The IZB (Innovations- und Gründerzentrum Biotechnologie) is a biotechnology innovation and startup center.

The IZB, founded in 1995, is the operating company for the Innovation- and Start-up Centers for Biotechnology located in Planegg-Martinsried and Freising-Weihenstephan, and has developed into one of the top ten biotechnology centers in the world. Currently, in an area totaling 26,000 m2, about 50 biotech companies with nearly 600 employees are located. An essential criterion for the success of the IZB is its close proximity to outstanding research at the Ludwig-Maximilian-University (LMU) and renowned biotechnology research establishments on the Campus Martinsried, such as the Max-Planck-Institutes fur Biochemistry and Neurobiology and the 10 faculties of the Ludwig Maximilian Univerity, the Clinic Großhadern and the Helmholtz Zentrum.

Magnet for biotech start-ups 
Since 1995, the Planegg-Martinsried location, now covering 23,000 m2, has accommodated Start-ups focusing on medical biotechnology. Since 2002, the IZB in Freising-Weihenstephan with 3,000 m2 of space offers optimal conditions for establishing companies in the sector of life sciences. Here, young entrepreneurs and company founders come upon an optimal infrastructure for transforming their products or services into business propositions, within a competence cluster for life sciences that is one of the best property management, close contact to the venture capital scene, as well as joint location marketing are also factors for our success, as is the flexibility to adapt space requirements to the development of our startups. 

The Biotech Press Lounge, the IZBrunch and the Munich Life Science Pitch Day are regulary networking events at the IZB. 



IZB - Innovation and Start-up Center Biotechnology

4:1 is not a football score ⚽

but the #investor / #startup ratio at Life Science Pitch Day
 
What an incredible day at IZB - Innovation and Start-up Center Biotechnology! 🌟
On 16 July, Life Science Pitch Day - organised together with HTGF | High-Tech Gründerfonds, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, Leaps by Bayer and MEDICE - The Health Family - once again brought together founders from drug development and drug delivery, investors in the life science and healthcare sector, as well as representatives of the industry.
10 startups presented their ideas to more than 40 investors and industry experts. This ratio shows the great interest of investors in biotech solutions.
 
💡Akribion Genomics Therapeutics presented their new modality of guided cancer-cell killing, targeting cancer-specific RNA biomarker expression using easily programmable cytotoxic nucleases with high specificity for wide range of RNA targets.
💡Citrapeutics, first on target, first in class ACOD1 inhibitors to boost anti tumor immunity and inhibit cancer cell proliferation for: Triple negative breast cancer, non ICI responsive melanoma, Head and neck and Colon cancer. 
💡immuneAdvice visualizes immune cells to guide immunotherapy.
💡 InCephalo Therapeutics is developing next-generation brain cancer therapies.
💡Kupando GmbH makes us of the oldest mechanism of defense: TLRs operate to detect signature molecules that herald infection and cancer by activating the innate immune system.
💡PreVacta is an integrated vaccine and therapeutics company, combining unique expertise in synthetic (glyco-)chemistry, immunology and clinical infectious diseases
💡Teneura is on a mission to cure neurological autoimmune diseases using engineered T-cell therapies.
💡TQ Therapeutics GmbH is developing a novel manufacturing platform for cell therapeutics, that will enable the production of cellular drugs with an integrated, highly automated extracorporeal gene therapy approach.
💡TECregen AG: This Immuno-Rejuvenation start-up has the vision to develop transformative, next generation, synthetic ligands to regenerate the thymus.
💡 QUASAR Therapeutics develops innovative regulators of the complement system to address rare but life threatening diseases and to solve the problems of current inhibitors in the clinic.
 
In addition to the startups' ideas, the announcement of CatalYm GmbH's $150 million funding round was a hot topic. 
This brings the total funding for #IZB-based companies in 2024 to €534 million, surpassing the €533 million invested in German biotech companies in 2023. 💶🚀
 
Big thanks to our impulse speakers Philipp Mueller (Boehringer Ingelheim), Ingo Kloeckner (Leaps by Bayer) and Daniel Vitt (Immunic Therapeutics
And Kudos to Laura Pedroza, Jörn Thesen and Leonard Trappe and the HTGF team for bringing all the attendees together . Also thank you to Karin Hofelich and Mathias Renz for joining us! 🙏👏

#LifeScience #Biotech #Startups #PitchDay #IZB #HTGF #Innovation #VentureCapital

💲Fantastic News: CatalYm Secures $150 Million Series D Funding💲 
 
CatalYm GmbH reached a significant milestone with the closure of a $150 million Series D financing round. The IZB - Innovation and Start-up Center Biotechnology-based immuno-oncology company is focused on GDF-15 neutralising therapies. 

