More information about the recognition Dr. Ruoslahti has been awarded:
https://laskerfoundation.org/winners/integrins-mediators-of-cell-matrix-cell-adhesion/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lasker_Award
More information about DecoDerma:
https://www.tuni.fi/en/research/decoderma
https://www.nlsdays.com/presenters-and-exhibitors/rising-stars/
