2bind is joining the Cluster for Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Munich (CNATM) as an industry partner for the consortium’s second funding period, running from 2026 to 2029. As part of this collaboration, 2bind will contribute to the development of a scalable platform for the production and biophysical characterization of lncRNA-binding proteins, with the goal of identifying and validating protein:RNA complexes as therapeutic targets.
Key facts
- Consortium: CNATM — Cluster for Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Munich
- Funding: BMFTR (Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt)
- Funding period: 2026–2029
- 2bind role: Industry partner, platform development for protein:RNA interaction characterization
- Target class: lncRNA-binding proteins, intracellular protein:RNA complexes
What is CNATM?
CNATM is the only national BMFTR-funded cluster focused exclusively on nucleic acid therapeutics. It brings together academic and industry partners from across Germany with the shared objective of advancing RNA-based approaches to drug discovery and therapy development. After a successful first funding period, CNATM has been approved for continuation through 2029: A strong signal for the field and for the broader German research landscape as a hub for nucleic acid science.
The consortium’s strength lies in its collaborative structure. Academic expertise in RNA biology, chemical biology, and pharmacology is combined with the practical capabilities of industry partners in target production, assay development, and analytical characterization. This division of labor is not incidental, it is the model. Each partner contributes what they do best, and the project advances because of that combined effort.
Why protein:RNA interactions?
Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as a functionally important class of regulatory molecules, with roles in gene expression, chromatin remodeling, and a range of disease-relevant biological processes. Many lncRNAs exert their effects through direct interaction with specific proteins, making these protein:RNA complexes potential therapeutic targets.
The challenge is that these complexes are difficult to work with. The proteins involved are often intracellular, structurally sensitive, and require careful production to maintain biological activity. The RNA components add another layer of complexity in terms of synthesis, stability, and assay compatibility. And the interaction itself, a protein binding to a structured RNA, demands assay formats that can reliably quantify binding under relevant conditions. Addressing this requires exactly the kind of integrated, cross-disciplinary effort that a consortium like CNATM is built for.
2bind’s contribution: biophysical characterization at scale
2bind’s role in the project centers on two connected workstreams:
The first is the establishment of a modular purification platform for intracellular proteins, building robust, reproducible protocols applicable across a range of target proteins, not just individual cases. Reliable, high-quality protein production is a prerequisite for any meaningful downstream characterization, and getting this right at scale is a non-trivial challenge for the intracellular proteins typically involved in RNA regulation.
The second is the development of binding assays that can quantify protein:RNA interactions with sufficient sensitivity, specificity, and throughput to be useful in a drug discovery context. The goal is not a single proof-of-concept measurement, but a validated, scalable workflow that can handle the volume of protein:RNA pairs required for systematic screening campaigns, with assay formats that are robust across different target pairs, capable of delivering kinetic and affinity data under biologically relevant conditions, and transferable into higher-throughput configurations as the project progresses.
Why this collaboration makes sense
Consortia like CNATM work when partners contribute genuinely complementary capabilities, and when the collaboration is close enough, practically and scientifically, to function as a real working unit rather than a loose network.
For 2bind, joining CNATM as an industry partner is a natural fit. Geographically, we are part of the same high-tech research corridor in southern Germany. Scientifically, protein:RNA interactions represent a genuine frontier in biophysical characterization, an area where the assay challenges are real and where robust, scalable analytical workflows make a measurable difference to what can be learned from a target. And practically, CRO involvement at the platform development stage, rather than at the end of an academic project, is where the contribution has the most leverage. We are looking forward to working closely with the CNATM partners over the coming three years.