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20-minute showcases

AlphaMol Science AG

We are the Intelligent Molecule Creators. We aim at discovering and developing new drug molecules to treat major human disorders and diseases including those against bacteria, cancer,  Alzheimer, diabetes, aging and others. We primarily focus on G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) related signalling pathway.

www.alphamol.com/

Amniotics AB

Amniotics pipeline of tissue specific stem cells are derived from amniotic fluid. The drug candidates are targeting diseases in the lung, brain, skin and kidney. The lung-specific stem cell, Pulmostem™ will start Ph I/II in EU in 1H 2022.

Amniotics has a GMP approved manufacturing facility for aseptic production of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) serving our own production needs as well as acting as CDMO for Universities, Hospitals, and the Biopharmaceutical industry.

www.amniotics.com/

Amyl Therapeutics

Amyl therapeutics has been founded end 2020 to develop a proprietary platform for the treatment of amyloid mediated diseases: amyloidosis, neurodegenerative diseases and others. The mode of action is unique as we target several proteins with a multiple clearing mechanism. We now have generated compelling data to support clinical development in amyloidosis and we are building data to support development in other indications.

www.amyltx.com

Azafaros B.V.

Azafaros aims at developing therapeutic agents for the treatment of rare metabolic disorders such as lysosomal storage disorders through oral administration of azasugar compounds. These novel, very promising agents were discovered by Professor Hans Aerts at Leiden University and Amsterdam UMC and are exclusively licensed to Azafaros.

www.azafaros.com/

Iama Therapeutics S.r.l.

At IAMA Therapeutics, a series-A pharmaceutical company, we are constantly pushing the boundaries of neuroscience drug discovery to develop new medicines and make a difference in the lives of individuals suffering from brain disorders and their families. Our purpose is to provide a therapeutic solution to children and adults suffering from neurological conditions and provide their families with the support they need.

We have developed a platform to identify and advance diverse classes of small molecules to selectively target cation chloride cotransporters (CCCs) and other therapeutic targets relevant to treating central nervous system disorders.

www.iamatherapeutics.com/

InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc.

www.inmedpharma.com/

invIOs GmbH

invIOs stands for innovative immuno-oncology and is a privately held biotech company based in Vienna, Austria, focused on the discovery and development of innovative cancer immunotherapies. invIOs is a fully owned subsidiary of Apeiron Biologics AG.

We have three projects in early stages. One project is in Phase 1, treating patients with our autologous and transient cell therapy to silence the checkpoint inhibitor Cbl-b and activate the innate and adaptive immune system. Other projects are in pre-clinical (using the same platform involving TILs) and a tumor-specific novel small molecule for immune activation upon oral application.

www.invios.com/

iOmx Therapeutics ag

iOmx Therapeutics focuses on the development of next-generation, first-in-class cancer immune-checkpoint inhibitors. By systematically screening human tumor cells, the Company has identified a number of novel targets and is building a pipeline of drug candidates against them.

The Company was founded on the successful concept of cancer immune-checkpoint therapy, which works by breaking down the inherent resistance mechanisms of tumors against immune attack. Reactivating the host immune response by neutralizing these negative interactions is the key idea behind cancer immune-checkpoint therapy.

www.iomx.com

Macomics Ltd.

Macomics is developing precision medicines to modulate macrophages for the treatment of cancer. Our vision is to develop new approaches to target the immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment, that exploits disease specific macrophage biology to harness the power of the immune system.  

We have a portfolio of antibody programs progressing towards clinic and continue to identify new therapeutic targets through it's proprietary target identification approach. By combining analysis of human disease tissue, in silico data mining, and functional data from  state-of-the-art cellular models we continue to identify and validate new drug targets in diseases where macrophages play a central role.

The company was co-founded in 2020 by Prof Jeffrey Pollard and Dr Luca Cassetta, University of Edinburgh, internationally recognised leaders in macrophage biology.

www.macomics.com/

Somagenetix AG

Somagenetix is a Spin-off from the Univ of Zurich leveraging scientific, clinical and commercial expertise to solve unmet medical needs through gene therapy. We aim at becoming a leading gene therapy company with first-in-class and best-in-class treatment for phagocyte-related disorders.

stalicla sa

STALICLA is a precision molecular neuroscience clinical stage biotech company, advancing the first precision medicine platform (DEPI) for patients with Neurodevelopmental Disorders (NDDs), and Neuropsychiatric Disorders.

