Munich Life Science Pitch Day at the IZB: Eleven teams presented to 28 life science investors with an available investment volume of more than 20 billion euros

Martinsried near Munich, October 7, 2022 – On October 6, 2022, the Munich Innovation and Start-up Center for Biotechnology (IZB) in cooperation with the High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim and MEDICE organized the 7th Life Science Pitch Day, at which eleven biotech start-ups and project teams presented their innovative ideas to renowned life science investors and decision-makers from the industry. First, Dr. Peter Hanns Zobel, Managing Director of the IZB, gave an insight into the dynamic Start-up Center IZB. Ingo Klöckner, Portfolio Strategy & Reporting by Leaps by Bayer, the VC-Unit der Bayer AG as well as Dr. Alexander Ehlgen, Investment Manager Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, explained which cooperation models exist for start-ups in their companies. Drug company MEDICE, participating in the Life Science Pitch Day for the first time, was presented by Dr. med. Dr. oec. Richard Ammer. The 11 project teams have a funding requirement of over 100 million euros. In the Faculty Club G2B at the IZB, they faced investors who have a total available investment volume of over 20 billion euros. In terms of content, it was exciting and wide-ranging. Project teams presented research ranging from small molecules to antibodies, as well as drug development against cancer and autoimmune diseases in the context of pre-seed to Seria A funding.

The participants gained valuable insight into the work of a successful start-up at the Fireside Chat with Dr. Dominik Schumacher, Founder and CEO of Tubulis and Dr. Martin Pfister, Principal at HTGF. "Data quality and depth combined with high level of expertise within the entire team at Tubulis have been key to gain trust of our partners and investors", Schumacher explained the success of the young biotech company.

The following investors supported the event as partners: Apollo Health Ventures, Bayern Capital, BayStartUP, Born2Grow Seedfonds, Carma Fund, Forbion, Hadean Ventures, Kurma Partners, LongeVC, MediVentures, Pureos Bioventures, Redalpine, Thuja Healthcare Investors, TVM Capital, VI Partners and Wellington Partners.

"The Pitch Day was again a complete success. We are glad that the selected start-ups were also able this year to present their research projects in a relaxed atmosphere here at the IZB, in order to make initial contacts in the venture capital scene and take away valuable feedback. I would greatly like to thank our partners for their many years of support," said Dr. Peter Hanns Zobel, Managing Director of the IZB.

"We are always looking for progress – with our experienced partners Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, MEDICE and the IZB, we are pleased that we were able to host the Life Science Pitch Day again today and get to know new disruptive technologies, approaches that expand our experience, and promising start-ups, " said Dr. Martin Pfister, Principal of High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF).

"This year we are again enthusiastic about the strong pitches of the founders! We are convinced that we will hear a lot more from the presenting start-ups in the future," added Dr. Laura Pedroza, Investment Manager, HTGF.

"Let’s leap into the future together!", commented Ingo Klöckner, Portfolio Strategy & Reporting at Leaps by Bayer, the VC-Unit of Bayer AG. "In our long-standing partnership with the HTGF, we have already seen many exciting developments; among other things due to the Life Science Pitch Day. Every year, this event is an excellent opportunity for start-ups from the life sciences and chemistry sector to present their ideas to well-known venture capital companies."

"The Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund promotes early-stage research and technology through its strategic investments. We focus especially on potential breakthrough technologies at the transition between academic research and start-ups, also in our joint investments with HTGF. The Life Science Pitchday offers us a good opportunity to learn about new technologies and exchange ideas with colleagues from the venture scene," explained Dr. Alexander Ehlgen, Investment Manager Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund

The following project teams presented their innovative research at the 7th Munich Life Science Pitch Day:

1. 1X1 Biotech, Prof. Dr. Ali Ertürk: Development of targeted lipid nanoparticles to deliver drugs to the right targets.
2. Adoram Therapeutics, PhD David Pejoski: Specializes in small molecule therapies with an allosteric molecular mechanism of action.
3. Celeris Therapeutics, Dr. Christopher Trummer: Pioneering AI-driven development of degraders against hard-to-fight targets.
4. Genome Biologics, Prof. Jaya Krishnan: Development of therapies for cardiovascular and cardiometabolic diseases with high unmet needs.
5. Invitris, Dr. Patrick Großmann: Invitris’ mission is to use synthetic biology to catapult bacteriophage technology into the 21st century.
6. Mermaid Bio, Dr. Christopher Baldwin: Mermaid combines the new generation of antibodies with advances in drug delivery to develop breakthrough endogenous drugs.
7. Mosanna Therapeutics, Dr. Jonathan Talbot: Development of a drug to combat sleep apnea and Its potentially fatal metabolic consequences.
8. Onena Medicines, Dr. Neethan Lobo: With its AI-driven platform, Onena is developing best-in-class biologics for cancer treatment through cellular reprogramming.
9. SciRhom, Dr. Jan Poth: SciRhom’s mission is to revolutionize the treatment of autoimmune diseases so that patients benefit from a true disease-modifying effect.
10. TheraPPI Bioscience, Dr. Luc Otten: Altering protein interactions to offer treatments where current therapies fail.
11. Tuari Therapeutics, Dr. Dominique Doyen and Dr. Svetlana Hamm: Focuses on treating tumors with a RAS driver mutation.

Press photos for download at: https://www.izb-online.de/en/media-library/images/