KetoSwiss braces for US launch following its capital increase

While more than one billion people experience migraines worldwide, there is still no medication tackling this challenge efficiently. Elena Gross, founder and CEO of the biotech startup KetoSwiss, who has been searching for a better solution to address an issue she lived with most of her life, found existing medications insufficient in addressing the root cause of migraines. In her discovery, she found that modern human brains rely almost exclusively on glucose due to modern carbohydrate-rich diets - thereby contributing to an energy deficiency in the brain and, in turn, neurological diseases, such as migraine or Alzheimers which are known to have a metabolic component to it.

At KetoSwiss, Gross and her team of nine have set the mission to bring human identical ketone bodies back into the modern world by developing a portfolio of potent, clinically tested, Swiss-quality ketone body products to combat the aforementioned neurological disorders.

Starting with migraines, KetoSwiss is developing “brain fuels” to provide nutraceutical (supplements) and pharmaceutical therapy. Early clinical studies found its lead product MigraKet, to be safe and efficacious in a subgroup of “metabolic or inflammatory migraineurs” and close to the root cause of migraine, without adding intolerable side effects. MigraKet’s active substance is an endogenous metabolite – a ketone body, which can be used by the brain as an alternative fuel to glucose when glucose utilization or transport is compromised

KetoSwiss just finished its first phase 2A study on MigraKet in migraine prevention and planning a phase 2B study currently. The company also plans to launch the nutraceutical alternative (a soluble powder drink) as an over the counter product in the United States by the end of 2021. The first plans to establish a US subsidiary, set up offices, implement its business development strategy, and build distribution channels are well underway.

CHF 1.5 million convertible loan
To this day, KetoSwiss has raised a total of CHF 2 million equity investment and a CHF 600 grant from the Swiss National Fond (SNF). The startup recently closed CHF 1.5 million in a convertible loan from private investors. The capital will accelerate developments and market entry in the US and support the ongoing clinical trials. The company plans to raise further CHF 10 million in a Series A financing round to support phase 2 trials,  further steps in obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals in the US and Europe and market entry in Europe.

Achievements and accolades
Receiving its first CHF 0.5 million to establish KetoSwiss as a startup marked the company’s first achievement. Since then, it has built a positive track record by attracting further investors to support its mission, received approvals for all claims of its first of 4 filed patents in the US and participated in support programmes and competitions in which it won accolades. Most recently, the startup won first place at the ENRICH Funding Summit Bio Digital 2021.

(Ritah Ayebare Nyakato)