STALICLA’s unique approach is addressing the poor construct validity of behaviorally defined disorders through its unique asset/platform converges molecular data with human genetic information to create testable clinical hypotheses in psychiatry / neuroscience.

With multiple clinical proof of concept, DEPI has allowed for the identification of two distinct subgroups of patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their tailored treatment STP1 and STP2 both planned to enter clinical Phase 2 in 2023. Additionally, STALICLA will be advancing an in-licensed Phase 3 ready asset with strong potential for a neuropsychiatric indications (fully financed by non-dilutive funding).

The DEPI platform has been validated in clinical setting showing high specificity, sensitivity and Positive predictive value in prospectively designed trials recalling of “high” responder patients to previously failed drug candidates.

STALICLA is currently engaged in preparing its next stage of growth to advance its pipelines and to scale its platform towards revenue generation.

www.stalicla.com

Ultimovacs ASA

Ultimovacs is an immunotherapy company developing immune-stimulatory vaccines to treat a broad range of cancers. Ultimovacs’ lead universal cancer vaccine candidate UV1 targets human telomerase (hTERT), present in 85-90% of cancers in all stages of tumor growth. By directing the immune system to hTERT antigens, UV1 drives CD4 helper T cells to the tumor to activate an immune system cascade and increase anti-tumor responses. With a broad Phase II program in five cancer indications enrolling more than 650 patients, Ultimovacs aims to clinically demonstrate UV1’s impact in multiple cancer types, in combination with other immunotherapies, for patients with unmet needs. Ultimovacs’ second technology approach, based on the proprietary Tetanus-Epitope-Targeting (TET) platform, combines tumor-specific peptides and adjuvant in the same molecule and entered Phase I studies in 2021.

www.ultimovacs.com

Versameb AG

Versameb AG is a privately held company focusing on discovering and developing innovative RNA-based drugs for modulation of protein expression and cellular targeting, including the ability to simultaneously influence several therapeutic targets, in a controlled manner, with a single molecular construct.

Versameb’s proprietary technology platform, VERSagile, optimizes the application of functional mRNA in different disease contexts – making RNA druggable in new therapeutic areas.

The pipeline includes lead candidate programs in Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI) and solid tumors. Versameb is working towards a first in-human/proof-of-concept clinical study in SUI while advancing its platform.

Based in Basel, Switzerland and fully operational from 2018, the company is led by an experienced scientific and leadership team with proven expertise in drug discovery and development from lab bench to patient.

www.versameb.com/

Ymmunobio AG

Ymmunobio AG is a preclinical stage oncology biotech company focused on targeting cancer by developing a proprietary class of CEACAM antibodies. Ymmunobio targets CEACAM1, a cell-cell communication molecule that plays a major role in the immune response and cancer cell evolution. The company’s platform is based on the leading research of Dr. Bernhard B. Singer, University Essen/Duisburg, Germany into the role of CEACAM in the immune system.

The lead antibody, YB-200, is addressing a fundamental limitation of check point inhibitors, which is primary and secondary resistance. YB-200 has shown in multiple preclinical experiments to directly co-stimulate T-, B- and dendritic cells and thus potentially turning “cold” tumors into “hot” tumors. Proof of Concept with checkpoint inhibitors in tumor models with preliminary in-vivo data in a PD-1 resistance tumor model support the further development of YB-200 in oncology with the aim to initiate the first in human study early 2024.  

Ymmunobio’s pipeline to date consists of several generations of monoclonal antibodies targeting CEACAM1, of which two are currently in preclinical development.

Ymmunobio was founded by Dr. Katrin Rupalla, an expert with more than 25 years experience in oncology drug development. The company is a currently self-funded, operating start-up that is actively pursuing capital investment to move from pre-clinical proof of concept to initial CMC development and safety studies. Contact info@ymmuno.bio for more information.

The Ymmunobio team is supported by a renowned team of scientific leaders in the field of CEACAM research and drug development. Along with Dr. Bernhard B. Singer, Ymmunobio advisors include Prof. Dr. Iris Helfrich, Dr. Kenneth Skubitz and Dr. Bruno Osterwalder.

www.ymmuno.bio

10-minute showcases

Acthera Therapeutics Ltd.

