EIC ePitching in Pharma and Biotech: six early stage companies pitch to a large investor panel as AI, cancer vaccines and 'undruggable' targets take centre stage

Brussels, May 13th 2024

Summary

›On 24 April six EIC-supported life science companies pitched to more than 40 life science investors in an EIC ePitching session under the Ecosystem Partnerships and Co-Investment Support programme.
›Winners were PROSION Therapeutics and ErVimmune, both pitching technologies that target previously inaccessible biology or hard to treat cancers.
›Presented technologies ranged from explainable AI for RNA drug design to lentiviral gene platforms, thymus-empowered T cell progenitors, next generation cancer vaccines, and a new modality to address 'undruggable' intracellular proteins.
›Several companies disclosed fundraising targets: ErVimmune seeks roughly €20 million with €11.5 million expected to be mirrored by the EIB and PROSION seeks €4-5 million.
›The event drew a broad investor line up from boutique life science VCs to corporate venture arms and institutional funds, underlining investor appetite but leaving open questions about clinical validation and scaling.

EIC ePitching: a stage for early stage life science bets

On 24 April an online pitching session organised by the European Innovation Council as part of its Ecosystem Partnerships and Co-Investment Support programme brought six European pharmaceutical and biotech start ups before a jury of more than 40 investors. The session was framed as a co-investment and matchmaking initiative inside the EIC's Business Acceleration Services. Presenters were Abzu, Genewity, Hoba Therapeutics, Smart Immune, ErVimmune and PROSION Therapeutics. Investors attending ranged from early stage specialist funds to corporate venture arms and strategic life science investors.

Who pitched and what they claim to do

Company	Headquarters / stage	Technology / focus	Funding need disclosed
Abzu	Denmark (AI company)	Explainable AI (QLattice) for rapid RNA drug discovery and RNA therapeutics design	Not specified
Genewity	Website under construction (contact info provided)	Lentiviral patient gene platform for immuno-impaired and autoimmune patients	Not specified
Hoba Therapeutics	Denmark; clinical preclinical	Therapeutic proteins for chronic neuropathic pain and sensorineural hearing loss (HB-086, HB-097)	Previously raised Series A; no new ask disclosed at event
Smart Immune	Not specified	ProTcell thymus-empowered T cell progenitor platform for rapid allogeneic T cell therapies	Not specified
ErVimmune	Lyon, France	Next generation cancer vaccines and TCR-T therapies focusing on cold tumours using HERV-derived epitopes and AI-driven epitope discovery	Seeking about €20 million with €11.5 million expected to be mirrored by the European Investment Bank
PROSION Therapeutics	Cologne, Germany	ProM technology: small molecule modality that mimics a helix structure to engage intracellular 'undruggable' protein targets	Seeking €4-5 million

Event result and immediate reactions

PROSION Therapeutics and ErVimmune were judged to have the best pitches of the day. Both companies emphasised the high turnout of life science investors and said the session generated follow up interest. Participants and individual investors quoted afterwards praised the quality of data presented and the event's efficiency as a way to screen early stage opportunities.

Deep dive: ErVimmune and the multi-epitope vaccine approach

ErVimmune presented a multi-epitope cancer vaccine candidate ErVac01 and related TCR-T programmes targeting patients who do not respond to current immunotherapies. The company focuses on cold tumours such as relapsed or refractory Triple Negative Breast Cancer and ovarian cancer where standard checkpoint inhibitors often fail. ErVimmune combines bioinformatics, generative AI and proteomics to nominate non-conventional tumor epitopes derived from endogenous retroviruses and then validate expression and immunogenicity experimentally.

Endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) as cancer antigens:HERVs are fragments of ancient viral sequences embedded in the human genome. In some cancers these sequences can be transcriptionally reactivated, producing peptides that are more tumour specific than many conventional antigens. That tumour restriction can make HERV-derived epitopes attractive as immunotherapy targets, but their inter-patient variability and HLA dependence create validation and development challenges.

ErVimmune's discovery workflow:According to the company the process starts with AI-driven epitope nomination across cohorts, followed by proteomics to provide evidence of peptide presentation on tumour cells and absence on healthy tissue. That is then followed by immunoassays to test immunogenicity and functional validation. ErVimmune cites FDA interactions around ErVac01 and positions the programme for a first-in-human trial.

ErVimmune was founded in 2019 by Professor Stéphane Depil and has attracted funding from Bpifrance and Seventure among others. At the pitching event a senior business development executive with more than a decade of industry experience described ErVimmune as highly motivated and said the EIC and partner ecosystems were useful platforms to reach investors.

Deep dive: PROSION Therapeutics and the ProM modality

PROSION pitched a platform they call ProM technology. The company says the ProM modality mimics a specific helix structure known as the Polyproline-II helix and that these ProM-based small molecules can engage protein targets that are considered inaccessible to traditional small molecules or biologics. PROSION frames this as 'redefining druggability' by opening up intracellular orchestrator proteins as therapeutic targets.

What PROSION means by undruggable targets:In drug discovery the label undruggable typically applies to proteins lacking classical binding pockets or to intracellular protein-protein interactions that are difficult to inhibit with conventional drugs. PROSION claims ProM compounds can bind selectively to these structures and therefore modulate disease-driving proteins previously out of reach. Such claims will require extensive structural biology, pharmacology and safety data to be substantiated in translational studies.

