Life Science Pitch Day: Where Visionaries Meet Investors
Start-ups presented their innovative approaches to solving urgent medical challenges
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During the anniversary Pitch Day at the IZB, ten selected start-ups presented their groundbreaking ideas to a high-caliber panel of investors. For the tenth time, the Innovation and Startup Center for Biotechnology (IZB), in cooperation with High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, and MEDICE hosted the life science Pitch Day – an established format that brings promising biotech start-ups together with leading investors and key decision-makers from the industry.
Christian Gnam, Managing Director of IZB, welcomed the guests and provided insights into the current developments at the start-up center. Together with co-organizers Dr. Achim Plum (Managing Director, HTGF), Ingo Klöckner (Head of Portfolio Strategy & Reporting, Leaps by Bayer), and Dr. Sebastian Kreuz (Executive Director, BI Venture Fund), he officially opened the event. Dr. Laura Pedroza (Senior Investment Manager, HTGF) guided the audience through the sessions.
During the event, ten selected start-ups presented their innovative approaches to solving urgent medical challenges. They took the opportunity to showcase their technologies and business models to more than 70 renowned investors and experts from the life sciences industry.
“With the 10th Life Science Pitch Day, we not only celebrated another milestone at IZB this year—alongside our 30th anniversary—but also demonstrated just how important Martinsried is as a hub for life sciences innovations. This event gives innovative start-ups a platform and direct access to leading investors. I would like to thank our long-standing partners for their continued support of this unique format,” commented Christian Gnam, Managing Director of IZB.
“The presentations at the Life Science Pitch Day were of outstanding quality. This is where scientific excellence converges with entrepreneurial drive – the fuel powering biotech innovation and a valuable resource for life science investors,” said Achim Plum, HTGF.
“Once again, the Life Science Pitch Day 2025 demonstrated the remarkable innovative strength of the sector. The technologies and ideas presented inspire optimism and spark curiosity about a new generation of medical breakthroughs,” said Sebastian Kreuz, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund.
“A day full of inspiration: visionary founders, strong partners, insightful conversations, and excellent networking opportunities. Now in its tenth year, Pitch Day has firmly established itself as a must-attend event for the life science community,” explained Ingo Klöckner, Leaps by Bayer.
The following project teams presented their innovative research at the 10th Munich Life Science Pitch Day:
1. Toleris Biotherapeutics, Valentin Bruttel: Developing first-in-class biologics that leverage immune tolerance mechanisms from pregnancy to treat autoimmune diseases.
2. Tacalyx, Dr. Peter Sondermann: Developing innovative monoclonal antibody therapies for the treatment of cancer by targeting tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs).
3. RN.AI Therapeutics, Dr. Justin S. Antony: Developing AI-supported, precise combination therapies for the treatment of inflammatory and immunological (I&I) diseases.
4. PHAME Therapeutics, Konstantin Hinnah: Utilizing a proprietary discovery engine to develop functional antibodies against GPCRs, a key target structure in chronic, high-burden diseases.
5. Dimericon Therapeutics, Ulrich Kessler: Developing precision therapies based on a peptide-based modality for targeting hard-to-drug, intrinsically disordered proteins.
6. Mighto Therapeutics, Dr. Hermann-J. Kaiser: Working on first-in-class small-molecule-based therapeutics for mitochondrial diseases such as MELAS, CPEO, and Parkinson’s disease.
7. Synendos Therapeutics, Andrea Chicca: Conducting clinical development of novel therapies for neuropsychiatric disorders such as PTSD through targeted modulation of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) using selective endocannabinoid reuptake inhibitors.
8. ARI-tx, Sebastian Hogl: Developing a first-in-class inhaled therapy for tissue regeneration in COPD-CB and other muco-obstructive lung diseases.
9. Dense Immune, Zahra Ghodratian: Developing a bioengineered dense-body-based immunotherapy for the prevention and treatment of HCMV in immunocompromised patients.
10. REVIER Therapeutics, Eva van Rooij and Matthias Dewenter: Developing novel therapies for HFpEF, a common heart failure condition, through targeted inhibition of class IIa HDAC activity.
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