WINNERS OF CHEMOSTART’S 5th EDITION

Madrid, 27 January 2022

Aromics, Mimark Diagnostics, and Antalgenics, winners at ChemoStart’s Pitch Day
A new drug to treat mesothelioma, a non-invasive diagnostic solution for endometrial cancer, and a treatment for psoriaticitch

  • The ChemoStart programme is an initiative of Insud Pharma, led by Leandro Sigman, to support innovative health start-ups.
  • In its fifth edition, 12 start-ups were shortlisted to present their projects to a jury of experts.

Insud Pharma group’s ChemoStart programme has announced today the winners of its 5th Edition, which brought together a total of 12 shortlisted start-ups to participate in its Pitch Day before an external jury consisting of different health leaders.

This initiative, which seeks to promote innovative and disruptive solutions that improve people's health and well-being, is led by Leandro Sigman, and it has received the support of the SecretaryGeneral for Innovation, Teresa Riesgo.

The winning start-ups in this fifth edition were Aromics, a new drug to treat mesothelioma; Mimark Diagnostics, a non-invasive diagnostic solution for endometrial cancer; and Antalgenics, a treatment for chronic psoriatic itch.

Aromics CEO and founder, Carme Plasencia, explained that NAX035 is a new class of cancer drug that tackles cancer progression and chemotherapy resistance in cases of mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is ranked among the top ten occupational cancers in the world due to its association with asbestos. It is a tumour with a high social impact and a very low response rate to current treatments.

Marina Rigau, CEO and co-founder of Mimark, presented WomEC's new gynaecological diagnostic solutions, which will enable more accurate and less invasive diagnostic tests for endometrial cancer (EC) based on new biomarkers in uterine fluid.

Finally, the third winning start-up was Antalgenics which, according to its president and founder, Antonio Ferrer, has developed a treatment for chronic psoriatic itch at its source with an innovative new neuromodulatory drug.

Psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune skin disease for which there is no cure, and which affects more than 200 million people.

The social reach of each of these projects and their impact when it comes to making the work of medical practitioners easier, as well as their innovative nature and their scientific and clinical evidence, were some of the determining criteria for the jury's selection of the winners.

The jury of the 5th Edition of ChemoStart was composed of Juan Alcántara, CEO of Nuubo; José María Castellano, Scientific Director at HM Hospitales Foundation; Santiago de Torres, Executive Chairman of Atrys Health; Mario Grande Abascal, Managing Partner at Nowture; Juan Pedro Moreno, former CEO and investor at Accenture Spain; Sara Secall, Partner at Inveready; and Rick Suárez, CEO of AstraZeneca.

According to Julia Redondo, ChemoStart coordinator at Insud Pharma, "this fifth edition has achieved incredible standards, both in terms of the number of projects we have received and the quality and innovation of all of them. We are very happy that this philanthropic initiative carried out by Insud Pharma with the help of Leandro Sigman has the support of an exceptional network of mentors and a jury like this year's, consisting of different experts from all areas of health. We are looking forward to launching the forthcoming edition next September and to having new projects".

The winning start-ups will receive support from Insud Pharma to promote their healthcare solutions based on their needs in areas such as internationalisation, marketing, scalability, or commercialisation of the business.

Over the next few months, Insud Pharma will support the three ventures with its own resources and its group of mentors and will provide them with advice and preparation for the Investor Day that it will organise with its network of investors to raise the necessary funding to continue promoting the projects in the future.

The shortlisted start-ups in this edition of ChemoStart were: ADAMO ROBOT, CANCERAPPY, LUCI HEALTH SOLUTIONS, CELTARYS RESEARCH, ELEM BIOTECH, EPIDISEASE, GENBIOMA APLICACIONES, TIME IS BRAIN, and TAILORYOU.

ChemoStart is a global programme of Insud Pharma that helps boost start-ups and companies with innovative projects in health and healthcare.

Insud Pharma is a Spanish company well-known and respected in the pharmaceutical and health sectors with more than 40 years of history. With more than 6,000 employees in 40 countries, Insud Pharma makes an enormous contribution to global public health, thanks to the medicinal products and active ingredients it develops and produces through its three synergistic units: industrial (Chemo), branded (Exeltis), and biotechnology (mAbxience).

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