BIO-Europe® 2019's Startup Slam Winner: Eisbach Bio

- Eisbach Bio is developing novel medicines that target chromatin regulatory mechanisms essential to tumors

- Ten short-listed life sciences startups pitched to an expert judging panel at the sixth Startup Slam competition at BIO-Europe^® 

- Startup Slam sponsor and co-host Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS recognize high caliber of diverse entries, including companies from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK

HAMBURG, Germany, Nov. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Eisbach Bio GmbH was announced as the winner of the BIO-Europe^® 2019 Startup Slam competition, held in Hamburg. Andreas Ladurner, Chief Scientific Officer of Eisbach Bio, receives a complimentary registration to BIO-Europe Spring^® 2020 in Paris, plus access to a top-tier mentoring program with industry experts from Johnson & Johnson Innovation. The 'Audience Choice' Award went to Cristiana Pires, CEO and co-founder of Asgard Therapeutics AB.

Innovative entrepreneurs from ten life sciences startups pitched their company to leading authorities in the global biotech industry, in front of a large audience of BIO-Europe delegates. This popular session, which received 60+ applications, was sponsored and co-hosted by Johnson & Johnson Innovation for the sixth time running.

This year's line-up of innovative startups included companies developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, osteoporosis, and vascular disease, as well as a company with a novel drug delivery platform, one developing a vaccine against the world's foremost bacterial pathogen, and one targeting the root causes of ageing.

Eisbach Bio's presentation focused on how targeting chromatin regulatory mechanisms is potentially a transformative healthcare solution in oncology. 

Elena Fernandez-Kleinlein, Interim Head of JLABS EMEA, Johnson & Johnson Innovation*, said, "We are excited to invite Eisbach Bio to the Startup Slam winners circle. The purpose of the Startup Slam at BIO-Europe is to help accelerate innovator solutions and potentially change the trajectory of health to positively impact our future."

The companies that presented at BIO-Europe^® Hamburg's Startup Slam include:

• Australia's GPN Vaccines Pty Ltd, developing a vaccine against Streptococcus pneumoniae, the world's foremost bacterial pathogen.
• Belgium's Sagitta Biotech, developing innovative cancer immunotherapies based on oncolytic viruses and checkpoint inhibitors.
• Canada's MyX Therapeutics Inc, a biodegradable muco-adhesive nanoparticle delivery platform, capable of sustained drug releases for ophthalmic use and other mucosa-based deliveries. 
• Germany's Pantherna Therapeutics GmbH, developing first-in-class therapeutics, based on advanced nanoparticles, for vascular diseases.
• Germany's axiom insights GmbH, offering an advanced medical imaging method as a service to pharma industries for saving time and cost in drug development.
• Germany's Osteolabs GmbH, providing a medical laboratory test for the early detection of osteoporosis, only requiring blood and/or urine.
• Germany's Eisbach Bio GmbH, developing novel medicines that target chromatin regulatory mechanisms essential to tumors.
• Sweden's Asgard Therapeutics AB, exploring direct cell reprogramming as a strategy to force cancer cells to become immunogenic again.
• Switzerland's TOLREMO Therapeutics AG, catalyzing a new wave of novel resistance-breaking therapies that will meaningfully extend the lives of patients suffering from cancer.
• The UK's Shift Bioscience, targeting the root causes of ageing to extend healthy lifespan.

Previous Startup Slam winners were SunRegen Healthcare (2019), Amylon Therapeutics (2018), Peptomyc (2017), EpiAxis Therapeutics (2016), and QureTech Bio (2016). Peptomyc's founders were subsequently featured on a T-shirt Nike designed for FC Barcelona to showcase people who drive and inspire Spain's capital city. In 2018 an 'Audience Choice' Award was introduced, which was awarded to reVision Therapeutics. For more on previous winners see https://knect365.com/partnering-insight/article/f2d28cf3-2402-4209-a602-33dad2513a4a/just-do-it-nike-showcases-barcelonas-startup-slam-winner

The expert judging panel consisted of: Stefan Beerhalter, VP, German Accelerator Life Sciences; Hubert Birner, Managing Partner, TVM Life Sciences Management Inc.; Elena Fernandez-Kleinlein, Interim Head JLABS EMEA, Johnson & Johnson Innovation; Vanessa Mailer, Managing Partner, Kumar Partners; and Holger Reithinger, Forbion Capital Partners.

Photos available on request

About EBD Group  

EBD Group's overriding mission is to help collaborations get started across the life science value chain. Our range of partnering conferences has grown to become the largest and most productive conference platform in the industry. Each one of our landmark events held in key life science markets around the world is powered by our state-of-the-art partnering software, partneringONE®, that enables delegates to efficiently identify and engage with new opportunities via one-to-one meetings. 

Today our events (BIO-Europe®, BIO-Europe Spring®, BioPharm America™, Biotech Showcase™, China Showcase, Digital Medicine & Medtech Showcase, ChinaBio® Partnering Forum, Rare Disease Innovation and Partnering Summit, and BioEquity Europe) annually attract more than 15,000 senior life science executives who engage in over 50,000 one-to-one partnering meetings. These vital one-to-one engagements are the wellspring of deals that drive innovation in our industry. 

Tune into EBD Group's Partnering Insight for timely coverage of news that influences the business strategies of the life science industry. EBD Group is an Informa company. For more information please visit www.ebdgroup.com. 

*Elena Fernandez-Kleinlein is an employee of Johnson & Johnson Medical Limited.

Contacts

Scius Communications
Katja Stout, katja@sciuscommunications.com