Tag Archives: dailyprompt

Innovator’s Pitch Challenge: Where Deals Start

19 May

By Max Braht, VP of Business Development, LSN

Max-Braht-Headshot

At most conferences, startup pitch competitions are treated as side programming. Founders present a deck, judges select winners, applause follows, and the event moves on.

At RESI San Diego, the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC) is designed differently.

The IPC is not simply about winning a competition. It is designed to help early-stage life science companies generate investor attention, create business development momentum, and accelerate conversations that continue long after the presentation ends.

For many companies, that interaction becomes the most valuable part of the experience.

“The discussions also felt far more relationship-driven than transactional,” said Sian Farrell, CEO of StimOxyGen. “Conversations extended beyond the pitch itself and focused on clinical strategy, regulatory pathways, commercialization, and long-term value creation.”

Unlike standalone pitch competitions, the IPC is integrated directly into the larger RESI partnering ecosystem. Participating companies also receive partnering access, poster presentation visibility, and exposure throughout the conference environment, creating multiple opportunities for follow-up interaction.

“The combination of the presentation and the partnering platform made a significant difference,” said Bram de Moor, CEO of You2Yourself. “RESI brought us into direct contact with European and transatlantic life science investors who specifically seek early-stage diagnostic and biomarker companies — an audience difficult to reach through cold outreach.”

The IPC also introduces an interactive audience component through “RESI cash,” distributed to attendees during registration. Participants allocate their RESI cash to the companies they believe demonstrate the strongest potential, creating additional visibility and engagement throughout the event.

For founders navigating today’s capital environment, opportunities that combine exposure with concentrated investor access are increasingly valuable.

As fundraising conditions continue to demand stronger differentiation and clearer commercialization pathways, platforms that help companies sharpen messaging and generate high-quality investor interaction have become increasingly important.

At RESI, the IPC is intended to serve exactly that purpose.

Selected companies receive:

  • Two 5-day RESI registrations
  • A six-minute company presentation followed by seven minutes of investor Q&A
  • Poster presentation space
  • Full partnering access
  • Exposure to investors, strategic partners, and pharma business development teams throughout Convention Week

For many founders, the IPC becomes more than a presentation opportunity. It becomes the place where investor conversations begin, strategic relationships form, and fundraising momentum accelerates.

Applications for the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge at RESI San Diego are currently open, with limited presentation slots remaining.

Apply to Pitch at RESI San Diego

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Oncovita: A Novel Measles-Based Approach to Unlock Immunotherapy in Solid Tumors 

5 May

By Rahul Shetty, Project Management & BD Associate, LSN

Max-Braht-HeadshotIn oncology, one of the most persistent challenges is not a lack of therapeutic innovation, but a fundamental biological limitation: many tumors remain invisible to the immune system. While immunotherapies such as checkpoint inhibitors have transformed treatment paradigms, a significant proportion of cancers, often referred to as “cold” tumors, fail to respond because they simply are not recognized as threats.

Oncovita, a France-based biotechnology company, is addressing this challenge with a novel approach rooted in engineered measles virotherapy. By leveraging the natural biology of the measles vaccine virus, the company aims to expose tumors to immune attack, effectively converting immunologically silent cancers into targets the body can detect and destroy.

This approach is particularly relevant in pleural mesothelioma, one of the deadliest solid tumors, where survival is often measured in months and treatment options remain extremely limited. Its immunologically silent nature makes it largely invisible to immune surveillance and resistant to existing immunotherapies, leaving patients with few effective options.

At the core of Oncovita’s platform is MVdeltaC, an engineered measles vaccine virus designed for intratumoral administration. Many tumors, including mesothelioma, overexpress CD46 – the receptor used by the measles virus to enter cells, providing a natural mechanism for selective targeting. Once inside the tumor, MVdeltaC triggers immunogenic tumor cell death and immune activation by releasing danger signals and tumor antigens, ultimately priming T cells to recognize and attack cancer. In doing so, it converts “cold” tumors into “hot” ones, enabling both local and systemic immune responses.

The use of measles vaccine as a therapeutic backbone offers several advantages. The live attenuated vaccine has been administered to more than four billion people worldwide, establishing a strong safety profile. It replicates in the cytoplasm without integrating into host DNA and is known to stimulate both innate and adaptive immunity, making it well suited for cancer immunotherapy.

