€1.3M funding for MastCURe's innovative mast-cell directed therapies

BASEL, Switzerland, April 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- MastCURe, a high-profile research consortium, has been awarded €1.3M in funding from the Eureka Eurostars program. The collaboration comprising Allegria Therapeutics, Cube Biotech, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP Immunology and Allergology IA aims to transform the treatment of chronic urticaria, a debilitating mast cell-driven skin disease affecting millions worldwide.

MastCURe's innovative approach directly and selectively targets aberrant mast cell activation as the driving disease mechanism. The Eurostars funding enables MastCURe to advance its collaborative research and development program and paves the way towards novel first-in-class therapeutics to improve patients' lives.

The cross-functional consortium coordinated by Allegria Therapeutics unites complementary expertise:

• Allegria Therapeutics, a Swiss biotech company redefining the treatment landscape of therapeutics for mast cell-mediated diseases, leads the discovery and early development of the innovative therapy.
• Cube Biotech's NativeMP™ platform adds structure determination and characterization of mast cell-relevant membrane proteins, preserving important features of their native lipid context and conformation.
• Fraunhofer ITMP-IA rounds off with validation in human skin-derived mast cells and ex vivo skin tissue models.

"Chronic urticaria places a substantial burden on patients' quality of life, and many individuals continue to experience inadequate disease control, underscoring a significant unmet medical need. Despite therapeutic advances, a considerable proportion of patients still suffer from persistent, uncontrolled symptoms," says Jörg Scheffel, Ph.D. Head of Drug and Solution Discovery division at ITMP-IA. "This funding enables us to accelerate the development of a novel therapeutic approach and move closer to delivering a meaningful new option for patients in need."

"By contributing our NativeMP™ technology to the MastCURe consortium, we aim to enable a deeper understanding of mast cell-relevant membrane proteins and support the development of innovative therapeutic strategies that could ultimately provide better treatment options for patients suffering from chronic urticaria." adds Barbara Maertens, Ph.D., Co-Founder and COO of Cube Biotech.

"Precision therapies enable us to selectively target specific cell types and pathways, disrupting the disease–driving biology with greater efficacy and safety," says Maria van Dongen, Ph.D., Co-Founder and CEO of Allegria Therapeutics. "We are delighted to receive the Eurostars funding that enables this project and importantly strengthens our mission to deliver more effective therapeutic options for patients across a broad range of allergic and inflammatory diseases."

About Urticaria. Urticaria is an inflammatory skin disease burdening over 60 million people worldwide. The disease is driven by activated skin mast cells releasing histamine and a plethora of other inflammatory mediators causing itchy wheals and/or deep tissue swelling (angioedema). Currently available therapeutics such as antihistamines or IgE-directed antibodies fail to adequately control symptoms in a large fraction of patients.

About Allegria Therapeutics. Allegria Therapeutics was founded in Basel, Switzerland by Forty51 Ventures in 2023. Pursuing a differentiated portfolio of proprietary therapeutic approaches and biological targets to selectively modulate mast cells, Allegria plans to redefine the treatment landscape for allergy and mast cell-mediated inflammatory diseases. For more information, please visit https://allegriatx.com/.

About Cube Biotech. Cube Biotech, headquartered in Monheim, Germany, is a leader in membrane protein production, purification, and characterization technologies. With proprietary copolymer-based solutions that maintain biological integrity in native-like protein states, Cube Biotech enables groundbreaking research in challenging drug targets, including membrane receptors, protein co-expressions, and even larger complexes. The company's expertise in assay development, biophysical characterization, and structural resolution supports efficient drug discovery workflows across the pharmaceutical and biotechnical industries. More information is available at www.cube-biotech.com.

About Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology – Immunology and Allergology. The Fraunhofer ITMP-IA based in Berlin is a leading German translational research institute prioritizing on allergic and immunological inflammatory diseases where mast cells are the key effector cells driving the disease. The focus is on prevention, diagnosis, and therapy. For more information, please visit: www.itmp.fraunhofer.de/de/institut/standorte/berlin.

About Eurostars. Eureka's Innovation Program Eurostars is co-funded by the European Union and supported by Innosuisse and the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space. The program strengthens international collaboration in research and development led by innovative small- and medium-sized enterprises. Further information is available at www.eurekanetwork.org.

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SOURCE Allegria Therapeutics