Launched in 2011, the biotechnology start-up Coral Biome is an aquatic farm that cultivates corals in Marseille. Created by Frédéric Gault, engineer in aquaculture and by Yvan Perez, lecturer in evolutionary biology, this aquatic farm had until then for sole purpose the cultivation and sale of corals to aquarists, to avoid the collection at sea of the coral.
But now, the start-up has decided to look into the pharmaceutical potential of corals, whose promising molecules can help fight certain diseases, including AIDS and Cancer.
“Our activity in ornamentation is what validates sourcing”, that is to say the ability to produce enough molecules to carry out clinical or preclinical trials, explains Yvan Perez at the microphone of the ‘AFP. Ultimately, Coral Biome wants to eliminate sales to aquarists with a research profile. And for good reason: the corals and the microorganisms they shelter have many unexplored molecules that could help cure our most deadly diseases. According to Frédéric Gault, the potential of corals is “greater, in terms of medicinal chemistry, than [celui] from the Amazon rainforest. “Thus, molecules of coral origin are currently being tested as antiretrovirals against HIV, the virus AIDS, or as antibacterials.
A preclinical trial to validate the anticancer potential of a coral poison
Coral Biome mainly relies on cytotoxic molecules to lead to future treatments against cancer. First success, the patent filed jointly with the Institute for Research and Development (IRD) on a molecule from the palytoxin family, a powerful poison produced by an algae which nests on a coral. Very active at very low doses and very selective, this molecule seems to be a good candidate because it specifically targets cancer cells. The molecule has aroused the interest of the Paoli-Calmettes Cancer Research Institute in Marseille, which is currently conducting preclinical trials. They will make it possible to determine the mode of action, the effectiveness and the toxicity of this molecule, and to test it on cells then on animal models before moving on to human experimentation.
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