NEW YORK – Caszyme, a Vilnius, Lithuania-based biotechnology company, has partnered with Vilnius University and NSage, a South Korean firm, to develop a CRISPR-based diagnostics platform.

纽约——立陶宛维尔纽斯的一家生物技术公司Caszyme已与维尔纽斯大学和韩国公司NSage合作，开发基于CRISPR的诊断平台。

The partners have formed a consortium called Universal CRISPR-based Detection Platform for Versatile and Rapid Diagnostics (UNCOVER), which commenced on April 1 and will run for the next three years. UNCOVER is supported by €300,000 ($338,000) in government funding from Lithuania, and Caszyme will contribute €180,000, according to CEO Monika Paulė.

合作伙伴组建了一个名为“通用CRISPR检测平台用于多功能快速诊断（UNCOVER）”的联盟，该联盟于4月1日启动并将持续运行三年。UNCOVER获得了来自立陶宛政府的30万欧元（33.8万美元）资助，据首席执行官莫妮卡·保莱透露，Caszyme公司将贡献18万欧元。

NSage, based in Incheon's Songdu International Business District, will also contribute funding..

总部位于仁川松都国际商务区的NSage公司也将提供资金支持。

The platform will rely on protein engineering technologies and bioinformatics from the three partners, who plan to identify new Cas proteins and optimize existing ones. Initial applications will be in infectious disease detection, in particular for SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory infections, though Paulė said the platform could be used for a variety of pathogens and disease biomarkers in humans and animals..

该平台将依赖于三家合作伙伴的蛋白质工程技术和生物信息学技术，他们计划鉴定新的Cas蛋白并优化现有的Cas蛋白。初步应用将在传染病检测方面，特别是针对SARS-CoV-2和其他呼吸道感染，不过Paulė表示该平台可用于人类和动物的各种病原体和疾病生物标志物。

The infectious disease market has been targeted by other research groups and companies with CRISPR-based diagnostics platforms, including

传染病市场已经被其他研究小组和公司以基于CRISPR的诊断平台为目标，包括

Proof Diagnostics

证明诊断

,

，

Mammoth Biosciences

巨型生物科学公司

, the

，这个

Broad Institute

博德研究所

, Harvard University, and Princeton University.

，哈佛大学和普林斯顿大学。

According to Paulė, infectious disease testing will be first because samples from the COVID-19 pandemic are readily available, making it an ideal use case to establish proof of concept. By the time UNCOVER runs its course in 2028, the partners hope to have a functional CRISPR-based diagnostic platform that could be outlicensed to partners who could deploy their own content on it.

根据保莱的说法，传染病检测将排在首位，因为来自新冠疫情的样本很容易获取，这使其成为建立概念验证的理想用例。到2028年UNCOVER项目结束时，合作伙伴希望拥有一个功能性的基于CRISPR的诊断平台，该平台可以授权给合作伙伴，他们可以在上面部署自己的内容。

The technology could also be optimized for use with different kinds of devices, from more sophisticated cancer testing platforms in developed countries to simpler devices intended for less developed markets..

该技术还可优化用于各种设备，从发达国家更复杂的癌症检测平台到针对欠发达市场设计的更简单的设备均可适用。

'We're doing the technology part,' said Paulė. 'If a diagnostics company wants to enter the CRISPR diagnostics field, they can license this platform and we'll adapt it to the indications they are looking for.'

“我们正在做技术部分，”保罗ė说。“如果一家诊断公司想要进入CRISPR诊断领域，他们可以授权这个平台，我们会将其适应于他们所寻找的适应症。”

According to Paulė, this kind of technology development work is common for Caszyme, which she cofounded in 2017 with Virginijus Šikšnys, a professor and biochemist at Vilnius University, and Giedrius Gasiūnas, Caszyme's CSO. In 2016, Šikšnys was

根据保利的说法，这种技术开发工作在卡兹米公司很常见，她于2017年与维尔纽斯大学教授兼生物化学家维吉尼尤斯·希克斯尼斯以及卡兹米公司的首席科学官吉德留斯·加西乌纳斯共同创立了这家公司。2016年，希克斯尼斯曾

awarded

授予

the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize for his contribution to the understanding of the CRISPR bacterial defense system.

因他对CRISPR细菌防御系统理解的贡献，获得了沃伦·阿尔珀特基金会奖。

Two-thirds of Caszyme's team is involved in technology development. 'Most of them have spent their lives in the CRISPR gene editing field,' said Paulė. Given its expertise, Caszyme has sought to develop CRISPR gene editing technology 'on the whole spectrum,' she said, from bioinformatics through discovery, development, and validation..

Caszyme公司三分之二的团队参与技术开发。保罗ė说：“他们中的大多数人毕生致力于CRISPR基因编辑领域。”鉴于其专业知识，Caszyme公司已经寻求开发“全系列”的CRISPR基因编辑技术，从生物信息学到发现、开发和验证。

Since its establishment, the company has collaborated with partners serving diverse markets including therapeutics, agriculture, and now diagnostics. Representatives of New England Biolabs, an

自公司成立以来，已经与服务于不同市场的合作伙伴展开合作，包括治疗、农业以及现在的诊断领域。新英格兰生物实验室的代表，

early partner

早期合作伙伴

, as well as Corteva Agriscience are members of Caszyme's board.

