EIC ePitching spotlights eight EIC-backed cancer therapeutics and secures investor follow ups

Brussels, March 4th 2025

Summary

›Eight EIC-backed companies presented next generation cancer therapies during an online ePitching on 25 February 2025.
›Around 20 investors attended and organisers recorded almost 30 investor follow-up meetings with the presenting companies.
›Peptomyc won first place for its MYC-targeting mini-protein OMO-103, with ErVimmune and Hemispherian tying for second.
›The session was organised under the EIC Investor Readiness and Outreach Programme, part of the EIC Business Acceleration Services.
›Investors praised the one-on-one follow up format but speakers and observers warned that clinical validation and further capital remain decisive hurdles.

EIC ePitching on Cancer Prevention and Care: spotlight on next generation therapeutics

On 25 February 2025 the European Innovation Council staged an online ePitching focused on cancer prevention and care. The event was run under the EIC Investor Readiness and Outreach Programme which is part of the EIC Business Acceleration Services. Eight EIC-backed companies pitched therapeutic and diagnostic approaches aimed at difficult oncological problems. Organisers said around 20 investors participated and that the session generated almost 30 follow-up one-to-one meetings between investors and the selected innovators.

Who pitched and what they are developing

The day featured a geographically diverse lineup of clinical stage and late preclinical companies. Their approaches ranged from targeted small molecules and prodrugs to cell-penetrating mini-proteins, peptide delivery platforms and AI diagnostics. Investors voted Peptomyc first place. ErVimmune and Hemispherian tied for second.

Company	Country	Technology or modality	Lead asset or focus	Stage / notes
Ability Pharma	Spain	Small molecule inducing autophagy-mediated cancer cell death	ABTL0812	Clinical stage. Phase 2b in pancreatic cancer; trials in Spain, USA, France, Israel
Apmonia Therapeutics	France	Peptide-based therapies targeting tumour microenvironment	AP-01 and other candidates	Preclinical to early development. EIC Accelerator funding awarded previously
Convert Pharmaceuticals	Belgium	Hypoxia-activated prodrug and biomarker-driven precision medicine	CP-506	Clinical trials ongoing. Biomarker development for patient selection
DoMore Diagnostics	Norway	AI-based digital biomarkers in pathology	Histotype Px® Colorectal	CE-marked product. Published, patented, used for outcome prediction in stage II/III colorectal cancer
ErVimmune	France	Cancer vaccines and T cell therapies based on endogenous retrovirus derived epitopes	Pipeline of immunotherapies	Spin-off from Centre Léon Bérard. Platform uses AI and data science to identify shared tumour epitopes
Gate2Brain	Spain	Peptide shuttle platform to cross biological barriers including blood-brain barrier	G2B-002 (flagship)	Preclinical. Orphan Drug Designation granted for G2B-002. Targeting rare paediatric solid tumours
Hemispherian	Norway	Small molecules that modulate DNA damage response by activating TET2	GLIX1	Late preclinical. Efficacy in animal models including glioblastoma; toxicology studies show safety
Peptomyc	Spain	Cell penetrating mini-proteins targeting transcription factor MYC	OMO-103	Clinical stage. Completed Phase 1 showing safety and signal of activity. Ongoing Phase 2 studies

Company profiles and technical notes

Peptomyc and MYC targeting:Peptomyc is a spin-off from the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology. It develops cell-penetrating mini-proteins derived from Omomyc to inhibit MYC a transcription factor deregulated in an estimated 70 percent of cancers. OMO-103 completed a Phase 1 trial that the company says demonstrated safety, target engagement and early clinical activity. Peptomyc is running disease specific Phase 2 trials including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and osteosarcoma and says it is preparing further studies that would strengthen its clinical case before partnering with large pharma.

Ability Pharma and autophagy-mediated cytotoxicity:Ability Pharma develops first-in-class oral drugs that induce cytotoxic autophagy selectively in cancer cells. Its lead compound ABTL0812 is in a Phase 2b double blind placebo controlled trial in metastatic pancreatic cancer and has completed earlier Phase 2a studies with signal data reported in endometrial and lung cancer. Autophagy modulation is a complex biology with context dependent effects and clinical demonstration of selective tumour cytotoxicity will be critical for investor confidence.

Convert Pharmaceuticals and hypoxia-activated prodrugs:Convert focuses on hypoxia-activated prodrugs. These molecules remain relatively inert in normal oxygen conditions and activate in the low oxygen environment common inside solid tumours. CP-506 is its lead candidate. The company also emphasises development of companion biomarkers to identify patients whose tumours show the profile required for the prodrug to convert into its active form inside cancer tissue.

