A global investor exclusively focused on the development of oncology therapies is headquartered in Western Europe; the firm makes selective investments in early-stage drug development companies targeting cancer therapies that can bring solid proof of concept to the table. Typically, the firm invests in incorporated companies from late seed stage to early series B. The investment size will vary, and it can range from 3 to 10 million dollars with the possibility of investing lower amounts for seed stage companies. The firm may make 3-4 investments in the next year, depending on the opportunity. The firm has no geographic restriction and is actively seeking new investment opportunities across the globe.
In the life sciences, the firm is currently seeking new investments targeting the development of oncology therapies, and is open to all types of therapeutic modalities and all indications within the oncology space, including platform technology that has a lead oncology therapeutic product. The firm will typically not invest in medical devices or diagnostics, unless as companion to a therapeutic solution. Project will be evaluated on solid preclinical proof-of-concept (late preclinical stage/pre-IND or early clinical), and will often fund the companies at least up to human proof-of-concept (clinical Phase Ib – Phase IIa).
Representative portfolio companies include: ARCUS Biosciences (Hayward, CA), developing small-molecule and antibody compounds targeting tumor related immune suppression, enhanced APC function and immune cell efficacy; Tusk Therapeutics (Stevenage, UK), developing novel immune modulating antibody therapeutics to harness the immune system against cancer; Octimet (Beerse, Belgium), a spin-out company from Janssen Pharmaceuticals developing a new generation of highly selective MET kinase activity inhibitors with augmented therapeutic index; Convert Pharmaceuticals (Liege, Belgium), developing hypoxia activated pro-cytotoxic small molecules; and Cristal Therapeutics (Maastricht, The Netherlands), developing a versatile nanoparticle platform which allows payload delivery in the tumor micro-environment.
The firm only invests in private companies with experienced management teams and breakthrough potential. The firm most often takes the responsibility to be lead investor, alone or in syndicate as the opportunity demands, and wants to be actively involved in the successful development and growth of the portfolio companies. To this end, the firm has several experts in oncology, intellectual property and drug development on the investment team and available to the portfolio companies.
If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com.
Anastasiya Giarletta manages an extensive business network spanning FinTech, artificial intelligence and rapidly growing longevity biotech industries in the UK, Silicon Valley and New York. As a specialist in the early-stage longevity biotech ecosystem, she connects and advises venture funds, angels, and entrepreneurs, aligning them with success and growth, as well as organizing and leading collaborative longevity biotech industry events with her company Aikora Health. Previously, Anastasiya’s focus was on financial services, FinTech and venture capital space. Anastasiya holds a degree in Management and Sustainable Development from the University of St Andrews.
Alexandra is leading the venture creation programs that aim at founding new biotech startups targeting the aging process at a molecular level. She is also managing the pipeline and diligence process for external investment opportunities, predominantly focusing on preclinical stage biotech companies. Before joining Apollo Ventures, Alexandra worked with The Boston Consulting Group where she specialized in biopharma strategy, market assessment and asset diligence. Her PhD studies at Harvard Medical School were focused on investigating the molecular mechanisms that contribute to cellular aging and could be targeted to increase mammalian health span. She is also a trained pharmacist with expertise in pharmaceutics and pharmacology.
Patrick Burgermeister is an expert in life science investing with a double background in molecular biology (Biozentrum Basel) and business administration (HSG Sankt Gallen). He joined Kizoo in 2019 coming from the venture capital group BioMedPartners where he was one of the partners. Moreover, his industry career encompasses also banking (as a senior analyst for pharma/biotech) and pharma (as a senior portfolio manager at Novartis). Patrick supports various biotech companies as a director on their boards, was a successful business developer for early-stage biotech companies and led collaboration and licensing deals with public and private companies. He headed business development at several companies including Apeiron Biologics and BioVersys.
Sergey Jakimov is a founder and advisor to multiple growth-stage startups in Europe and Asia. His main field of expertise is the industrial integration of digital health solutions and novel biomedical technologies, as well as the commercialization of hard IP assets. After graduating with merit from Central European University and Riga Graduate School of Law, Sergey founded two deep-tech ventures, one of which – Koatum – is a biomedical technology company that develops targeted drug delivery systems for dental and orthopedic implants, that is currently in the last round of validation before being launched as a commercial product into the US market. Using his experience in the field, Sergey, as the CEO of Longenesis – a digital health tech company, provides the R&D industry with tools that facilitate the clinical trial process in multiple research and healthcare institutions around the globe. Sergey is also a guest lecturer and co-author of the study program on product commercialization at the University of Latvia, as well as a guest lecturer in Riga Graduate School of Law (Latvia) and Riga Stradins University (Latvia). Recently, Sergey has co-founded LongeVC – an early-stage longevity-focused VC fund, looking to back emerging longevity tech in seed and pre-A stages.
Dr. Joon Yun is President and Managing Partner of Palo Alto Investors LP, a healthcare hedge fund founded in 1989. Board-certified in radiology, Joon served on the clinical faculty at Stanford from 2000-2006. Joon has served on numerous boards, and he is currently a trustee of the Salk Institute. Joon is a member of the President’s Circle of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Joon has published dozens of patents and scientific articles. Joon and his wife Kimberly launched the $1 million Palo Alto Longevity Prize in 2013 to reverse the aging process and recently donated $2 million to launch the National Academy of Medicine Aging and Longevity Grand Challenge. Fun fact: Joon has been going to Burning Man consecutively for the past 18 years.
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