Addax Biosciences

ADDAX Biosciences was born at the end of 2017 as a university spin-off, thanks to the initiative of university professors and managers in the chemical-industrial
sector and in business consulting. The entrepreneurial project proposes an innovative product in the health sciences sector, which will revolutionize the market of histological fixatives, with the aim of protecting the health of workers and the environment and with a high economic potential.

ADDAX Biosciences has developed, patented and validated GAF (glyoxal acid-free), a non-volatile nor carcinogenic fixative, which stands as an effective alternative to formalin.

ADDAX Biosciences aims to achieve formalin-free hospitals a laboratories, starting from Europe where the legislation is already supporting
the eradication of Formalin. In fact, in the European Union, Regulation (EC) n. 1907/2006 and Regulation (EU) n. 895/2014 recognized Formaldehyde as a
carcinogenic substance, and prohibited its use, production and commercialization from August 2017.

However, at present, there is no valid alternative to Formalin accepted by the scientific community and, as a consequence, thousands of workers (e.g. nurses, technicians, doctors, pathologists) are exposed to formaldehyde. GAF (Glyoxal Acid-Free) is the innovative reagent developed and patented by ADDAX Biosciences: it is a unique Formalin substitute, with comparable or better – fixative capability. It allows an optimal fixation of the tissue at structural and molecular level and, at the same time, it is non-volatile nor carcinogenic.

GAF has been subjected to several validation processes. Most important and extensive have been the Molinette Turin Hospital Trial and the European Validation Trial involving Candiolo Cancer Institute, Barcelona Villa d’Hebron Hospital and Manchester Cancer Hospital, where pathologists tested in blind and compared biopsies diagnosis made with GAF and formalin with outstanding results. In addition to that, GAF has been patented, CE certified and received FDA approval. GAF’s market sector is mainly represented by the healthcare segment. Users and interested customers are therefore public and private entities that perform pathology services, such as: hospitals, clinics, emergency medical services, diagnostic laboratories, academic institutes, forensic laboratories. Also, it founds a large implementation in the veterinary sector, which includes veterinary clinics, laboratories and hospitals. The progressive replacement of formalin with GAF has a strong social impact: it protects the health of workers involved in the treatment of pathological samples eliminating the risk of exposure to carcinogenic vapors, and, at the same time, protects patients by providing precise and faster diagnoses.

ADDAX has recentlylaunched a very important project in collaboration with Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino which, constantly committed to raising standards for the protection of the health and safety of its workers, aims to become the first Formalin-free hospital.

With the same objective, Addax has also undertaken a collaboration activity with the Laboratories of the Dental School Center, which develop basic and applicative research in the field of the biology of odontostomatological tissues for reparative and diagnostic purposes, where GAF is being used, in place of formalin both for the removal of tissues in odontostomatology and for histopathological diagnostic aspects.

Addax has also defined important collaborations with the Zooprophylactic Institute of Turin, with the Polytechnic of Turin and the University of Turin,
with the Italian Space Agency (ASI) for research and experimentation on the International Space Station, with the University of Padua, with the Montefiore Medical Center of New York and with the Institute of Candiolo – IRCCS as part of the development of the Immuno K-ELISA project and the study on use of acid-deprived
formalin.