BaseLaunch invests USD 1.5 million in three new startups

BaseLaunch collaborates closely with key players from the biotech sector, leading pharmaceutical companies, and venture funds to help launch and grow the next generation of biotech companies. The program additionally provides funding to selected ventures – the budget has increased from USD 250,000 to USD 500,000 per selected startup. Since its establishment in 2018, the BaseLaunch portfolio has grown to 13 companies, of which eight have, in total, raised over $390 million in financing.

Since May 2021, the new BaseLaunch leadership has been operative, and their program changes are being enforced. These include the increase in the startup funding package and the selection process. Unlike previous years, the program now accepts applications throughout the year. Moreover, since the change to the new regime, five startups have been accepted into the program. Aukera Therapeutics,  Stromal Therapeutics and Engimmune Therapeutics are joining NextImmune Therapeutics and InCephalo Therapeutics.

Aukera Therapeutics – is a spin-off from the Biozentrum of the University of Basel, founded in 2021 by Stefan Imseng and Dritan Liko. The company is building a discovery engine that allows designing new classes of drugs to selectively target different branches of the mTOR pathway. mTORC1 is a protein complex that centrally controls cell growth and metabolism. The lead program selectively targets mTOR complex 1 to treat rare diseases, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases, where Aukera’s approach uniquely addresses unmet medical needs. During the next phase at BaseLaunch, the startup plans to test its compounds' efficacy, selectivity, and toxicity in different model systems while preparing to enter the clinical stage.

Stromal Therapeutics – Incorporated in 2018 in Basel as the first spin-off of the Cantonal hospital of St. Gallen, Stromal Therapeutics is developing antibodies against novel stromal cell targets acting locally on the immune system to treat chronic immune-mediated diseases. The company’s first program tackles cardiac inflammatory diseases where no specific therapies are available to address the burden of inflammatory heart diseases and potentially heart failure. The lead antibody, which is entering early preclinical development, demonstrates efficacy in preclinical models of inflammatory heart disease, cures inflammatory cardiomyopathy, and prevents cardiac fibrosis. Other targets and antibodies are addressing the unmet medical needs in cancers and autoimmune diseases. Stromal has been granted an exclusive worldwide license by the Cantonal Hospital of St.Gallen for the market development of therapeutically active immunotherapeutics. Together with the Cantonal Hospital St.Gallen, it is developing immunotherapeutic antibodies.

Engimmune Therapeutics – is a platform and product development company using cutting-edge technologies in the life sciences to engineer highly potent and specific therapies based on T cell receptor (TCR) targeting solid tumours. By applying functional high-throughput screening coupled with advanced computational methods, Engimmune addresses key efficacy and safety challenges that currently limit the full potential of TCR-T cell and soluble TCR therapeutics.

(Press release/RAN)
Photo L-R: Cofounders of Aukera, Stromal and Engimmune Therapeutics