METU TECHNOPOLIS Company's Cancer Research Attracts Venture Capital Investment
ODTÜ Mikro, established at ODTÜ TEKNOKENT, Türkiye's first technopark, as a spin-off (a department founded by academics) of the ODTÜ Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Center
ODTÜ TEKNOKENT Company Receives Venture Capital Investment for Cancer Treatment Initiative
Mikro Biyosistemler A.Ş, established at ODTÜ TEKNOKENT, Turkey's first technology park, and a spin-off of ODTÜ Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Center(department founded by academics) has received investment from DCP, Turkey's first technology transfer and venture capital fund manager.
Within the scope of the investment, two inventions developed by Prof. Dr. Haluk Külah and thesis student Dr. Ata Tuna Çiftlik and supported by ODTÜ Technology Transfer Office will be converted into products within the company.
Mikro Biyosistemler A.Ş., established at ODTÜ TEKNOKENT through the initiative of ODTÜ faculty members Prof. Dr. Haluk Külah and Prof. Dr. Tayfun Akın, and a spin-off of ODTÜ MEMS Center, has received investment from DCP, Turkey's first technology transfer and venture capital fund, which was established under the European Union Pre-Accession Financial Assistance Programme with the European Investment Fund and with leading Turkish universities and technology parks as investors.
The investment aims to commercialize two inventions that will breakthrough cancer research.
Mikro Biyosistemler A.Ş. is working on innovative lab-on-chip systems with potential to introduce new approaches to cancer diagnosis and treatment:
Chemotherapy Side Effects Can Be Reduced
The first of the lab-on-chip systems to be developed by Mikro Biyosistemler A.Ş. aims to enable early-stage diagnosis of drug resistance in cancer treatment, making the chemotherapy process shorter and more effective.
Currently, drugs used in chemotherapy for cancer cases are determined without considering drug resistance, as existing methods are cumbersome and expensive. For this reason, in many cases drug resistance is detected late and drugs used in therapy are changed months later.
Consequently, patients with extended treatment periods are exposed to chemotherapy side effects for longer periods.
The microchip-based system to be developed by the company detects patients' drug resistance at the moment cancer is diagnosed, thereby increasing the chance of correct drug use. This system is expected to shorten treatment periods, increase treatment success rates, and reduce chemotherapy side effects.
An Important Step Toward Early Cancer Diagnosis
The other system to be developed by the company aims to detect circulating tumor cells in the blood, enabling early-stage identification of cancer development and metastasis risk.
