On 12 October 2017, the Innovation and Start-up Center for Biotechnology (IZB) the sixth Biotech Press Lounge in the Faculty Club G2B (Gateway to Biotech). Dr. Peter Hanns Zobel, Managing Director of the Innovation and Start-up Center for Biotechnology (IZB), emphasized in his opening speech how important it is to bring together the players of the pharmaceutical, biotech, and venture capital scene in a relaxed atmosphere and expressed his delight at the financing that was realized at the IZB in 2017. With the Pieris AG, the Immunic AG and the Rigontec GmbH Deals worth up to 2 billion euros were secured.
“Real medical progress” is important
Current research was presented in keynote speeches. Speakers at the Biotech Press Lounge this year were Dr. Markus Dangl (Senior Vice President Research and Pre-Clinical Development at Medigene AG), Paola Casarosa (Corporate Vice President Therapeutics at Böhringer Ingelheim), and Dr. Jens Altrichter (COO of Leukocare AG). Evelyn Warner, editor-in-chief of the Labiotech.eu portal, moderated the event.
“We are not only pleased that our startups are closing such successful deals, but also that this research is bringing real medical progress,”
so Dr. Peter Hanns sable in his opening speech. In May 2017, Pieris announced the $2.1 billion deal with AstraZeneca. The deal involves new therapies for respiratory diseases. On September 5, 2017, Immunic AG increased its Series A financing by €10 million, bringing the total raised to €31.7 million. Immunic's goal is to develop new treatments for autoimmune diseases. One day later, Rigontec GmbH was sold to Merck MSD Research Laboratories for an expected total of €349 million. This will pave the way for a new approach in immuno-oncology.
“To realize such visions, the IZB was built 22 years ago on the Martinsried campus,”
emphasized Zobel.
Partnerships create significant added value
This was followed by presentations from Medigene, Böhringer Ingelheim, and Leukocare. Markus Dangl, Senior Vice President Research and Pre-Clinical Development at Medigene AG, explained why neoantigens are a particularly exciting topic in the field of tumor immunotherapy and how Medigene's technologies and expertise can be used to successfully treat patients with highly effective, personalized cell therapies in the future.
“Partnerships play a strategic role in our research and development activities,”
so PhD. Paola Casarosa, Corporate Vice President Therapeutics at Böhringer Ingelheim in your presentation.
"This is reflected in the fact that 50 percent of our pipeline is based on external collaborations. We seek partnership opportunities across the spectrum, from universities to biotech companies, to achieve added value for patients,"
explained Casarosa.
Dr. Jens Altrichter, COO of Leukocare AG, explained the increasing importance of advanced formulations in biopharmaceutical product development.
“By considering formulation-relevant aspects at an early stage of the development process and leveraging Leukocare’s expertise and technology platform, our customers can realize significant competitive advantages and successfully exploit the maximum product and market potential in the future,”
Altrichter explains the company strategy.
