Venture Leaders Biotech 2025 cohort revealed

After reviewing over 70 applications, the jury of investors and biotech experts selected the ten startups to participate in the Boston roadshow, one of the world’s leading life science hubs. The Venture Leaders program will allow the selected entrepreneurs to meet potential investors and industry experts, accelerating their expansion into the US market. The 2025 selection spans a wide array of innovative scientific fields such as advanced drug discovery for degenerative and aging-related diseases to revolutionary stem-cell-based blood platelet products, innovative cell therapies or next-generation biomaterials for controlled drug delivery.

The program will kick-off with a pitching event at the Swiss Biotech Day in Basel on May 5, 2025.

Meet the Venture Leader Biotech Swiss National Team

Abrinca │ Bern – through its innovative platform, OpenGenomeBrowser, Abrinca combines user-friendly design with robust data management and comprehensive analytics tools, enabling efficient handling of complex genomic data. The platform aims to enhance research capabilities by streamlining the process of data analysis and visualization.

Amporin Pharmaceuticals │ Basel – is a biotech startup founded in Basel in 2024 by a small team of industry-seasoned drug development professionals. It is developing a new class of small-molecule amyloid pore inhibitors that can protect and repair cell membranes as the first potential acute oral disease-modifying treatments for deadly degenerative diseases associated with protein misfolding and aggregation.

ATLyphe │ Zurich – aims to enhance therapy and cure for AML patients (acute myeloid leukemia). Currently, HSCT (hematopoietic stem cell transplantation) is the only curative intervention, yet, largely due to the conditioning process, it often fails to keep the curative promise. ATLyphe’s focus is on pioneering a safer and more precise conditioning approach that unlocks the full curative potential of HSCT and gives new hope to AML patients.

Aukera Therapeutics │ Basel  – is on a mission to revolutionize precision medicine R&D and its application by intercepting the once undetectable cell-to-cell communication to deliver novel actionable biomarkers, aiming for unmatched success in treatments and cures for patients.

ENANTIOS │ Zurich – Modern pharmaceutics are becoming more and more structurally complex, and traditional measurement techniques are slowing down the discovery pipeline. Enantios is leveraging new measurement technology to accelerate drug development and discovery and enable complete quality testing in the manufacturing stage.

Encelta │Basel – developed an innovating cell therapy platform addressing key challenges in the field. Its allogeneic T-cell product is uniquely compatible with all 7 approved bispecific antibodies and 100+ molecules in clinical trials. With a production cost under USD 1000/patient—compared to up to USD 200k for existing therapies, Encelta’s solution is scalable, with a single batch treating 100+ patients.

HemostOD │ Vaud  – its ambition is to develop donor-free, stem cell-derived, ex vivo platelets as a standardized alternative to blood donor platelet transfusions, which are facing recurrent shortage issues, and threat of contamination.

InkVivo Technologies │ Ticino – combines its patented biomaterial platform with an advanced manufacturing approach to producing systems that ensure localised and temporal controlled release of active ingredients (e.g., small molecules, biologics, and micronutrients). The biotech startup provides tailored solutions for several clinical challenges in the pharma and nutraceutical field.

Juvion Life Sciences │ Vaud  – is pioneering a first-in-class approach to aging therapeutics by preserving neuron-muscle communication, a critical factor in mobility and longevity. As an EPFL spin-off, Juvion integrates AI-driven drug discovery, neuroscience, and robotics into a proprietary in vivo screening platform to develop next-generation therapeutics aimed at tackling immobility and delaying diseases such as sarcopenia and motor neuropathy.

Nerai Bioscience │ Zurich – is pioneering novel highly personalized CRISPR proteins to deliver lifelong cures for diseases beyond the reach of current genome editing. By fusing AI with programmable biology, its editors redefine what is achievable in the safety, efficiency, and targetability of genetic medicine.

(Press release/RAN)