Venture Leaders Biotech kick off their Boston roadshow at Swiss Biotech Day

The ten startups chosen to join the Swiss National Startup Team and participate in the Venture Leaders Biotech roadshow introduced themselves to the public at the Swiss Biotech Day in Basel on Monday. In June, the innovators will be heading to Boston, the US life-science hub, for an investor and business development roadshow.

The Swiss Biotech Day is a yearly exhibition and conference of the Swiss Biotech Association's members in Basel, Switzerland's life science hub. Every year, the event attracts entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers, and industry experts from all over the world.

With over a thousand life science experts, more than 70 exhibitors, and an international delegation present in the conference's Global Village, the congress fosters the global connectivity of biotech innovators and offers a space to explore trends in R&D, manufacturing, data management, AI, and fundraising opportunities.

On Monday, this year's Venture Leaders Biotech convened at the biotech congress to get to know each other and introduce themselves to an international audience; it was the perfect venue for the innovators, chosen to join the Swiss National Startup Team from over 60 applicants, to kick off the investor and business development roadshow, which will take them to Boston in June and will help accelerate the growth and international presence of their ventures. The selected startups are developing innovative therapeutic solutions for the treatment of health- and life-threatening issues, including metal poisoning, parasitic diseases, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegeneration, and cancer.

The biotech sector represents a significant pillar of the Swiss economy: According to the Swiss Biotech Association, 42% of Swiss exports came from the life science industry in 2021. The association's most recent report stated that 20% of European biotech companies are headquartered in Switzerland; the industry invested CHF 2.7 billion in R&D and recorded CHF 6.8 billion in revenue last year.

By establishing international connections between Swiss biotech innovators and the international startup ecosystem, the Venture Leaders Biotech program contributes to the enduring strength and vitality of the sector. Women notably make up the majority of the team, reflecting a positive trend in the biotech startup ecosystem and beyond.

In the morning, the Venture Leaders participated in a workshop with an expert from program partner VISCHER about onboarding strategic investors and designing employee stock ownership plans.

Later, the innovators took the stage in the Singapore Room to introduce their startups. The audience was asked to vote for a team captain, but couldn't settle on just one: Jana Fischer (Navignostics), Thomas Eaton (Limula), Jonathan Talbot (Mosanna Therapeutics), and Mamta Chabria (Tandem Therapeutics) were elected co-captains.


The Venture Leaders Biotech 2023 (from left to right): Jonathan Talbot (Mosanna Therapeutics), Ahmed Ben Faleh (Isospec Analytics), Emeline Hamon-Keromen (ND Biosciences, representing Bilal Fares), Mamta Chabria (Tandem Therapeutics), Michal Shoshan (metaLead), Vanesa Rocha Martin (SURI BioTech), Karthiga Santhana Kumar (Invasight), Jana Fischer (Navignostics), Zoe Johnson (Affivant), and Thomas Eaton (Limula)









Lambert Potin, Search & Evaluation Partnering Manager at program partner Debiopharm, concluded the session by sharing insights into biotech business models. "Debiopharm is delighted to sponsor Venture Leaders Biotech for the second year," said Mr. Potin about the company's support of the program. "It is an exciting opportunity for promising Swiss biotech companies to gain exposure to key investors and stakeholders of the Boston biotech innovation ecosystem."

This year's Venture Leaders Biotech team is following in the footsteps of 2022 team member Alentis, who announced a USD 105 million funding round last week, and lino biotech, which participated in the Venture Leaders Biotech program last year, recently announced that it was acquired by the German biomedical company Miltenyi Biotec. Other renowned alums include Covagen (acquired by Johnson & Johnson), Versantis (acquired by Genfit), SimplicityBio (acquired by Precision for Medicine), and AMAL Therapeutics (acquired by Boehringer Ingelheim). 

Venture Leaders Biotech is organized by Venturelab in partnership with Swissnex Boston and supported by Debiopharm, Novartis, EY - Ernst & Young, VISCHER, EPFL, ETH Zurich, Hansjörg Wyss, and the Swiss Biotech Association.




Learn more about the Venture Leaders Biotech 2023: