The American company Proteintech announced the acquisition of the Munich-based start-up ChromoTek in October. The two companies together intend to increase their coverages of the growing research market and demand for antibodies. With the new applications of single cell analysis and super resolution imaging in particular, demand is rising. “Working with a company sharing our values concerning reproducibility and quality for the benefit of science and beyond is exciting,” said Dr Marion Jung, CEO of ChromoTek. To this end, High-Tech Gründerfonds and Bayern Kapital have sold their shares in ChromoTek after ten years.

ChromoTek was founded in 2008 as a spin-off from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (LMU). The BMBF [Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, German Federal Ministry for Education and Research] supported the founding team from 2007 to 2014 under the GO-Bio founding initiative. Chromobodies – a fusion of antibody fragments from alpacas and fluorescent molecules - are the main focus here. These Chromobodies are up to ten times smaller than regular antibodies and are stable enough to be used in live cells. This enabled the founding team to develop a highly effective tool combining cytological work with comprehensive proteome analysis. By now, ChromoTek has established itself as market leader in the development of nanobodies with customisable affinities and specificities. The Chicago-based new partner Proteintech was founded in 2002 and is a leading manufacturer of antibodies.