以及科迪华农业科技也是Caszyme董事会的成员。

Gintautas Tamulaitis, a research professor at Vilnius University and a consortium leader, has been involved in CRISPR-Cas research for 15 years and is listed as a co-inventor on multiple patents related to gene editing, several of them specific to Type III-A CRISPR-Cas systems.

维尔纽斯大学的研究教授、联盟领导者金陶塔斯·塔穆莱蒂斯（Gintautas Tamulaitis）从事CRISPR-Cas研究已有15年，是多项基因编辑相关专利的共同发明人，其中数项专注于III-A型CRISPR-Cas系统。

According to Paulė, Caszyme has been in discussions with NSage since before the COVID-19 pandemic. While NSage is working on a variety of therapeutic and diagnostics applications, some unrelated to gene editing, it is interested in CRISPR diagnostics and has its own IP portfolio related to gene editing discoveries..

据保利表示，自新冠疫情爆发前，Caszyme就已经在与NSage进行洽谈。虽然NSage正在开发多种治疗和诊断应用，其中一些与基因编辑无关，但该公司对CRISPR诊断感兴趣，并拥有与基因编辑发现相关的自己的知识产权组合。

According to NSage CEO Bonghee Lee, one aim of the UNCOVER consortium is to develop an 'ultrasensitive diagnostic kit that eliminates the need for amplification.' Such a kit could give any future diagnostics partners an edge, he said.

据NSage公司首席执行官李奉熙表示，UNCOVER联盟的目标之一是开发一种“无需扩增的超灵敏诊断试剂盒”。他说，这样的试剂盒可以为任何未来的诊断合作伙伴提供优势。

Lee, a professor at Gachon University, founded NSage in 2016. Originally focused on induced pluripotent stem cell therapy and automated stem cell manufacturing, the company recently decided to expand its pipeline into gene editing diagnostics.

李教授是嘉泉大学的教授，他于2016年创立了NSage公司。该公司最初专注于诱导多能干细胞治疗和自动化的干细胞生产，最近决定将其研发方向扩展到基因编辑诊断领域。

According to Lee, the company has a focus on delivering point-of-care tests to market and is looking to integrate CRISPR-Cas systems with isothermal amplification, microfluidics, and portable fluorescence detection to create such test devices.

据李表示，该公司专注于将即时检测推向市场，并希望将CRISPR-Cas系统与等温扩增、微流控技术和便携式荧光检测相结合，以制造此类测试设备。

'These tools are well suited for resource-limited settings, field testing, and decentralized diagnostics, making them versatile across clinical, agricultural, and public health applications,' said Lee.

“这些工具非常适合资源有限的环境、现场测试和分散式诊断，使它们在临床、农业和公共卫生应用中具有多功能性，”李说。

As part of UNCOVER, NSage will develop optimized detection chemistries for pathogens and help validate the resulting diagnostic workflow. The company is also seeking to accelerate the commercialization of resulting CRISPR-based diagnostics, strengthen its IP position, and establish new collaborations with academia and industry, Lee said..

作为UNCOVER项目的一部分，NSage将开发针对病原体的优化检测化学方法，并协助验证由此产生的诊断工作流程。李表示，该公司还寻求加快基于CRISPR的诊断技术的商业化进程，巩固其知识产权地位，并与学术界和产业界建立新的合作关系。

All UNCOVER participants are keen to see the resulting technology adopted in East Asia, where rapid, decentralized diagnostics are in demand, Lee said, 'especially in response to outbreaks and antimicrobial resistance.'

李表示，所有UNCOVER参与者都渴望看到这项技术在东亚地区得到应用，在那里快速、分散的诊断方法很有需求，“特别是在应对疫情爆发和抗菌素耐药性方面。”

Asian markets are also well positioned to embrace new point-of-care diagnostic tools, he pointed out, as governments seek to deploy such tests in regions with limited laboratory infrastructure while investing in infectious disease preparedness. While COVID-19 is fresh in everyone's memory, Asian health authorities also have to contend with rising rates of norovirus and dengue fever, as well as drug-resistant bacteria, he said.

他指出，亚洲市场也十分有利于接纳新的即时诊断工具，因为各国政府一方面寻求在实验室基础设施有限的地区部署此类测试，另一方面也在投资于传染病的防控准备。他说，尽管新冠疫情仍历历在目，但亚洲卫生部门还必须应对诺如病毒和登革热发病率上升以及耐药性细菌的问题。

In addition, Asian markets also have 'strong manufacturing and distribution ecosystems' that could make it possible to scale the deployment of future CRISPR-based diagnostics, he added. .

此外，亚洲市场还拥有“强大的制造和分销生态系统”，这可能使未来基于CRISPR的诊断技术的部署得以规模化，他补充道。

Paulė confirmed that Asian markets would be the 'initial commercial interest' for the consortium, in part because of a 'more complicated' US patent landscape and more freedom to operate in Asia. Europe and the US could be future target markets, she added.

宝莱确认，亚洲市场将是该财团的“初始商业利益”，部分原因是美国专利环境“更加复杂”，而在亚洲有更大的运营自由。她补充说，欧洲和美国可能是未来的潜在市场。