NWO Take-off grant awarded to Markus Weingarth

Markus Weingarth of the NMR spectroscopy group of the Bijvoet Centre for Biomolecular Research has been awarded an NWO Take-off Phase I grant. 

Take-off is an NWO funding instrument available to academic entrepreneurs to bring their innovative research results to the market. In this project, coined LIPIDARA, Markus, together with Maria Suero, aims to advance a promising method for producing 13C,15N-isotope-labelled lipids, recently developed in this team. These compounds enable detailed analysis of lipids and their interactions by NMR spectroscopy, with significant potential to improve the design of Lipid Nanoparticles (LNPs) for RNA therapeutic delivery. Notably, such lipids are difficult to produce and not yet commercially available. This work will focus on optimizing the production of isotope-labelled lipids with the precise chemical properties needed for LNPs. The expected outcomes will help bring their approach closer to commercialization through a start-up venture.