IZB - Innovation and Start-up Center Biotechnology

🍺 From Ancient Tradition to Innovation: IZBeer 🍺 Beer is one of the earliest biotechnological applications, with its origins dating back at least 7,000 years to ancient Mesopotamia and Sumer. Early civilizations harnessed the natural fermentation process of yeast to convert grains into alcohol, unknowingly laying the foundation for microbial biotechnology. Over millennia, brewing techniques evolved, blending tradition with scientific advancements. 🌾🧪 Now, 7,000 years later, the IZB - Innovation and Start-up Center Biotechnology is celebrating its 30th anniversary by brewing two special batches of its very own jubilee beer. This special project is being developed with the Forschungsbrauerei Weihenstephan of the TUM Forschungszentrum Weihenstephan für Brau- und Lebensmittelqualität. The brewery in Weihenstephan, where the IZB has its second site, holds a unique historical distinction—it is the oldest continuously operating brewery in the world, carrying forward a brewing tradition that spans nearly a thousand years. Stay tuned to find out what our anniversary beers will be in a few weeks. Cheers! 🍻 #Biotechnology #BrewingInnovation #IZB #InnovationMeetsTradition

🚀 Interview with transkript – Insights from IZB’s Managing Director After one year as Managing Director of IZB - Innovation and Start-up Center Biotechnology, Christian Gnam sat down with Transkript to reflect on his journey. He shares key insights on: 🔹 Top priorities on his agenda as he leads IZB into the future 🔹 How IZB actively supports startups beyond just providing space 🔹 What criteria determines whether a startup is allowed to move into IZB 🔹 Why IZB isn’t a playground for founders - it’s about ensuring ideas survive from day one 💡 Curious to learn more? Read the full interview in Transkript 1/2025! #Biotech #Startups #Innovation #IZB

📈 Big Move in Drug Discovery: Momentum Biotechnologies Acquires OmicScouts 📈 OmicScouts GmbH, an IZB - Innovation and Start-up Center Biotechnology based leader in mass spectrometry-based proteomics, has announced its acquisition by Momentum Biotechnologies, a contract research organization based in Massachusetts, renowned for its expertise in mass spectrometry-based drug discovery technologies! This acquisition brings significant growth opportunities, with plans for further investment and expansion at the IZB location, allowing OmicScouts to broaden its impact in proteomics and drug discovery. 🚀 The collaboration also strengthens the value chain by integrating small molecule screening with proteomics expertise – Momentum will now bring advanced screening technologies, while OmicScouts will enhance the understanding of interactions between potential drug candidates and cells. Together, they offer end-to-end solutions that accelerate target and biomarker discovery. 🔬🧪 What makes this partnership even more exciting? Both companies are scientifically driven and share a strong customer-centric approach, making this acquisition a natural cultural and strategic fit. “We’re excited to combine our proteomics capabilities with Momentum’s drug discovery technologies. This integration will bridge the gap between hit identification and downstream assays, enabling us to accelerate the drug design process for clients,” says Can Ozbal, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Momentum. Additionally, OmicScouts’ co-founders, Mathias Wilhelm, Ph.D., and Bernhard Kuster, Ph.D., will join Momentum’s Scientific Advisory Board, bringing their expertise to support the combined team. Congratulations to OmicScouts! We're excited to see the future of drug discovery and biomarker development unfold! 🚀🔬 Read more here: https://lnkd.in/d88CpVAf #IZB #DrugDiscovery #Proteomics #Biotech #MassSpectrometry

🚀Breaking Barriers: Invitris Secures Prestigious EIC Accelerator Funding!🚀 We are proud to share that Invitris, an IZB - Innovation and Start-up Center Biotechnology based startup, has been selected for the prestigious EIC - European Innovation Council Accelerator! Out of over 1,200 applications, Invitris is among the cutting-edge companies chosen to receive this highly competitive funding. What this means for Invitris: ✅ Multi-million Euro funding through a non-dilutive grant and equity investment ✅ Scaling their Phactory platform to develop personalized protein-based treatments ✅ Taking a major step toward bringing their technology into the clinic and ultimately to market The EIC Accelerator is Europe's largest and most competitive startup funding program, designed to fast-track groundbreaking innovations and turn them into global success stories. This funding will support Invitris in advancing the fight against antimicrobial resistance and bringing personalized therapies closer to patients. A huge congratulations to the Invitris team for this incredible achievement!🎉 Read more: https://lnkd.in/dxWaQm_T #IZB #Biotech #EICAccelerator #LifeScience

🚀 Welcome, Cryondo, to the IZB! We’re thrilled to have Cryondo – The Sample Storage Company join our innovation ecosystem at the IZB - Innovation and Start-up Center Biotechnology! Cryondo provides risk-minimized, fully managed sample storage solutions for the long-term preservation of biological materials under controlled conditions, including -80°C and liquid nitrogen storage. Their expertise in laboratory logistics and diagnostics ensures that companies in the diagnostics, biotech, and pharmaceutical industries can focus on groundbreaking research—without worrying about sample integrity.🧫🧪 With Cryondo’s state-of-the-art storage solutions and strong partnerships, including with SOL Deutschland, they are setting new standards for secure and reliable biological sample storage. We look forward to seeing Cryondo thrive at IZB and contribute to the future of life sciences! 🔬✨ Read more about Cryondo here: https://lnkd.in/dtVQgsk2 #Biotech #Innovation #SampleStorage #LifeSciences #IZB image source: Cryondo

