Zurich, Switzerland – Polaroid Therapeutics (PTx), a Swiss biotechnology company advancing evidence-based antimicrobial polymer and wound care technologies, has announced membership with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s IBD Plexus.
The Foundation is the leading not-for-profit organisation dedicated to finding cures and improving the lives of people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which affects more than 10 million people worldwide. IBD Plexus, the Foundation’s research accelerator, houses the most comprehensive collection of IBD patient data and biosamples in the world.
The membership gives PTx access to health data collected from IBD patients over time, along with biological samples, all provided without any personal information attached. This allows PTx to study how Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis actually progress in patients, rather than relying only on laboratory models, and to test its antimicrobial technology against real-world evidence of the disease.
IBD Plexus links clinical records, biological data and patient-reported information from people living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) across major cohorts, including SPARC IBD, IBD Qorus, RISK, and IBD Partners. By integrating these datasets, IBD Plexus has become one of the world’s most comprehensive resources for IBD research, enabling investigators across industry and academia to study the disease at scale. The membership positions PTx alongside leading IBD researchers, providing the real-world patient data PTx needs to test and refine its antimicrobial technology against how Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis actually behave in patients.
“Industry participation in IBD Plexus is essential to translating real-world data into better outcomes for patients,” said Angela Dobes, Senior Vice President, IBD Plexus, Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. “We welcome Polaroid Therapeutics as a data-driven member of our research community and look forward to the contributions this collaboration will enable.”
Ran Frenkel, CEO and Co-founder of Polaroid Therapeutics, said: “Advancing care for people living with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis depends on the right data.
“IBD Plexus, which the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation has built as the most comprehensive real-world IBD research platform available, gives our team the patient-level data and biosamples to pursue rigorous, patient-centered research. It’s a powerful foundation for the predictive and disease-control tools we’re building to help patients stay ahead of their disease.”
About Polaroid Therapeutics
Polaroid Therapeutics is a Swiss-based biotech start-up in the development of innovative antimicrobial technology. Incubated and developed by Polaroid, the brand that pioneered the complex chemistry and technology behind analog instant photography. Polaroid Therapeutics’ mission is to create human-centric medical solutions built on its scientific and technological advancements.
Founded in 2022, PTx has developed APT™ (Antimicrobial Polymer Technology), a platform that enables controlled antimicrobial performance through structural design rather than chemical release. APT™ integrates proprietary polymer chemistry that can be adapted across multiple formats and clinical contexts, reflecting the company’s focus on responsible innovation, regulated evidence, and long-term antimicrobial resistance (AMR) stewardship.
About the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and IBD Plexus
The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation is the leading not-for-profit organisation focused on both research and patient support for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with the mission of curing Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis and improving the quality of life for the millions of Americans living with IBD.
The Foundation’s work is dramatically accelerating the research process, while also providing extensive educational and support resources for patients and their families, medical professionals, and the public.
