mk2 Biotechnolgies new start-up at the Innovation and Start-up Center Biotechnology (IZB) in Martinsried, near Munich, Germany

In July 2021, the biotech company already received a million-dollar seed financing

Martinsried near Munich, 07 October 2021 – At the end of September 2021, the biotech start-up mk2 Biotechnologies moved into the Munich Biotechnology Innovation and Start-up Center in Martinsried near Munich. The goal of mk2 Biotechnologies is to apply its unique platform approach for the synthesis and purification of authentic peptides on a large scale, which can be broadly applied in various market segments. The move of mk2 Biotechnologies into the Innovation and Start-up Center for Biotechnology in Martinsried (IZB), just outside Munich, will enable targeted growth of the team, operations and business. “We are very excited about our new premises and the companies located there, which are mainly active in the pharmaceutical industry. We expect to take advantage of the relevant synergies and accelerate not only our industrially applicable product candidates, but especially our peptide-based compounds already in the development pipeline,” added Dr. Sebastian Mangold. “To welcome such an innovative biotech company to IZB is a real asset and we look forward to further developments,” says Dr. Peter Hanns Zobel, Managing Director IZB.

“With our synthesis technology, we can exceed both quality requirements and cost expectations. The key to our process is that we have been able to eliminate the existing bottlenecks of established technologies,” explains Dr. Sebastian Mangold, CEO and one of the three co-founders of mk2 Biotechnologies. Back in July 2021, the start-up announced the receipt of multi-million Euro seed funding to accelerate the company’s further growth. In particular, the company aims to achieve further development milestones to industrialize its novel peptide production platform. The financing round was led by OCCIDENT, with significant funding also provided by primeCROWD and SeedBlink, as well as high net worth individuals.

“The funding committed by this experienced syndicate represents a further validation of our technology and reflects the recent development of the bioactives market. The funding will enable us to continuously improve our platform and ramp up our production in order to move our first product candidates towards the application in volume markets such as cosmetics, food & beverages, agriculture and pharmaceuticals,” so Mangold. Cédric Barra, Senior Investment Manager at OCCIDENT, commented: “We see a lot of potential in the application of high-quality peptides. With the technology platform and the know-how that the team at mk2 brings along, the company is in an excellent position for further development. We are very much looking forward to working with this motivated team in the future.”

Ronald Rapberger, Chief Investment Officer of primeCROWD, added: “Being a molecular biologist myself, I’m confident in the ability of this outstanding team to bring the technology from the lab to the mass markets. This will finally make peptides available for currently underserved application areas and at competitive prices.” Peptides, which are short amino acid chains, can have extraordinary properties and modes of action. This substance class has been identified to be very promising for highly attractive applications in the areas of personal care, food & beverages (e.g., flavors, nutrition and conservation), animal breeding (e.g., antibiotics substitutes) and crop cultivation (e.g., fungicide and fertilizer substitutes). However, established production methods are very costly and not scalable. Due to the enormously high prices, despite their often outstanding properties and the broad interest of the industry, peptides have so far not been applicable in products on the mass market. mk2 Biotechnologies precisely addresses this challenge via a proprietary process that allows the scalable and thus cost-efficient production of high-purity peptides for a wide range of applications. Therefore, mk2 Biotechnologies provides the yet missing tool for the application of peptides in mass markets.

mk2 Management

Co-Founders & Managing Directors mk2 Biotechnologies
Dr. Marco Giuman
Dr. Sebastian Mangold
Dr. Konstantinos Antonopoulos
(f.l.t.r)

About Innovation and Start-up Center for Biotechnology (IZB) in Martinsried near Munich
The Fördergesellschaft IZB mbH, founded in 1995, is the operating company of the Innovation and Start-up Centers for Biotechnology in Planegg-Martinsried and Freising-Weihenstephan, and has developed into a leading biotechnology center. More than 50 biotech companies with over 700 employees are currently located on 26,000 m2 of land. Here, work focuses on the development of drugs against the most serious diseases, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s and various autoimmune diseases. A key criterion for the success of the IZBs is their close proximity to top-level research at both the Martinsried/Grosshadern campus and the Weihenstephan campus. The new infrastructure measures such as the Faculty Club G2B (Gateway to Biotech), the IZB Residence CAMPUS AT HOME, the Elhardt Chemistry College, the two kindergartens Bio Kids and Bio Kids2, as well as the two restaurants SEVEN AND MORE and Café Freshmaker are also location factors that are highly appreciated by the company founders. Successful companies that have emerged from the IZB include Medigene AG, MorphoSys AG, Micromet GmbH (today Amgen AG), Octopharma GmbH, Corimmun (today Janssen-Cilag), Rigontec GmbH (today MSD), ibidi GmbH, Coriolis GmbH and Immunic Therapeutics. More information at www.izb-online.de

Press contact and image requests:
Susanne Simon, Head of Public Relations
Fördergesellschaft IZB mbH, Am Klopferspitz 19, D-82152 Planegg Martinsried
Phone: +49 (0)89/55 279 48-17,
E-mail: ed.enilno-bzi@nomis: Website: www.izb-online.de

About mk2 Biotechnologies
mk2 Biotechnologies GmbH develops, produces and investigates peptides at highest purity and quality standards using a revolutionary scalable synthesis technology. This way mk2 Biotechnologies enables the production of authentic peptides, regardless of their physical or chemical properties, at large scales and low cost. The pre-seed activities were financed with grants by the Zeidler-Forschungs-Stiftung and the funding programs “FLÜGGE” and “EXIST-Forschungstransfer”. Several early-stage start-up awards including the Science4Life Venture Cup and the TUM IdeAward had recognized the unique approach and its high potential.

Press Contact:
mk2 Biotechnologies GmbH
Dr. Konstantinos Antonopoulos
Am Klopferspitz 19
82152 Planegg-Martinsried
E: oib.2km@soluoponotnA.sonitnatsnoK
W: www.mk2.bio