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• APEIRON Biologics AG, based in Vienna, Austria, is a biotech company with a focus on biological and immunological approaches to treat cancer and related conditions. The company was founded by Professor Josef Penninger and became operational in 2006. Apeiron currently employs around 25 people and is led by a management team with strong background in drug development, especially in cancer immune therapy.
• Apeiron has a portfolio of innovative projects, five of which are in clinical development. Its lead project APN311 is in an ongoing phase III trial in neuroblastoma, with more than half of the patients already recruited.

APIM Therapeutics AS is a preclinical biotech company developing novel peptide anti-cancer drugs for various oncology indications. 

Targeting a novel, stress-induced therapeutic intevention point, the company’s current preclinical lead, ATX-101, sensitizes cancer cells to the action of >15 different chemotherapeutic drugs across multiple indications. The company has achieved proof-of-concept in selected in vivo and ex vivo cancer models of solid tumors (e.g. bladder, prostate) and blood cancer (myeloma, leukemia) in combination with >5 clinical drugs. 

APIM Therapeutics is venture capital financed. Current investors include Sarsia Seed, Birk Venture, Ro Invest and NIK. The company is seeking to raise additional funding in 2012-2013 in order to drive continuous preclinical development of ATX-101 to IND within a period of 18 months. 

Bioversys AG is a privately held Swiss biopharmaceutical company located in Basel that focuses on research and development of new drugs and compounds, which switch-off drug resistance within bacterial pathogens and restore the efficacy of approved antibiotics. Spun out of the ETH-Zurich in 2008, we have profound technological expertise that is based on solid IP.

Biovotion AG is a Swiss based medical device company, providing solutions for continuous, non-invasive physiological monitoring. The Biovotion Vital Sign Monitoring (VSM) platform is a mobile, standalone wearable monitor of vital sign parameters, supported by integrated cloud services for data exchange and analysis. It is directed towards patients with chronic conditions featuring Biovotion’s patient-friendly, wearable monitoring concept.

The company holds internationally recognised know how, paired with an extensive IP portfolio in a number of fields, relevant to provide sensor technology and device development for continuous and non-invasive physiological monitoring, embedded into mHealth environments.

Corporate

• Ceronco Biosciences is developing new drugs to fight cancer based on the short-chain sphingolipid (SCS) technology discovered in a collaborative research project at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) and Erasmus MC.
• Proof of principle has been established in combining the SCS-technology with doxorubicin in highly relevant animal models. Addition of the SCS leads to increase in uptake of doxorubicin, specifically in cancer cells, and subsequently a significant reduction in tumor growth and increase in overall survival. At the same time no increase in severity of expected side effects or new side effects were noted.
• Ceronco is now taking this first product (CB001) into clinical trials, with expected start of the first clinical trial early 2013.

Technology

• A major barrier for uptake of chemotherapeutic drugs is the cellular membrane of a cancer cell. A new class of short-chain sphingolipids (SCS) has been identified which insert themselves into the cellular membrane and lead to catalysis of drug-membrane translocation. This results in increased uptake of a large variety of amphiphilic chemotherapeutic drugs.
• Tumor Cell Membrane Modulation using the SCS-technology is a novel and unique method to increase the efficacy of chemotherpaeutic drugs.

Products

• CB001: GluCer-enhanced liposomal doxorubicin
• CB002: SCS-enhanced mitoxantrone

CEVEC commercializes an innovative platform technology for the production of vaccines and biopharmaceuticals in human cell lines.  

CEVEC’s CAP cells hold high promise for a best-in-class production system for viral vaccines, such as hCMV, Influenza and others, as shown by a recent case study. Compared to leading other cellular production systems (like MDCK) CAP demonstrated outstanding results in view of virus yield, extreme short production cycles and minimal media consumption. CEVEC’s CAP system is suspension based and serum free offering the best starting point for new vaccine production approaches with excellent upscaling possibilities. Being the only remaining independent supplier for human production cell lines, the company sets out to repeat the growth story of Crucell B.V., recently acquired by Johnson & Johnson for 2.4 Bn US$. 

