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Contact /Tim Franken Datum /

In Rotterdam, Leiden en Delft almost 60 representatives took part in an intensive programme with the ambition to learn, connect and cooperate. Their meetings covered innovations in medtech healthcare, biomedical engineering, automated transport and sustainable mobility. 

Life Sciences & Health programme 

Rotterdam 

At the Life Sciences & Health hub in the Rotterdam Science Tower, the delegation was introduced to the West Holland Life Sciences and Health cluster and discovered why more and more (international) medtech companies choose Rotterdam as their European base.  

How companies and governments work together on the medicine of the future within the Medical Delta scientific programmes, was explained by Prof. Dr. Ir. Ton van der Steen, head of Biomedical Engineering at institutes Medical Center and chairman of Medical Delta.  Medical Delta is a network of life sciences, health and technology organizations driven by the cooperation between Leiden University, Erasmus University, Technical University of Delft, Erasmus Medical Center and Leiden University Medical Center.  

From a regional perspective the topic moved into healthcare innovations happening in and around the Erasmus Medical Center. Nathalie Popken from the Erasmus MC Technology Transfer Office gave examples of different healthcare innovations that often emerge from the working floor of the hospital. One example is the robotic bedwash-central that reduces the amount of water needed to clean a hospital bed from 30 to 6 liters and greatly reduces the amount of chemicals.  

3 Rotterdam companies presented their innovations to the delegation;  

  • Rotterdam Science Tower residents Omnigen, a bioinformatics company doing biomarker discovery and DNA testing for business and consumers;  
  • SurGuide , a medical device company aiming at improving cancer care by supporting oncologic surgeons in their strife for complete tumor removal.  
  • Australian medtech productdesign company IDE recently started their European office in Rotterdam and explained how they develop new healthcare innovations and start-ups together to build better futures for patients.  

Delft 

In Delft, the group visited the world-renowned business incubator YES!Delft, where they met with representatives from Delft University of Technology, YES!Delft and several companies. During a lunch-and-learn session they learned about the TU Delft Health Initiative, RoboValley, and the work performed by the Biomechanical Engineering group of the faculty 3ME. Lastly, the group had a tour in the incubator itself, and learned about how the Delft School of Incubation is brought into practice.  

Leiden 

After the tour in Rotterdam and Delft the Four Motors delegation visited the Leiden Bio Science Park. Pieter Reitsma, Founder of VarmX, and Niall Hodgins, CEO of SeraNovo, presented their exciting startup companies. The delegation toured the Biopartner flexible office and lab facilities and  the day ended with networking drinks before heading to the airport.    

Mobility programme 

The Mobility delegation started in the morning at CIC in Rotterdam. Quirijn Oudshoorn (Municipality of Rotterdam) informed the delegation about the status and future plans of the city of Rotterdam with regard to electric mobility. The city is not only looking for more, but also better and smarter solutions and is setting up pilots to test new solutions such as wireless charging and plaza’s with multiple chargepoints. In order to work with startups that have good solutions improve mobility in the city, Rotterdam has set up the Rotterdam Mobility Lab. This platform provides startups with a good solution for urban mobilty a chance to test. Niki Sie of Juuve, one of the alumni of the program informed the delegation of the shared mobility solution the company provides. Their solution provides easy access to users for make use of a car without owning one, thereby also reducing the amount of vehicles in a city.    

Next stop: the Park Shuttle at Rivium Business park. Here they have been making use of autonomous shuttles for public transport for 20 years. This was the first, and until now, the only place to do this in the world. The project is aiming to expand the area it covers and the plans for expansion were shared with the delegation. A rare view into the control room was also provided in order give the delegation a complete insight into the operation of the shuttle.    

 

Lunch was enjoyed at Connekt in Delft. Tom van Dam of this network organization for smart and sustainable mobility gave an explanation on their work. With their extensive member base, Connekt is able to provide valuable contacts in the Dutch market for the Four Motors delegation. As Connekt also works at providing the Dutch mobility sector a platform in other markets via the Smart Mobility Embassy (SME), Jose Oudijk of Connekt explained the role of SME. After lunch the delegation moved to the Green Village at the TU Delft. At the Green Village the Researchlab Autonomous Driving Delft (RADD) performs research, but is also able to provide a testing area for autonomous transport. Rissan Slaghek explained what the focus is of RADD and the research topics they are working on. As the region is keen to implement these solutions, Britt Doornekamp of MRDH (Metropolitan Region Rotterdam The Hague) explained how the regional authorities are backing these initiatives through policy and with financial means.  

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Contact /Gerty Holla Datum /

BioGeneration Ventures Fund III reaches EUR 82 million in final close

New investors include biopharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb, healthcare company Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. (JJDC) as well as private equity investor Schroder Adveq, and the MAN Pension Trust.

BGV III is now one of the largest funds focused on seed investments in European biotechnology companies.

The new fund will build on the track record of the first two BGV funds which have yielded major successes. These include Dezima Pharma sold to Amgen for USD 1.5 billion and Acerta Pharma which at USD 7 billion was the largest private exit in Europe in the biotech sector to date. BGV was founding investor in both companies, which are typical examples of the biotech sector’s ability to generate so-called “unicorns” delivering outsized returns for investors.

