ABOUT US

Activity

BromMarin is a spin-off from Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg in Germany with the aim of developing novel methods in marine biotechnology. We extract marine sponges of the Verongida order in a way that not just the extraction of bromotyrosines, but simultaneously the isolation of sponge scaffolds becomes possible. The bromotyrosines are applied as anti-cancer agent or as antibiotics in pharmacy and cosmetics. The sponge scaffold are needed as filter material in material science, as a natural wound healer in biomedicine or as host for stem cells and chondrocytes in Tissue Engineering.
A pilot sponge farming plant in the Mediterranean ensures the sustainable and abundant production of marine agents. Like in muscle or fish farming plants, marine sponges are grown, harvested and processed for the first time. At the moment we focus on culturing the “gold sponge” Aplysina aerophoba. Further sponge species are consecutively investigated.
Within the laboratory, the sponge tissue is processed further. After the extraction and purification of the bromotyrosines, the highest possible purity (>99%) is confirmed externally by cooperation partners. Every sample is investigated before the delivery to guarantee the purity.

From the idea

More often than not, startup ideas take time to evolve until the actual launch of the company. In our case, it took exactly seven years. Originating in a scientific research project carried out in August 2008, the startup was finally launched in October 2015. The driving force in the beginning was Prof. Hermann Ehrlich, a seasoned expert in the fields of biomineralogy and extreme biomimetics. After decades of research, he had the opportunity to research marine organisms in the field (Adriatic coast) for several weeks in 2008. This field trip became the origin of the BromMarin GmbH enterprise.

Through research

Back in Germany, the scientific focus quickly became the “gold sponge” Aplysina aerophoba. Literature and results of pilot-scale studies had already realized its high potential. A more efficient and economic extraction process needed to be developed. The work with the Verongida sponge pathed the way for a refined extraction of the so-called bromotyrosines and, thus, for the concentration on the pharmaceutical market. The thoughts of launching a company matured.

To the foundation

To boost the organic chemistry expertise, another graduate of the Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg got on board. With Marcel Bürger and the successfully raised EXIST scholarship the graduates were able to establish the first extraction procedures and analyses. Searching for an expert in the field of business administration, the two could finally enthuse a third graduate of the Bergakademie. Stephan Meschke completed the team and helped to bring the obtained results from laboratory to market. For this, the success in extracting the bromotyrosine derivate Aeroplysinin-1 in its purest form was essential. By raising a scholarship to found technology oriented startups by the university as well as by convincing a private investor, the major step followed. From the implementation of an idea, through research, the launch of the BromMarin GmbH was finally realized in October 2015.

OUR TEAM

In a way, the three founders and their mentor Prof. Hermann Ehrlich, sought and found each other. All three completed their studies at TU Bergakademie Freiberg, are interested in the field of biotechnology and sports and belong to the creative minority of left-handed individuals. In fact, success in sophisticated areas such as biotechnology requires interdisciplinary knowledge, enabling the founders to find solutions by accessing the subject from different perspectives.