  🔬 Inside the IZB: A Community Tour of Biotech Innovation! 🔬 The community of Planegg/Martinsried is shaped by science and innovation—inculding the biotech start-ups at the IZB - Innovation and Start-up Center Biotechnology. With our iconic seven-story hotel as a landmark, many people wonder: Who works here, and what groundbreaking ideas are being developed? To offer local residents a glimpse behind the scenes, we teamed up with Volkshochschule im Würmtal, a nonprofit adult education organization, for an exclusive guided tour! 🚀 Our Managing Director, Christian Gnam, kicked things off with an introduction to the IZB, followed by two of our pioneering start-ups: 🧬 Luitpold Fried from Bind-X demonstrated how biotechnology is transforming dust control in mining—combining efficiency with sustainability. 🩺 Adrian Passow from Omegametrix GmbH unveiled the power of fatty acid analytics and why their data is key to better health. A lab tour brought their cutting-edge research to life! To round off the visit, guests got a sneak peek inside the IZB Hotel Campus at Home. A huge thank you to our speakers and all curious minds who joined us! 🙌 #Biotech #Innovation #campusmartinsried #IZB #LifeSciences

🚀 IZB Happy Hour – Now with an "Ask Me Anything" Twist! 🍻 Every second Thursday of the month, the IZB - Innovation and Start-up Center Biotechnology Happy Hour brings the IZB community together at the Faculty Club—a perfect setting for networking, sharing ideas, and catching up in a relaxed atmosphere. To boost knowledge exchange between our start-ups, we’ve added a little twist: a short “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) session! Kicking things off, we had Jonas Helma-Smets, CSO of Tubulis GmbH, who gave us a very personal look into his career journey and start-up experience. From the challenges of co-founding Tubulis with Dominik Schumacher across Munich and Berlin (hello, sky-high phone bills 📞💸) to why he has a complicated relationship with llamas 🦙😅—Jonas shared valuable insights on: ✅ Why Munich was the perfect place to launch Tubulis (hint: talent, IZB, and strong funding opportunities) ✅ How a two-person founder team grew into a thriving company ✅ Why crises in a start-up’s journey can be opportunities in disguise A huge thanks to Jonas for sharing his experiences! 🙌 We can’t wait for more inspiring AMA sessions at the IZB Happy Hour. See you at the next one! #IZB #Biotech #StartUpJourney #Innovation #Tubulis #LifeScience

We're thrilled to welcome Thomas Thum, a world renowned pioneer in RNA therapeutics and co-founder of Cardior Pharmaceuticals, to RNATICS' board. His strategic insights and track record will be instrumental to advancing our clinical program and expanding the targeted RNA therapy portfolio. The press release can be found here: https://lnkd.in/dxwzNs5Q

🚀 News from Tubulis 🚀 Tubulis GmbH, an IZB - Innovation and Start-up Center Biotechnology based startup has announced two significant developments: Dr. Matthew Norkunas, M.D. has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer and President, further strengthening the management team at a pivotal stage of growth. With extensive experience in leading finance roles at biotech companies—including Generation Bio and SomaLogic—Dr. Norkunas will be instrumental in advancing Tubulis’ strategic objectives. His unique background as a physician-turned-business executive will support the company’s continued expansion and innovation in ADC drug development. Tubulis also dosed the first patient in the Phase I/IIa trial of TUB-030, its second ADC candidate targeting advanced solid tumors. Developed using the company’s proprietary Tubutecan linker-payload platform, TUB-030 is designed for precision and sustained on-tumor delivery with a broad therapeutic window. The trial (5-STAR 1-01) will assess safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and preliminary efficacy in patients with a range of advanced solid tumors. Congratulations to the Tubulis team on these exciting achievements! 🌟 You can read the full press releases here: https://lnkd.in/dHstmPm #ADCinnovation #Biotech #LifeSciences #IZB #ClinicalTrials image source: istock

Biotech in Germany: Between world-class research and untapped potential 🚀 Martinsried/Munich is one of Europe’s top biotech hubs, home to groundbreaking research and ambitious startups securing major funding rounds. Even long-awaited infrastructure projects, such as the subway directly connecting the Life Science campus in Martinsried with the city center and the TUM campus in Garching, are finally moving forward. This makes it sound as if we don’t need to wish for anything more. Or do we? To answer this question, Bavarian Science Minister Markus Blume, Bundestag Member Florian Hahn, and Mayor Hermann Nafziger visited the IZB - Innovation and Start-up Center Biotechnology this week. Their goal? A direct dialogue with scientists, founders, and biotech executives to understand how Germany can foster innovation and compete internationally. After insightful visits to promising scale-ups, IZB startups such as CatalYm GmbH and Insempra, they engaged in an open, high-impact discussion at the IZB Faculty Club with experts from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, the Max-Planck-Institut für biologische Intelligenz, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, biotech startups, and industry leaders. 🔑 Key takeaways: ✅ Our leading universities and research institutes are the main drivers for the foundation of new biotechs—however, there is still a lot of untapped potential in translating research into entrepreneurship. ✅ The Munich area, with its strong economy, international connections, and high quality of life, is a strong magnet for talent. With less bureaucracy for scientists and entrepreneurs, it would be nothing short of heaven. ✅ In the early-stage phases, we have a wide range of public funding and angel and VC investments, but turning startups into unicorns is nearly impossible without US investors and US IPOs. While it is certainly good to have multinational investors on board, Germany and Europe must create more incentives for local investors to back the big rounds. The political leaders listened actively, engaged in results-oriented discussions, and underlined their commitment to fostering biotech in Germany. 💡💬 #Biotech #Innovation #Startups #Germany #Investment