The firm’s third fund will focus on therapeutics, medical devices and diagnostics, within Europe, in particular in the Benelux and Germany. Five investments have already been made from the fund into German immuno-oncology company Catalym, and Dutch companies Escalier Biosciences, Scenic Biotech, VarmX, and Mellon Medical working on autoimmune diseases, target discovery, haematology, and vascular suturing respectively.

Edward van Wezel, BGV’s Managing Partner said: “Over the last years, BGV has proven that investing in early stage companies is critical in developing innovative science to meet patients’ needs; it can be financially very attractive as well. We believe that support and close collaboration from Bristol-Myers Squibb and JJDC illustrate the increasing interest in early stage innovation. This also demonstrates the unique position that BGV has reached in this arena.”

Paul Biondi, Senior Vice President, Head of Business Development Bristol-Myers Squibb commented: “Bristol-Myers Squibb recognises the potential of early stage innovations emerging from leading scientific groups in the European biotech scene. We are committed to working with VC investors such as BGV who can identify the investment opportunities with the most potential to deliver transformational medicines.”

BGV operates as a joint venture with Forbion Capital Partners, providing access to the later stage perspective on early innovation and a global network of experts and pharma companies. The BGV team has broad experience in investment, life sciences, business development, and commercial operations. The team includes experienced biotech entrepreneurs as venture partners and advisors.

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Contact /Rene Brama Datum /

Slangengif leidt bij toeval tot middel om te dun bloed te laten stollen-980x450

To avoid spontaneous stroke or deep vein thrombosis, currently millions of cardiac patients worldwide daily take synthetic factor Xa anticoagulants, such as apixaban, edoxaban or rivaroxaban.  But there is one major disadvantage. As yet there is no agent to stop the effect of these anticoagulants. This is a significant unmet medical need for the many patients experiencing severe (internal) bleeding or requiring emergency surgery. Today, when a patient requires emergency surgery, doctors have to wait for the medication to clear, because patients may otherwise suffer from severe bleeding. Due to the increasing use of factor Xa inhibitors for anti-coagulation, global demand for a compound such as PseudoXa is growing rapidly.

Snake venom

R&D was performed by one of the world’s leading groups in hemostasis and thrombosis at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), led by professor Pieter Reitsma. For the research group a snake venom protein of the most venomous snake in the world, the Australian brown snake, was their source of inspiration. The responsible protein in the snake venom causes blood to clot, but differs from that of a human being. The researchers subsequently identified the part of the snake’s coagulation protein that was different and applied this to the human version.

Pieter Reitsma, Professor emeritus of Molecular and Experimental Medicine at LUMC and CSO of VarmX explains: “The altered human protein did exactly what it had to do: in the laboratory our researchers observed that the protein did cause the blood to coagulate, but did not react to the blood thinners. In this way the effect of blood thinners is bypassed. This is ideal when a patient who takes blood thinners requires emergency surgery.”
“Innovative research into the properties of this snake’s venom provided the scientific basis for the factor Xa reversal agent. This is exemplary of the translation of basic research into a potential life-saving therapy. ”

VarmX

VarmX has exclusively in-licensed the rights to the compound from the LUMC and will continue to collaborate with the LUMC. In June 2017 VarmX raised capital and initiated the product development of PseudoXa, with the aim to bring this innovative therapy to the market after extensive clinical testing.

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Contact /Sasja Heijman Datum /

VarmX onvangt seed capital investering voor de ontwikkeling van gemodificeerd bloedstollingsfactor X-002-848x386

To avoid spontaneous stroke or vein thrombosis, currently millions of patients in the US routinely take factor Xa inhibitors, also called direct oral anti-coagulants (DOACs), such as apixaban, edoxaban or rivaroxaban.  There is a significant unmet medical need, as no effective treatment is available for patients experiencing severe (internal) bleeding or requiring emergency surgery.  Due to the increasing use of factor Xa inhibitors for anti-coagulation, the global market for this compound is growing rapidly.

Investors

With their investments, BGV and InnovationQuarter enable the company to speed up the development of the compound, particularly setting up the manufacturing process. Previously VarmX received a pre-seed investment from Leiden University and UNIIQ, the early-stage proof-of-concept investment fund for the Province of Zuid-Holland.

Pieter Reitsma, Professor emeritus of Molecular and Experimental Medicine at LUMC and CSO of VarmX explains: “Innovative research into the properties of a snake venom provided the scientific basis for the factor Xa reversal agent. This is exemplary of the translation of basic research into a potential life-saving therapy.”

This is exemplary of the translation of basic research into a potential life-saving therapy

VarmX onvangt seed capital investering voor de ontwikkeling van gemodificeerd bloedstollingsfactor X-001848x386

Francis Quint, Head InnovationQuarter Capital, states: “We are very pleased to invest in a LUMC spin off taking a promising research program conducted in Leiden onto the global stage of pharmaceutical development.”

“We believe the product is based on very elegant science in an area of significant and growing unmet need: unstoppable bleeding in an increasing patient population.  It fits very well with our funds’ focus on truly innovative products that have the potential to positively impact patient care” comments Oskar Slotboom, partner at BGV and chairman of VarmX.