PROSION described active engagement with technical questions from investors during the session and reported many follow up discussions. The company lists partner institutions and backers that include Freigeist, ZukunftBIO.NRW, Leiden University Medical Center and others. The founder, Dr Slim Chiha, highlighted that the pitch generated constructive technical feedback and that funding conversations were ongoing.

Other presenters: brief summaries and context

The four other companies covered distinct parts of the life science stack from discovery to cell therapy platforms. Each presents a mix of technological promise and the usual early stage risks of reproducibility, scale up and regulatory proof.

Abzu and explainable AI for RNA therapeutics:Abzu uses an explainable AI engine called QLattice to design RNA therapeutics including siRNA, antisense oligonucleotides and LNP properties. Explainable AI differs from black box models by producing human interpretable relationships and rules that can be inspected during design. For drug discovery, explainability helps with hypothesis generation and regulatory conversations, but claims about improved success rates must be validated with prospective experimental data and independent benchmarks.

Genewity's lentiviral patient gene platform:Genewity presented a lentiviral platform intended to extend life expectancy and quality for immuno-impaired or autoimmune patients. Lentiviral vectors are widely used for ex vivo gene modification, for example in CAR T or gene correction approaches. Key issues for such platforms include manufacturing capacity, vector safety, insertional mutagenesis risk, and the regulatory pathway for autologous or allogeneic uses.

Hoba Therapeutics and restorative neurotrophic proteins:Hoba is developing biologics based on human neurotrophic factors meteorin and cometin. Its lead assets include HB-086 for neuropathic pain and HB-097 for sensorineural hearing loss. Restorative approaches to nerve survival and repair can address large unmet needs but face preclinical to clinical translation hurdles around delivery, dosing and durable effect.

Smart Immune and ProTcell progenitors for allogeneic T cell therapies:Smart Immune described ProTcell, a thymus-empowered T cell progenitor platform intended to generate allogeneic T cell therapies more rapidly and with durable engraftment. Allogeneic cell therapies aim to provide off-the-shelf products but must manage immune compatibility, graft versus host risk and scalable manufacturing processes.

Investors and ecosystem reaction

The pitching session assembled a long list of life science investors who also served on a jury or attended the event. Names included corporate venture arms and specialist funds such as 3Bio Future Health Fund, AdBio Partners, aMoon, Asabys, Bpifrance Innobio, Cathay Capital, Gilde Healthcare, Hadean Ventures, HTGF, Illumina Ventures, imec.xpand, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Lundbeckfonden BioCapital, Mérieux Equity Partners, Novo Holdings, Novartis, Panakes Partners, Sanofi Ventures, Seroba Life Sciences, Thuja Capital and many others.

VC representatives cited the event as a time efficient way to screen opportunities and praised the high number of attending funds. Thuja Capital stressed that they look for strong teams, a clear business model, and a data package that shows clear inflection points. Cathay Health highlighted the importance of unique science, strong clinical evidence and solid intellectual property, and underscored the strategic fit for companies that can scale internationally.

EIC context and programme purpose

The session formed part of the EIC Ecosystem Partnerships and Co-Investment Support programme that expands the European Innovation Council's Business Acceleration Services. The programme is explicitly designed to prepare EIC-supported companies to interact with investors and to promote co-investment alongside the EIC Fund through matchmaking and investor days. The EIC has signalled further investor days under the programme will focus on other sectors such as Climate Tech.

Critical perspective and what to watch next

Pitch events provide a useful screening and matchmaking function. They are however an early milestone in a long development arc for life science companies. Several themes and caveats emerge from the session that investors and observers should track closely.

Data and clinical proof points matter:Many of the claims presented rely on preclinical or discovery stage data. For vaccine and cell therapy programmes the real inflection point is convincing first-in-human data and safety profiles. For discovery platforms such as ProM modalities or explainable AI tools the crucial proof is reproducible translational experiments and external validation.

Manufacturing and regulatory paths are non trivial:Platforms that rely on gene delivery or cell products face well known scale up and regulatory bottlenecks. Manufacturing capacity, consistent quality control, and long term safety monitoring are expensive and often require partnerships with larger pharmaceutical players or CDMOs.

Investor due diligence will focus on the usual axes:Investors will look for clarity on IP, freedom to operate, competitive differentiation, patient impact, regulatory strategy, and credible capital plans that align with value inflection points. For technology platforms, independent benchmarking and blinded validation studies increase credibility.

If the EIC programme succeeds at its stated objective it should increase the flow of early stage companies into investor networks and help mobilise co-investment. That is strategically consistent with broader EU goals to strengthen the European life science ecosystem. Yet converting investor interest into funded, de-risked clinical programmes remains the hard work ahead for these companies.

Practical next steps and contacts

ErVimmune and PROSION expect to continue follow up conversations with interested investors. The EIC notes the Ecosystem Partnerships and Co-Investment Support programme will organise further investor days. For questions about this specific EIC event the EIC provided an investments contact email investments@eicfund.eu.

Takeaway

The 24 April ePitching session illustrated both the vitality and the early stage nature of European life science innovation. From AI driven RNA design to platforms aiming to address 'undruggable' biology, the pitches showcased technical ambition. Investors responded with engagement. The critical next steps are rigorous independent validation, clinical proof of concept and realistic plans to scale manufacturing and regulatory readiness.