Acthera Therapeutics is a Swiss early-stage biotech developing mechano-responsive hard-shelled liposomes (HSL) for the targeted and controlled delivery of therapeutic agents. Our unique and innovative technology allows the release of drugs where and when they are needed, with an improved efficacy and safety, for an enhanced efficiency.

www.acthera-therapeutics.com/

Antion Biosciences SA

Antion Biosciences SA is a Swiss cell and gene engineering company developing highly innovative allogeneic therapies to cure diseases with significant unmet medical needs through ground-breaking cell engineering. Antion’s proprietary Tunable Expression Module (TEMTM) and miCARTM technologies allow efficient, simultaneous multi-gene silencing and gene addition in a single step, single construct enabling the creation of truly multimodal treatments that are able to substantially enhance clinical safety and efficacy.

These technologies are developed using our proprietary approach to construct design and optimization, ensuring maximum efficiency. Antion’s pipeline is focused on curing challenging cancer indications and other complex disorder with simple, easy to administer cell therapies. Antion has a world-class leadership team and advisors and was founded in 2016 by internationally recognized scientists and clinicians.

Antion is utilizing its ground-breaking multiplex platform technology to develop allogeneic CAR T-cell therapies for haematologic malignancies and solid tumours. Our miCARTM T-cells are designed to overcome the immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment and evade rejection by the patient’s immune system, thereby achieving increased persistence and potentially greater levels of long-term efficacy.

www.antionbio.com/

BAYOOMED GmbH

We implement software projects for the pharmaceutical industry and the medical technology sector.

Our focus is on the development of medical and healthcare apps as well as medical software and digital health applications (DiGA). According to all valid standards for medical devices we plan, develop and document for national and international customers for more than 10 years.

We support you in all product lifecycle phases, taking into account the regulations and requirements of your target market. Whether this is in the EU (MDR), the USA (FDA), Brazil (ANVISA) or other countries – we know the legal regulations and develop according to these specifications.

www.bayoomed.com/en

Intravacc B.V.

Even the most promising vaccines don’t always make it out of the laboratory into large-scale production. We at Intravacc are fully aware of the challenges on the long road of vaccine development. We substantially reduce the risks and costs involved with developing vaccines. How? By bridging the gap between your concept and late stage clinical studies.

The Netherlands-based Intravacc, part of the Utrecht Science Park location Bilthoven, is one of the world’s leading organizations with many years of experience in translational vaccinology. As an established independent clinical development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) in the vaccine industry, Intravacc offers a wide range of expertise and is the bridge between your discovery and the start of your phase I/II clinical trials in humans.

www.intravacc.nl/

Kither Biotech S.r.l.

Kither Biotech is a biopharmaceutical company developing signal transduction modulators for the treatment of rare respiratory diseases.
Kither Biotech was founded in November 2011 as a spin-off of the University of Turin, and since then has achieved significant scientific results by focusing on PI3K enzymes. Its first two product candidates KIT2014 and KITCL27, focus on cystic fibrosis (CF) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), respectively. The Company actively collaborates with the University of Turin’s Molecular Biotechnology Centre and other research centres around the world.

www.kitherbiotech.com

Novigenix SA

Novigenix is a diagnostics company that has developed a novel immuno-transcriptomics platform to leverage the mRNA signatures of immune cells to detect cancer. The company has established a database of over 1,500 patients at risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) and has launched its first blood based molecular diagnostic product, Colox, for the early detection of colon cancer. The Colox test is currently on the market in Switzerland and has a CE mark in the EU.

www.novigenix.com/

OMass Therapeutics

At OMass Therapeutics, we are identifying new medicines against highly validated but inadequately drugged targets using novel biochemistry techniques, native mass spectrometry and custom chemistry. We distil biology to its essential elements – physical interactions within a native ecosystem – to deliver cell-system fidelity and cell-free precision; interrogating not just the target but how it interacts with other elements of the ecosystem. We are advancing a pipeline of small molecule therapeutics in orphan diseases and immunological conditions, targeting solute carriers, inflammasome complexes and GPCRs.

www.omass.com

PDC*line Pharma SA

PDC*line Pharma is a clinical-stage spin-off of the French Blood Bank that develops a new class of potent and off-the-shelf therapeutic cancer vaccines based on a proprietary cell line of Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells (PDC*line). Based on a robust preclinical package and a first-in-human phase Ib in melanoma, PDC*line Pharma has initiated a clinical development in lung cancer with a new candidate (PDC*lung) and neoantigens (PDC*neo).

