Healthcare industry

The Freiburg-based startup SpinDiag GmbH recently closed a 1.6 Mio. EUR seed-round with three private investors. The team developed a revolutionary point-of-care screening system for testing patients for antibiotic-resistant bacteria at their admission to hospitals and almost instantly so. The seed-capital will make it feasible to bring SpinDiag’s system from its current laboratory environment to first tests in hospitals.

High-Tech Gründerfonds is investing EUR 600,000 in Reutlingen-based SIGNATOPE GmbH. SIGNATOPE will use the funds to advance the development of its unique biomarker assay system, that has been established to support pharmaceutical research. The technology is based on special antibodies and allows the early detection of possible side effects during the drug development process. Thereby, the need for animal testing will be reduced while the drug…

TolerogenixX GmbH has developed a patented and clinically tested cell therapy technique for individualised immunosuppression in transplant patients. The technique enables the targeted disabling of undesired reactions caused by the immune system’s defences. As a seed stage investor, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) will finance this innovative technique and the preparations for Phase II of the clinical trial, which begins in spring 2018. Further…

Article - 18/05/2017

ImmuStick – novel rapid test for identifying disease pathogens

In some situations such as in the food and pharmaceutical industries or hospitals, a test to identify disease pathogens can be vital. At present, such tests are relatively time-consuming and can take hours or even days to produce results, depending on the pathogen. Scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart are currently developing a rapid test called ImmuStick which is as easy to use…

Personalised Medicine - 04/05/2017

Big data make therapy work better

An international team of researchers has shown for acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) that cancer therapy can be personalised using big data. The authors of the study “believe this paper is a step towards validation of genetic techniques as a route to personalised medicine”.

The next generation of Antiviral Therapies: Led by Stichting Participatie Atriva together with High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Atriva Therapeutics GmbH has received seed financing from Dutch and German private investors to advance Atriva’s antiviral MEK-Inhibitors (Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase inhibitor) against Influenza into the clinical development stage.

Phenex Pharmaceuticals AG (Phenex) today announced that the company has received a 100 M USD milestone payment from Gilead Sciences, Inc. of Foster City, CA, U.S.A., for its program with GS-9674 targeting nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

HepaRegeniX GmbH, a new Biotech company developing innovative treatments for liver diseases, announced today the completion of a €9 million Series A financing. The round was led by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund GmbH (BIVF) and Novo Seeds, and complemented by the High-Tech Gruenderfonds and coparion.

Acousia Therapeutics GmbH announced today the closing of a new investment round of EUR 2.5 million to finance research programs directed at the development of small molecules to treat sensorineural hearing loss and protecting sensory hair cells of the inner ear to prevent hearing loss in at-risk patients.

Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen – 14 December 2016: amcure, a biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class cancer therapeutics, today announced the closing of a Series B financing round amounting to a total of EUR 6 million.

Company profile - 14/07/2016

neuroloop GmbH: how the manipulation of neuronal information can lower blood pressure

Millions of people worldwide suffer from high blood pressure. However, taking medicines to control high blood pressure does not work for everyone. Dr. Dennis Plachta and Prof. Dr. Thomas Stieglitz from IMTEK have now developed a neurostimulator to control blood pressure. Together with Dr. Michael Lauk, an experienced company founder, the two researchers set up a company called neuroloop, which is funded by Aesculap AG and aims to turn the…

CorTec just closed a new investment that will support bringing new personalized therapies for neurological diseases to patients. With Mangold Invest a new investor could be attracted who wants to go along that way with the young medical engineering company located in Freiburg. Equally convinced of the success of this project are the previous investors who are participating in this round of financing.

Phenex Pharmaceuticals AG (Phenex) today announced the achievement of a milestone in the collaboration with Janssen Biotech, Inc. (Janssen), which triggers a 6 M US$ payment by Janssen. In late 2012, Phenex and Janssen entered into a research collaboration on RORgt with a view to develop new therapeutic approaches for chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

Press release - 09/12/2015

New financing conditions from High-Tech Gründerfonds

High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) is raising its seed investment to €600k and lowering interest rates by 4%. This is in response to changing requirements in the start-up and venture capital scene, as well as current interest rate trends. The package of measures will be effective from January 1, 2016.

Press release - 03/11/2015

CureVac raises $110 Million in a private placement

CureVac, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering the field of mRNA-based technology, today announces that it has raised about $110 million (€100 million) to enable accelerated expansion of its industry-leading messenger RNA (mRNA) development platform and clinical-stage pipeline. CureVac also announces the change of its corporate legal form to a joint stock company, Aktiengesellschaft (AG).

Pharmaceutical research and life sciences profit from unique biosensor technology - 18/09/2015

Biametrics GmbH concludes financing round with 3.1 Million Euro

Biametrics GmbH today announced the completion of their most recent financing round with €3.1 Million. Partners of the A Series Investment were LBBW Venture GmbH, MBG Mittelständische Beteiligungsgesellschaft BW, and KfW Bankengruppe. Together with seed investors HTGF and Seedfonds BW, they are aiming to accelerate the expansion of Biametrics’ bioanalytical business activities to an international level. The fresh capital will facilitate the…

Venneos GmbH is based in Stuttgart and develops a novel imaging system for the analysis of biological cells. A consortium of business angels and family offices, along with the High-Tech Gründerfonds and Max Planck Society invest in the company to develop a market-ready product and prepare the market entry of the first product generation.

Press release - 29/04/2015

cytena received EUR 1.1 million of seed capital from HTGF and a private investor

cytena GmbH, headquartered in Freiburg, has developed a device called cy-Clone to separate single cells. A consortium made up of a private investor and High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), will provide EUR 1.1 million of seed capital. cytena GmbH will use this capital injection primarily to launch its product and to expand its marketing and distribution activities.

Baden-Württemberg is home to numerous technology parks and thus offers an excellent infrastructure and attractive high-tech locations for life sciences companies in close proximity to scientific excellence. Young companies and business start-ups particularly stand to benefit from the opportunities for cooperation with other companies and research institutions in the technology parks and also from the relatively cheap rents for office and…

Setting up an independent company is an excellent way to turn innovative life sciences solutions into successful new products and services. Baden-Württemberg is highly attractive for business startups. As one of the leading German states in the fields of healthcare and biotechnology, Baden-Württemberg has an attractive and stimulating environment for those seeking to set up their own company. Baden-Württemberg has a high density of innovative…

Baden-Württemberg is currently home to 184 biotechnology companies. In addition to dedicated biotechnology companies, this also includes bioinformatics, diagnostics and analytics companies that use modern biotechnology methods or focus on biotechnological production.

Article - 23/03/2015

Crowdfunding: a new source of money for the healthcare sector?

Crowdfunding has become a popular widely-talked-about financing tool that opens up new ways of acquiring money for projects that might not otherwise receive backing. The financing model is based on the simple idea of raising many small amounts of capital to finance a large project. In early 2015 a company called Riboxx secured the capital it needed through a campaign on the Seedmatch crowdfunding platform. The German company aescuvest GmbH…

Article - 12/01/2015

Bionic chemistry: developing tailor-made functional units for bacterial cells

Dr. Stefan Schiller from the Center for Biological Systems Analysis (ZBSA) at the University of Freiburg combines synthetic biology and synthetic chemistry concepts in order to equip bacterial cells with organelle-like compartments. He has countless biotechnological applications in mind. In 2014, Schiller received the research prize “Next Generation of Biotechnological Methods – Biotechnology 2020+”. The prize is awarded every two years and…