VIB: Excellence-driven basic research in life sciences with a strong societal impact

© VIB – Ine Dehandschutter

A life sciences research institute based in Flanders, VIB performs basic research with a strong focus on translating scientific results into pharmaceutical, agricultural and industrial applications. VIB is funded by the Flemish government.

With more than 1700 scientists from over 75 countries, VIB performs basic research into the molecular foundations of life. Research is carried out by 8 VIB research centers embedded in KU Leuven, UGent, the University of Antwerp, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Hasselt University. Research areas cover bioinformatics, cancer, inflammation and immunity, microbiology, neuroscience, plant biology, proteomics, structural biology, and systems biology.

In August 2019, the labs of Nico Callewaert (VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology), Ann Depicker (VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology), Henri De Greve (VIB-VUB Center for Structural Biology) and Eric Cox (UGent Faculty of Veterinary Medicine) announced they had developed a new antibody technology that combines the advantages of antibody-based therapies with the convenience of oral drug administration. Importantly, these antibodies are manufactured using yeast or soybeans in a process as straightforward as food manufacturing. This work, led by Vikram Virdi, was published in Nature Biotechnology. This technology may have potential uses in various areas, from fighting veterinary and human gut infections, treating inflammatory and metabolic disorders, to the development of microbiome-altering food supplements.

For its part, the group of professor Peter Carmeliet (VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology) discovered that the administration of ketone bodies, an alternative energy source, stimulates the growth of lymph vessels and has substantial beneficial effects in conditions affecting the lymphatic system. The team has developed a dietary metabolic approach which will soon be tested in a clinical Phase II trial to treat lymphedema, a condition for which currently no cure exists. The first patients are already enrolled in the study, which is led by dr. Sarah Thomis, vascular surgeon and head of the center for lymphedema in UZ Leuven, in collaboration with the Clinical Nutrition Unit, UZ Leuven.

And let us not forget the Flemish Gut Flora Project. This was launched in 2012 by Professor Jeroen Raes (VIB-KU Leuven Center for Microbiology). Sequencing fecal samples of over 3,000 healthy volunteers, Prof. Raes and his team defined the boundaries of a normal, health-associated gut microbiota. Next, the team turned to patient groups to identify microbiome alterations associated with diseases. Recently, they described the so-called B2 enterotype, deficient in some anti-inflammatory bacteria. In June 2019, their results on the high prevalence of this particular enterotype across multiple diagnoses were published in Nature Microbiology.

Technology transfer is also firmly embedded in VIB’s mission. VIB inked more than 1400 agreements with local and international companies, with small enterprises and multinationals, and in areas as diverse as the food, biopharmaceutical and agricultural industry. In May 2019, Belgian research groups from the VIB, Ghent University, Ghent University Hospital, and the biotech company argenx announced they had solved a century-long puzzle about the presence of protein crystals in asthma. They have now established that the crystals are highly abundant in airway mucus, stimulate the immune system and promote the inflammation and altered mucus production that is often seen in the airways of asthmatics. Together the academic and company scientists also developed antibodies that can dissolve these crystals to reduce key asthma features. Such antibodies could be first-in-class therapeutics that reverse protein crystals and treat asthma and other chronic inflammatory diseases of the airways. The study was published in the leading journal Science.

VIB has also founded several startup companies such as Ablynx Now a Sanofi company, it is focused on the discovery and development of Nanobodies ® , a novel class of antibody-derived therapeutic proteins for a range of serious life-threatening human diseases. As for Aelin Therapeutics, it has pioneered a novel modality in drug development in order to create a completely new class of antibiotics and first-in-class therapeutics against high-value undruggable human targets. These startup companies clearly show VIB’s relevance when it comes to translating basic research into concrete solutions for patients.