Two new companies with big goals
In Hamburg, Anne and Alejandro continued to diversify and founded two new, independent companies together: Berking BioScience and Berking Theranostics. The tasks of Berking BioScience are wide-ranging, including the promotion of healthier nutrition. Specifically, it is about improving the conditions in salmon farming, where antibiotics are sometimes used on a massive scale. Another problem is salmon lice, which are not insects but small crustaceans. These parasites feed on the skin and blood of the fish, which in extreme cases can lead to their death. The use of nanobodies can both reduce the use of antibiotics and help the salmon to develop a defense mechanism against the parasites.
Berking Theranostics is the result of a year-long collaboration with nuclear chemist Dr. Vasko Kramer. The company specialises in the development of new therapies against cancer by combining nanobodies with radionuclides, low-level radioactive atoms. This relatively new method of detecting tumours is practical because tumour cells have a similar structure to proteins and antibodies can react to them accordingly. Berking Theranostics hopes to be able to develop an initial cancer therapy on this basis in the next two years. Investors with experience in oncology could drive the process forward.