As head of start-up ImmunSkills, based at our BioArk Monthey technology site, Adolfo Gonzalez has propelled the company to notable achievements in the field of cell-based therapy. Through our interview with its CEO, discover how ImmunSkills is transforming cancer treatment by introducing revolutionary methods and therapeutic advances designed to offer more accessible and effective treatments to a wide range of patients.
ImmunSkills SA offers a complete cell therapy solution, providing immune cells that are not only designed to withstand tumor microenvironnements, but are also adapted for large-scale cultivation to fit to market demands.
Explain us what is your innovation.
Thanks to a platform meticulously designed for flexibility, we can easily and efficiently incorporate any CAR supplied by our customers, guaranteeing precise targeting against a broad spectrum of solid cancers, as well as other applications such as infections.
We position ourselves as a production partner from the earliest stages in the laboratory right through to market launch. Our expertise ranges from small-scale production for animal testing to large-scale manufacturing for clinical trials and market supply, all in compliance with cGMP standards.
In this way, we enable our customers to focus exclusively on CAR development, leaving the rest of the complex processes in our hands.
How ImmunSkills was created ?
I realized that there was a common problem: cell therapy is very effective, but not with solid cancers. Why was this? Because the cell’s microenvironment is difficult to counteract.. So I decided to take up this challenge.
While working as an assistant at HES-SO Valais-Wallis, it became apparent that cell therapy projects yielded significant success for leukemia indications, but when attempting to develop therapies for solid cancers, the outcomes were inconclusive. This raised a common concern: why did cell therapy work so effectively for some cases and not for solid cancers? The answer lay in the challenging nature of the tumor microenvironment established by cancer cells. Recognizing this common problem, I decided to take on the challenge of addressing it head-on.
At which stage is your start-up ?
I’m supported by the Fondation the Ark, in the pre-incubation stage. I have a last POC to demonstrate : that my solution is scalable. We are actually looking for financing to reach the next step of development.
