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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.

BerGenBio AS develops novel cancer therapeutics against highly invasive and drug resistant tumors; its R&D is directed towards targeting the tumor microenvironment, EMT and cancer stem cells. Our lead program BGB324 is a first in class Axl inhibitor will enter Ph1 in January 2013 and has shown preclinical activity in many cancers, including AML, NSCLC, breast, pancreatic and melanoma.

The company is built on proprietary state-of-the-art RNAi technology dedicated to identifying and validating novel cancer targets, other programs are in the drug discovery and lead optimization stages.

The company located in Bergen, Norway. It is funded by a syndicate of Norwegian investors and seeking qualified co-investors for a €12m series B at YE 2012.

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

Genticel is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company that develops multivalent vaccines for patients infected with Human Papillomavirus (HPV). Till date, the company has raised EUR 27 Mio in funding.

Current investors include Edmond de Rothschild Venture Partners, Innobio Fund, IDInvest (Allianz) and Amundi. 

Our lead investigational vaccine, ProCervix, has successfully finished a very positive data-rich Phase Ib trial on 47 HPV16 and/or 18 infected women. ProCervix is the first therapeutic vaccine offering a solution to the more than 93 million women worldwide already infected with HPV 16 and/or 18 before the appearance of high grade neoplasia. This very large population, exposed at high risk to develop cervical cancer, is only now becoming accessible thanks to new screening guidelines prescribing first line HPV-based testing.

A large survey of prescribers and a Market Access Study predict overwhelming acceptability and a very large market potential.

Genticel wants to take ProCervix into Clinical Phase II and further develop our second product, a heptavalent therapeutic HPV vaccine, up to clinical stage.

To do this, we intend to raise additional capital from our current and selected international investors. 

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.

Immunovaccine is a biotechnology company focused on the application of its novel vaccine delivery platform to the development of vaccines for cancer therapy and infectious diseases. The Company’s DepoVax™ platform is a patented lipid delivery system that presents antigens plus adjuvant to the immune system for a prolonged period and has the potential to enhance immune responses. Immunovaccine has advanced its platform technology and proprietary cancer vaccine into Phase I clinical trials and has demonstrated both safety and immunogenicity potential. Immunovaccine is also capitalizing on the broad potential of its delivery platform by creating new DepoVax-based vaccines through multiple development collaborations. In addition to the Company’s human health vaccine strategy, it continues to capture value from animal health vaccine applications. Immunovaccine has several key partnerships in the animal health sector including an agreement with Pfizer Animal Health, which has licensed the Company’s delivery technology platform to develop vaccines for livestock.

Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, NovImmune is a life science enterprise with a proprietary next-generation antibody drug discovery platform and expertise in advancing drug candidates from bench to bedside. The Company is applying its capabilities to realize a vision of generating drugs that provide more robust benefit to patients by attacking the cause rather than symptoms of disease. NovImmune has established a balanced pipeline of first- and best-in-class pre-clinical and clinical drug candidates with a mix of both clinically validated and novel targets.

§  CHF 182M raised from high net worth individuals, private and corporate venture funds

§  In 2009, received the European Biotechnica Award

§  In 2010, established Genentech/Roche partnership for NI-1401, anti-IL-17 drug candidate

§  In 2011, received Orphan Drug designation in Europe and the USA for, and EUR 6 million FP7 grant from the European Commission for development of NI-0501 for HLH

§  In 2012, filing to initiate important clinical studies including the first Phase II study for NI-0501 in HLH, and first-in-man study for leading anti-TLR4 drug candidate, NI-0101

§  Pursuing additional partnerships for its next-generation antibody platform as well as development and commercialization of selected drug candidates

§  Potential to independently bring selected drugs to the market for focused applications

Oryzon is a biomarker discovery company with a dual therapeutic pipeline in oncology and neurodegeneration.   Founded in 2000, and venture backed from 2002, Oryzon has a strong focus in EPIGENETIC TARGETS with a special emphasis in Histone Lysine Demethylases being a global leader on Lysine Specific Demethylase1. LSD1 has been proposed as a target for oncology, viral diseases and neurodegeneration. Two recent papers in NatureMedicine and CancerCELL stablished proof of concept data that support the use of LSD1 inhibitors in acute myeloid leukemia. Oryzon has two preclinical programs with different preclinical candidates LSD1i, one in leukemia and the other in Huntington disease. Phase I/IIa studies are expected to start in early 2013.

In Oncology, we also develop new non invasive early diagnostics tools. Our first product GynEC®-DX consists on a new set of markers for triage in endometrial cancer from uterine aspirates.

The PROTAGEN GROUP is a leading provider of solutions for the

Pharmaceutical and Biotech industries, supporting drug development towards

personalized medicines and GMP compliant protein characterization services

of outstanding quality.

The PROTAGEN GROUP consists of PROTAGEN AG with a clear focus on

diagnostics, and PROTAGEN Protein Services GmbH (PPS) providing GMP

compliant protein analysis.

PROTAGEN AG has developed the proprietary UNIarray® platform to support

patient stratification and the development of Companion Diagnostics (CDx)

using the diagnostic power of autoantibody signatures in blood. We combine

our outstanding know-how in biostatistics and expertise in Protein arrays and

Luminex technology for the development of novel diagnostic assays. Our R&D

focus is on chronic diseases, e.g. neurodegenerative disorders, endometriosis,

autoimmune diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Systemic Lupus

Erythematosus and Multiple Sclerosis as well as selected cancer indications,

e.g. Prostate-, Breast-, Ovarian-, Colon- and Pancreatic Cancer.

PROTAGEN Protein Services GmbH (PPS)

is a reliable partner for GMP compliant characterization of biotherapeutics

(NBEs) and biosimilar comparability, including stability and release testing.

PPS combines unique expertise in bioinformatics for protein mass spectrometry

with a long track record in protein chemistry and protein analytics in order to

provide the best quality available. In addition, we provide customer support for

all relevant regulatory issues to match with current regulatory requirements

(FDA, EMA, KFDA) for protein drugs.

Sanifit offers a new approach for calcification disorders. Sanifit´s lead Product (SNF472) for the reduction of calcification in dialysis patients is entering Phase I clinical trials. For the dental field OTC products were developed and are being out-licensed. The international management team has proven track record and long industry experience. Sanifit operates from Switzerland and Spain