PDC*line is the only cell line of ready-to-use Dendritic Cells for therapeutic use. It is loaded with synthetic peptides derived from tumor antigens, irradiated, and can be stored frozen for years. After thawing, it is injected to activate in vivo a potent cytotoxic anti-tumor CD8+ T-cell response. The product comes in the form of 3 candidates:

•    PDC*mel: our first candidate for melanoma completed a first-in-human phase Ib trial in 2017, demonstrating the safety of the product, the ab-sence of allogeneic rejection and its biological activity. The results of the trial have been pub-lished in the Oncoimmunology journal in 2020.
•    PDC*lung: our leading candidate for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) targets widely ex-pressed shared antigens (including cancer/testis antigens). A phase Ib/II trial on 64 patients evalu-ating its safety, biological activity, and preliminary clinical activity, with and without anti-PD1, is cur-rently on-going.
•    PDC*neo: is currently being developed at the preclinical stage.

PDC*line Pharma comprises a team of 29 persons based in Belgium and France. The company has raised nearly €52M. The last rounds have been led by the Asian leading VC Korean Investment Partners.
In March 2019, PDC*line Pharma granted an exclusive license in South Korea and exclusive option in other Asian countries to LG Chem Life Sciences Company, for the development and commercializa-tion of PDC*lung cancer vaccine for lung cancer. The total deal value is €108M (123M$) plus royalties on net sales in Asia.

www.pdc-line-pharma.com/

Prokarium Ltd.

Prokarium is harnessing evolution to cure difficult to treat cancers by applying cutting edge science at the intersection of immunology and synthetic biology. The company’s mission is to design the perfect bacteria to be the next cancer immunotherapy platform.

www.prokarium.com

Splice Bio

SpliceBio is a biotechnology company exploiting Protein Splicing to develop the next generation of gene therapies. Our platform is based on technology developed in the Muir Lab at Princeton University after more than 20 years of pioneering intein and protein engineering research.

www.splice.bio/

Svenska VaccinFabriken AB

Vaccination is the safest and most effective way to prevent a number of diseases. Up to 3 million people are saved each year by vaccines. Our mission at SVF is to develop vaccines and immunotherapies in order to prevent and treat life-threatening diseases.

www.svenskavaccinfabriken.se/

TILT Biotherapeutics LLC

TILT Biotherapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing cancer immunotherapies based on its proprietary, best-in-class oncolytic adenoviruses armed with molecules including cytokines that can stimulate, or enhance T-cell responses.


www.tiltbio.com/

Presenting Company Session: Biopôle Selected Investment Opportunities

AC BioScience SA

AC BioScience is a Swiss biotech company pioneering the development of groundbreaking therapies in angiogenic cancer treatment and immuno-oncology. Two of its lead molecules will enter clinical trials in 2022.

The company’s co-founders and the core team combine scientific excellence with seasoned management with a strong track record in execution and in turning scientific inventions into products with large revenue potential. Our business model is to develop proprietary drugs up to PoC stage.

One of its two lead molecules ACB2003.4 will commence clinical trials Phase II/III in Q1 2022 for the treatment of metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma based on solid preclinical and FDA-approved Phase I data. If PoC can be achieved with this groundbreaking angiogenic combination cancer treatment for pancreatic cancer, this would open the way for the treatment of most other solid hypoxic cancers.  

The company's immuno-oncology molecule ACB1801 has shown exceptional preclinical results in combination therapies in enhancing the efficacy of checkpoint-inhibitor immune therapy, and the molecule will enter clinical stage in late 2022. ACB1801 modulates the malignant phenotype in order to improve MHC-1 mediated antigens presentation, and thereby potentiates the efficacy of anti PD-1 therapy.

The company is currently initiating a Series A Round to finance clinical trials and to up-scale the development of its product pipeline. Towards this end, we seek financial investors and/or strategic Pharma partners.

www.ac-bioscience.com

Leman Biotech Lausanne SA

Leman Biotech, a spin-off company of EPFL, co-founded by Prof. Li Tang (Head of Laboratory of Biomaterials for Immunoengineering), aims at developing and commercializing new metabolic cancer immunotherapies. Recently, the start-up company closed a US$11 million angel financing round. The money raised will enable it to accelerate the preclinical studies of biomolecule and cell based therapies and prepare for entering clinical trials. The headquarter of the company is now in Shenzhen, a highly vibrant city with the highest number of start-ups per head of population in China. Currently, Leman Biotech is launching a new drug discovery center in Lausanne, Switzerland, to initiate clinical trials in Europe.