Evidence supporting this approach includes a documented remission in a patient with triple-negative breast cancer treated with a measles-based therapy, along with preclinical data showing complete tumor regressions, long-term survival, and systemic immune activation across multiple aggressive tumor models. MVdeltaC has also demonstrated strong potential in combination with checkpoint inhibitors, further expanding its therapeutic relevance.

Oncovita is advancing MVdeltaC with an initial focus on pleural mesothelioma, supported by FDA & EMA Orphan Drug Designation and a clear regulatory pathway. From there, the company plans to expand into triple-negative breast cancer and additional solid tumors, using a stepwise strategy that builds early clinical validation before scaling into larger markets. This stepwise approach allows the company to generate early clinical proof-of-concept in a high-need population before expanding into broader oncology indications. With approximately 9,000 eligible patients annually across the U.S., Europe, and Japan in its initial indications and a significantly larger addressable market across solid tumors, the long-term opportunity is substantial.

Oncovita’s progress is supported by a multidisciplinary team with expertise spanning virology, immunotherapy, and clinical oncology. The company collaborates with leading institutions and key opinion leaders, including experts from Institut Gustave Roussy and MD Anderson Cancer Center, reinforcing the scientific and clinical foundation of its program.

As immunotherapy continues to evolve, enabling the immune system to recognize cancer may be just as important as enhancing its response. Oncovita’s measles-based virotherapy represents a compelling approach to solving this challenge, offering the potential to expand immunotherapy to patients who currently have limited treatment options.

Learn More & Connect

To learn more about Oncovita, visit: https://www.oncovita.fr/

To connect directly with CEO Stephane Altaba, reach out here: stephane.altaba@oncovita.fr

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Allosteric Bioscience: Advancing a First-in-Class Approach to Combat Muscle Degeneration 

28 Apr

By Max Braht, VP of Business Development, LSN

Max-Braht-Headshot

As the global population ages, sarcopenia and age-related muscle loss are emerging as major unmet medical challenges, impacting quality of life, independence, and long-term health outcomes for millions worldwide. With approximately 20% of the global population of 8.2 billion people over age 60, demand for therapies that preserve muscle mass and function is expected to rise significantly.

At the same time, the broader anti-aging market is projected to grow from $73 billion in 2024 to $140 billion by 2034, while the anti-obesity therapeutics market is expected to expand from $16 billion in 2024 to $105 billion by 2030, underscoring the growing commercial relevance of solutions targeting muscle preservation.

Allosteric Bioscience is positioning itself at the forefront of this space with a novel therapeutic strategy designed to preserve muscle mass and function.

Originating from groundbreaking research licensed from Johns Hopkins University, Allosteric Bioscience is developing a small molecule inhibitor of glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII), an enzyme increasingly recognized as a key metabolic regulator in muscle degeneration. By targeting GCPII, the company aims to create a disease-modifying therapy capable of addressing sarcopenia at its biological source rather than simply managing symptoms.

Preclinical studies have demonstrated promising results, including preservation of muscle function, inhibition of muscle wasting, and approximately 20% improvement in survival in relevant disease models. These findings suggest potential applications not only for age-related sarcopenia but also for broader muscle-wasting conditions associated with obesity therapies, chronic disease, and other degenerative disorders.

Allosteric Bioscience’s lead candidates are currently progressing toward IND-enabling studies and advancement into first-in-human clinical development. The company’s broader platform also reflects an ambitious strategy focused on optimizing both lifespan and health-span through innovative aging-related therapeutics.

With leadership from Executive Chairman & Co-Founder, Bruce Meyers, and President & Co-Founder, Dr. Arthur Bollon, Allosteric Bioscience represents a compelling opportunity for investors, strategic partners, and stakeholders interested in next-generation therapeutics targeting one of healthcare’s most pressing aging-related challenges.

As longevity science and preventative therapeutics continue to attract growing investor attention, Allosteric Bioscience is working to redefine how the life sciences industry approaches muscle degeneration and healthy aging.

Learn More & Connect

To learn more about Allosteric Bioscience, visit: allostericbioscience.com

To connect directly with Executive Chairman & Co-Founder Bruce Meyers and President & Co-Founder Dr. Arthur Bollon, schedule a meeting here:

Schedule a Meeting with Allosteric Bioscience

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,