Feasibility studies further demonstrated CAP being a versatile virus production platform with a broad susceptibility for various human-pathogenic human viruses. Commercially significant targets include hCMV, RSV, Influenza, Polio, Measles, AAV, Adenoviruses, Lentiviruses and others. Several lead projects have been identified and planned, including the first human platform for hCMV, together with its partner Vaccine Project Manager, Hannover, Germany.

CEVEC is underway to close another 7-10 Mio. EUR venture round. This investment will be used to push the vaccine lead projects, such as hCMV within 3 years to clinical phase I/IIa results and manage a broad roll-out of its vaccine production technology in order to maximize its company exit value by 2015. Venture investors are still invited to participate in an exciting low-risk and high return growth story. For further information, please click here: www.cevec.com

Targeting toxic oligomers in misfolded protein diseases is the basis for Crossbeta’s stable oligomer drug discovery platforms which are accessible for partnering in therapeutic areas such as Alzheimer´s, Parkinson’s, Huntington and Diabetes Type 2.

In our Alzheimer program we have recently completed a high throughput screening campaign with 100,000 compounds resulting in the selection of 5 hit classes with >50%  neutralizing effect on oligomer-induced neurotoxicity.

Stable oligomers can also be used as reference in biomarker assays.

Ennar Pharma was founded in July 2010 to develop a better and safer topical treatment for mild-to-moderate psoriasis. Patents, protecting the technology, have been granted in Europe and the USA. The company is financially supported by an investment by EVA- a Basel based venture capital company- and uses a network of strategic partners to develop the production of EGF and develop a suitable cream-based pharmaceutical product. Producers for the cGMP production of high-quality EGF(epidermal growth factor) and for a stable cream formulation of the active ingredient have been contracted and a Proof-of-Concept trial is running at the Dermatology Clinic of the University of Zurich. The trial, which is carried out with mild-to-moderate psoriasis patients, aims to establish the validity of the mode-of-action proposed for the EGF-based topical formulation and test an optimised formulation for clinical efficacy and safety. Results of the trial are expected in Q1 2013.

Helsinn is a privately owned pharmaceutical group with headquarters in Lugano, Switzerland, and operating subsidiaries in Ireland and the United States. Helsinn’s business model is focused on the licensing of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and nutritional supplement products in therapeutic niche areas. Helsinn Group in-licenses early-to-late stage new chemical entities, completes their development through the performance of pre-clinical /clinical studies and Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Control (CMC) development, and files and attains their market approvals worldwide. Helsinn’s products are out-licensed to its network of local marketing and commercial partners, selected for their deep in-market knowledge and know-how whom Helsinn assists and supports by providing a full range of product and scientific management services, including commercial, regulatory financial, legal, and medical marketing advice. The active pharmaceutical ingredients and the finished products are manufactured according to the highest quality, safety, and environmental standards at Helsinn’s GMP facilities in Switzerland and Ireland and supplied worldwide to its customers. Further information on Helsinn Group is available at www.helsinn.com.

InteRNA Technologies is a Dutch drug discovery and development company engaged in the development of novel breakthrough cancer therapies based on the unique functions of its proprietary miRNAs.

InteRNA well equipped to move quickly towards the clinic

InteRNA's drug development programs aim at developing miRNA-based therapeutics that control genes connected in signal transduction pathways and biological processes that are known to play a role in cancer initiation, progression and metastasis.

InteRNA identified the function of multiple miRNAs in a number of cancer indications through functional screens, using its proprietary lentiviral-based miRNA expression library, which is the largest currently available.

With the Company's proprietary miRNA expression database (generated through deep sequencing) and additional technologies (like RNAseq, PAR-CLIP, bioinformatics, in vivo models) in place to identify the downstream regulated proteins for each miRNA drug candidate, the Company is well equipped to move its novel drug candidates with their biomarkers quickly towards the clinic.