Limula SA

Limula SA provides a unique platform technology enabling scale out of cell therapy production. Our patented solution is composed of an automation unit and single use kits, allowing to safely manufacture CGT in a decentralised manner. We support companies at all stages of the cell therapy life cycle, from R&D to routine production. By bringing manufacturing closer to the patients, our solution will broaden access to these highly personalised treatments.

www.limula.ch

Parithera SA

Parithera’s goal is to save lives by providing a non-invasive diagnostic which analyses cancer treatment resistance and allows clinicians to adjust treatment regimen.

As of today, no cancer diagnostic is able to accurately assess treatment resistance. Missing the resistance build up of tumor cells is the cause of death for over 90% of cancer patients.

From a simple blood draw, Parithera’s ExTrace Dx solution isolates circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and provides transcriptomic information at the single cell level. This approach is much less invasive than tissue biopsy and provides a more accurate tumor description. ExTrace Dx allows clinicians to adapt treatment protocols and provide the right treatment at the right time to each patient from a simple blood draw.

www.parithera.com/

Rising Biotech Stars Session

Adoram Therapeutics SA

Adoram is a Swiss-based biotech spin-off from the University of Geneva, leveraging the advantages of allosteric biochemistry to create new treatments for patients with solid tumors or immune-based diseases.

adoram.ch/

Barcode Diagnostics

Founded in 2017, Barcode has developed and tested hundreds of delivery vehicles for different therapeutic drugs.

Barcode possesses the delivery vehicles for your RNA therapeutics and the ability to optimize the activity of new drugs at their target site.

www.barcode-nano.com/

BiPER Therapeutics

BiPER Therapeutics is a preclinical-stage biotech company founded in 2021 to develop and commercialize novel therapeutics. We are developing a first-in-class pipeline of small molecules targeting the global metabolism of cancer. BiPER 's name summarizes the original and unique approach of our first portfolio of therapeutics : Our drug candidates target BiP, an key protein involved in cancer cells survival and associated with poor prognosis of patients, triggering cancer cell death and tumour growth inhibition through ER (Endoplasmic Reticulum) Stress induction.

www.biper-tx.com/

Hephaistos

Profile coming soon...

Karla Therapeutics

Karla Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company developing immunotherapy for neuropsychiatric diseases. Our disruptive immuno-based precision medicine approach relies on proof-of-concept data and abundant literature pointing out the role of the immune system in various mental illnesses. We aim to pioneer immunopsychiatry to develop much better medicines to treat mental diseases.

www.karla-tx.com/

Pan Cancer T B.V.

Pan Cancer T is an immunotherapy company developing next-generation TCR-T cell therapies for solid cancer.

The Company´s products are based on a form of T cell therapy called TCR-T therapy. It exploits the abilities of T cells – the primary natural immune effector cell – to recognize and kill tumor cells.

TCR-T therapy is based on genetically modified T cells directed against specific targets on tumor cells. Pan Cancer T´s differentiated Next Generation approach addresses two major obstacles in the field. Firstly, we work on a unique set of 30 untapped targets, exclusively and robustly expressed in multiple solid cancers. Secondly, our augmented T cells are engineered for enhanced durability in order to drive deeper and more durable clinical responses in multiple solid tumors.

www.pancancer-t.com/

more tba...

virtual showcases

10-minute showcase

Lutris Pharma

Lutris Pharma is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company established with a vision to improve anti cancer therapy effectiveness as well as the quality of life for patients who are being treated with EGFR (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor) Inhibitors or with Radiation.

Dermal toxicity is the most prominent adverse reaction of EGFR Inhibitor and radiation therapy, often limiting anti cancer therapy compliance. Lutris Pharma aims to provide novel topical therapies that significantly mitigate these side effects and enable patients to adhere to effective anti cancer treatments with EGFR Inhibitors and radiation treatment. Since the indications relate to oncological patients, Lutris Pharma has received waivers from the FDA, and, as a result, the development pathway to approval is accelerated.

www.lutris-pharma.com/