More than 100 guests from the biotech, pharmaceutical and venture capital industry met on May 16, 2018 at the 8th Biotech Press Lounge at the Faculty Club G2B (Gateway to Biotech), which has established itself as a network meeting for the Science Campus Martinsried. “I am very pleased that we were able to attract such high-caliber speakers to the Biotech Press Lounge, who not only come to the event at the IZB, but also regularly ­accompany us throughout the year”, said Dr. Peter Hanns Zobel, Managing Director of the IZB. Keynote speeches held Ph.D. Timothy Luker, Senior Director, Emerging Techno­logy & Innovation, Business Development at Eli Lilly; Prof. Dr. Patrick Baeuerle, Managing Director of MPM Capital and ­Stephen S. Yoder, CEO of Pieris Pharmaceuticals Inc. ­Jochen Niehaus, Chief Editor of FOCUS Health, presented the event eloquently.
As the first speaker, Ph.D. Timothy Luker reported on the development of high-­quality medicines and the necessary search for external innovations. “Since the founding of Eli Lilly and Co. in 1876, our mission has remained unchanged: we are developing quality medicines that improve life”, said Luker. “We know that we can not do it alone and need to be innovative in our scientific and colaborative relationships to develope medicines. We are passionate about breakthrough innovations in oncology, immunology, neurodegeneration, pain therapy as well as diabetes and complications, and have a range of exciting models available to bring the best science into our pipeline”, Luker continued.

The second speaker, Prof. Dr. Patrick Baeuerle, presented a new way to invest in anticancer drugs and explained the concept of Cullinan Oncology. Founded in 2017 together with Owen Hughes and Ansbert Gadicke, the company is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and currently has 10 employees. Investors include the UBS Oncology Impact Fund, which is managed by MPM Capital, and F2 Ventures. “Cullinan Oncology received a $150 million Series A investment, which will fund five to eight new companies developing new anticancer drugs under its cloak”, said Baeuerle.
Stephen Yoder, located at the IZB in Weihenstephan and Boston, discussed the Pieris Anticalin® drug discovery and development platform and the challenges and opportunities in building a sustainable innovative biotech company in Germany and beyond. “Pieris uses its unique technology to develop oncology and respiratory treatments”, said Yoder. “It will be exciting for Pieris in the second half of the year, as we intend to release data for three of our clinical programs”, Yoder explained at the end of his presentation.