These are the Venture Challenge Fall 2024 teams!
Six teams have started the Venture Challenge Fall 2024! Between These starting life sciences entrepreneurs will learn everything about building and pitching a business plan. By participating in the Venture Challenge, the teams will get a huge boost to take their idea to the next level. Not only will they receive one-on-one coaching, but they will also get the chance to pitch to investors and get in touch with seasoned entrepreneurs. The 6 teams will be announced one by one on this page. So stay tuned!
Kingfisher: Taking the guess work out of coronary stent placement
From left to right: Hugo Stegman, Jeroen Wilschut, Willem Mees van der Bijl, Wilfred Teunissen
Coronary artery disease is widespread. Since Andreas Grüntzig introduced percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) in 1977, the number of PCI procedures and technological advancements has grown rapidly. While PCI to treat blockages near the coronary artery's origin is a routine part of clinical practice, it remains technically challenging. To address this, Erasmus MC has developed a stand-alone device that ensures precise stent placement at the coronary ostium. This innovation reduces the need for additional stents, lowers the risk of complications for patients, and decreases healthcare costs and system burdens.
SupraVision: regenerative therapy for blinding retinal diseases
From left to right: Celine Koster, Steven van Huiben, Anna El-Kalaani, Ambre Lemaistre
SupraVision aims to commercialize a regenerative therapy for blinding retinal diseases, with the first focus on age-related macula degeneration (AMD). With almost 200 million patients, AMD is the most prevalent and the major cause of vision loss after the age of 50 years. There is currently no cure for AMD, just patient-unfriendly symptomatic therapies and treatments aimed at delaying disease progression. According to recent surveys, AMD patients experience a loss of quality of life comparable to patients with certain types of cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
SupraVision is developing a retinal implant that will replace the damaged tissue and restore visual function by promoting the intrinsic regenerative properties of the eye. By applying a semi-personalized approach using immunotyped cell lines and a biobanking concept, SupraVision provides a unique and standardized medical solution for a large number of AMD patients to regain vision and re-claim their independent lifestyles.
RADIGENE: Reporter gene technology for radionuclide imaging of gene and cell therapies
From left to right: Felipe, Cas, Laura, Syjar
Radigene delivers an imaging solution for monitoring cell and gene therapies from preclinical phase to early developmental phase in patients, so that effective monitoring of cells reaching the target and eventual early toxicities can be tracked. There are not many specific imaging platforms available while the need is high, given the rapid expansion of the number of these therapies entering clinical phase and their potential side effects. It is estimated that 9 out of 10 patients develop side effects and identification of early risks is crucial for rapid response.
Radigene is qualified to solve this unmet need because its proprietary technology allows to tag and track cells and vectors using radionuclide imaging, which is a sensitive imaging technique used in the clinic for cancer patients. The team of Radigene has experience in business creation and the scientific and technological know-how for the development of biotechnological products. Since the technology has been validated in proof-of-concept experimental models, Radigene team would like to define its business model and develop a range of products that can reach the market.
Novya Biotech: Super-Mendelian Microfactories
From left to right: Agata, Carina
Our platform aims to revolutionize the bioproduction industry by enabling the development of enhanced yeast-based microfactories through advanced CRISPR-Cas technology. Precision fermentation offers numerous benefits over conventional production methods, yet one of the primary bottlenecks is strain engineering, which is both time-consuming and costly, needed to create industrial viable yeast strains. Our platform addresses this challenge by enabling the rapid stacking of genetic modifications, significantly accelerating the development process. This exponential increase in speed and efficiency drastically reduces the cost and time required to create industrially viable yeast strains.
Stay tuned as the next team will be introduced here soon!