13. Biotech Press Lounge at Faculty Club G2B

Martinsried / Munich, February 20, 2020 – The Biotech Press Lounge has developed into an established network meeting for multipliers from the biotech, pharmaceutical and venture capital industry: On February 20, 2020, over 100 representatives of this industry met up again in the Faculty Club G2B (Gateway to Biotech) of the Innovation and Start-up Center for Biotechnology (IZB). Dr. Peter Hanns Zobel, Managing Director of the IZB, opened the event. “I am pleased to see that many companies already make specific arrangements at the Biotech Press Lounge to get to know each other and to explore co-operations,” said Zobel in his speech. The guests then heard three interesting keynote talks from SIRION Biotech, CSL Behring and the German Accelerator Life Sciences, before they were given the opportunity to network intensively. The event was moderated by Elisabeth Dostert, editor of the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

SIRION Biotech: The Munich biotech jewel is aiming for the stock exchange

Dr. Christian Thirion, CEO of the SIRION Biotech AG, presented the opportunities that arise in drug development through improved vector technology. With its vector technologies, the Martinsried-based start-up SIRION Biotech is one of about five specialists worldwide that support drug developers in their drive for the most innovative therapies. SIRION’s main focus is currently Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and ALS, a neurodegenerative disorder for which no therapy exists so far. “Our core competence is to develop and optimize vector technologies to enable more effective and financially reasonable treatments for millions of gene- and cell-therapy patients,” outlined Dr. Thirion in his talk at the Biotech Press Lounge. Through large-scale research collaborations with US-based Denali Therapeutics, Acucela in Seattle/Tokyo, as well as Orchard Therapeutics in the UK, SIRION will participate in a billion US Dollar market.

CSL Behring is one of the five largest biotech companies in the world

Dr. Lutz G. Bonacker, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Commercial Operations Europe at CSL Behring, spoke in his talk about innovations in biotherapeutics. With over 100 years of experience serving its patients, CSL Behring has evolved as an innovative biotechnology company across a variety of platforms, including plasma protein therapeutics, recombinants, and gene therapy. “By working together with patients, academia, medical communities as well as start-ups, the collaborative approach has helped to improve access to therapies, advance scientific knowledge, and foster future medical research,” explained Bonacker. This is supported by fully-engaged commercial operations, a large and focused R&D team, and operational excellence, which enables the company to accurately identify, successfully develop, and dependably deliver innovations that patients and providers need.

Tips and tricks from the German Accelerator for entering the US market

Marc Filerman, CEO of the German Accelerator Life Sciences, shared some common struggles and provided helpful insights for German healthcare start-ups looking to explore international expansion and get funding. He talked about his experience working with multiple German start-ups and described how German Accelerator can provide support with go-to-market planning, regulatory issues, reimbursement, partnerships, market and customer development, pricing, fundraising, entity formation and free office space.

The guests were thrilled by the interesting lectures and the relaxed atmosphere at the Hotspot for Life Science in Martinsried. Michael Anderson Burley, Director Business Development Europe of the Merck Group, had previously arranged meetings with four IZB start-ups at the Biotech Press Lounge. “I am impressed by the location, the start-ups and the opportunity to get into conversation so easily,” said Burley.