The round was led by new investors, Canaan and Bioqube Ventures, and joined by Forbion’s Growth Opportunities Fund (“Forbion Growth”), Omega Funds and Gilde Healthcare, as well as existing investors JEITO, Brandon Capital, Novartis Venture Fund and Vesalius Biocapital III. The proceeds will fund the expansion of visugromab into randomized Phase 2b studies for select frontline and second-line treatments, following its outstanding antitumor activity with checkpoint inhibitors.🧬

Visugromab is a humanised monoclonal antibody engineered to neutralise the tumorproduced Growth Differentiation Factor-15 (GDF-15), which acts as a key regulator of immune resistance to cancer therapies.

In conjunction with the close of the financing CatalYm Board of Directors welcomes new members Colleen Feriod Cuffaro (Canaan), Jon Edwards (Bioqube Ventures), Otello Stampacchia (Omega Funds), and Stefan Luzi, PhD (Gilde Healthcare), each bringing invaluable expertise to guide CatalYm's strategic growth. Jon Edwards expressed confidence in their approach, stating, "[…] We believe this strategy has the potential to significantly enhance treatment efficacy, driving the future of immuno-oncology."

👏 Congratulations to Phil L'Huillier, CatalYm and their dedicated team for reaching this groundbreaking milestone! 

We are extremely proud of the work of all our start-ups. The numbers reflect the potential of the companies at our sites in Martinsried and Weihenstephan: More than 90% of biotech funding in Germany in 2024 is allocated to IZB tenants. 💹 

Want to know the details? Read on here: https://lnkd.in/dvmTbHfu

#IZB #campusmartinsried #Biotech #SeriesDFinancing #ImmunoOncology

We are looking forward to welcoming the Merck tour bus to the IZB site!

Looking forward to a lively discussion. See you at the Munich Startup Festival!

💰Multi-Million Milestone for SciRhom!💰

What a great success! SciRhom, an IZB - Innovation and Start-up Center Biotechnology-based biopharmaceutical company pioneering the development of first-in-class therapeutic antibodies, announced today the closing of a EUR 63 million Series A financing round!🎉
The round was co-led by Andera Partners, Kurma Partners, Hadean Ventures, MIG Capital, and Wellington Partners, with participation from new investor Bayern Kapital and existing investors including HTGF | High-Tech Gründerfonds and PhiFund Ventures from New York, USA. 

This significant milestone will allow SciRhom to accelerate and broaden the impact of their innovative therapeutic strategy in autoimmune disorders. The first clinical study evaluating SR-878, a highly specific monoclonal antibody for iRhom2, is expected to start dosing in the second half of 2024. 

The IZB presents itself as a fruitful place, not only for start-ups but also for investors. In addition to SciRhom, IZB-based start-ups Insempra, Eisbach Bio GmbH, and Tubulis GmbH received millions in investments this year.
We congratulate Jens Ruhe, Jan Poth, Matthias Schneider and the entire SciRhom Team on this remarkable achievement and can’t wait to see what the future holds. 🚀

👉 Want to know all the details? Read the full article in the IZB Biotech News: https://lnkd.in/gPU8_aCq

#Biotechnology #AutoimmuneDisorders #IZB #campusmartinsried

Image source: SciRhom

🌟 A New Home for Young Biotech Startups 🌟

Nice weather, great vibes, and exciting news! Yesterday, we celebrated the grand opening of the "Munich Accelerator Life Sciences & Medicine" (MAxL) with BioM Biotech Cluster Development GmbH and State Secretary Tobias Gotthardt. We are elated to have the MAxL on the IZB - Innovation and Start-up Center Biotechnology campus. Funded with €8.5 million from the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, this incubator supports pre-seed and early-stage startups in life sciences and healthtech, filling a crucial gap in the ecosystem and allowing them to enter the network. 

On top of excellently equipped laboratories and offices, startups can also benefit from professional coaching and mentoring, paving the way for a prosperous future. 🚀

We're ecstatic about this development and can't wait to see our community grow and thrive! A big thanks to Ralf Huss and the amazing BioM team and to the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs for making this possible!

#Biotech #campusmartinsried #Startups #LifeSciences #IZB

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