DoMore Diagnostics and AI histopathology biomarkers:DoMore Diagnostics offers AI derived digital biomarkers for personalised cancer treatment. Its Histotype Px® Colorectal is published, patented and CE marked. The marker aims to predict outcome and guide adjuvant chemotherapy decisions for stage II and III colorectal cancer following surgery. The company recently secured EIC Accelerator funding combining grants and equity according to public disclosures.

ErVimmune and endogenous retrovirus epitopes:ErVimmune mines human endogenous retrovirus sequences as a source of shared unconventional tumour epitopes. The firm uses proprietary data science and AI to identify epitopes that can be presented broadly across patients. The company is developing cancer vaccines and T cell therapies intended to engage tumours classified as immunologically cold which currently respond poorly to checkpoint inhibitors.

Gate2Brain and peptide shuttles across biological barriers:Gate2Brain has developed three families of peptide shuttles designed to improve delivery of cargoes including small molecules, peptides, proteins and antibodies across barriers such as the blood brain barrier, blood retinal barrier and tumour stroma. Its G2B-002 has received Orphan Drug Designation from both the EMA and FDA and is intended for rare paediatric solid tumours. Delivery across the blood brain barrier is a longstanding translational bottleneck and peptide shuttles aim to address that pharmacokinetic challenge.

Hemispherian and TET2 activation:Hemispherian develops a novel small molecule class that restores a specific epigenetic base and thereby activates the TET2 enzyme. This triggers the DNA damage response selectively in cancer cells and can produce cytotoxicity. GLIX1 cured aggressive tumours in animal models including glioblastoma and was well tolerated in toxicology studies. The company also reports that GLIX1 can potentiate PARP inhibitors which is relevant to combination therapy strategies.

Jury, investor attendance and format

The presenting companies pitched to a panel of high level investors from a broad spectrum of European and international life sciences funds and corporate venture arms. Participating investor organisations included Ananda Impact Ventures Armilar Venture Partners BioGeneration Ventures Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund Bullnet Capital Clinical Research Ventures EQT Life Sciences High-Tech Gründerfonds Indaco Venture Partners Invivo Partners MIG AG Panakès Partners Supernova Invest V-Bio Ventures Verve Ventures XAnge YAYA Capital and Ysios Capital. Organisers highlighted the session format as a combination of a short pitch followed by the possibility for investors to schedule one-to-one meetings right after presentations. Several investors praised the format for enabling efficient follow ups and deeper technical conversations.

Investor comments:Sebastian Kreuz, Executive Director of Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, described the session as well organised and valued the focused one-on-one discussions. Maurits Brandt, Senior Associate at Novo Holdings, said the format allowed investors to move from introductions to substantive conversations quickly and welcomed the chance to participate again.

Winners and reactions from founders

Investors voted Peptomyc first place. ErVimmune and Hemispherian tied for second. Peptomyc’s co founder and Chief Scientific Officer Marie Eve Beaulieu said Omomyc changed the dogma on MYC inhibition and that the company is seeking further clinical data and funding before announcing larger partnerships. ErVimmune’s CEO Nathalie Donne welcomed the event as a differentiated platform that clarifies investor focus areas and saves time for companies. Hemispherian’s CEO Zeno Albisser called the session a valuable opportunity to connect with investors and industry peers.

What the EIC programme offers and metrics

The ePitching sits inside the EIC Investor Readiness and Outreach Programme which is part of the EIC Business Acceleration Services. The programme provides investor readiness support such as pitch deck reviews investor matchmaking benchmarking reports and access to VC resources. Since 2021 EIC BAS programmes report thousands of one to one meetings hundreds of deals and hundreds of millions of euros of investor interest. The EIC emphasises follow up introductions through its Trusted Investor Network and EIC Fund related activities.

EIC BAS headline figures:Public EIC figures cited by organisers include over 20 000 one to one meetings facilitated since 2021 around €350 million raised through investor outreach and more than €1.2 billion of follow on financing claimed for Scaling Club members overall. The EIC also runs international expansion and procurement matchmaking programmes and offers coaching and training to awardees.

Analysis and implications for startups and investors

The event illustrates how publicly backed acceleration services can help deep tech and biotech startups gain investor visibility. The one-to-one meeting format is useful to move beyond pitch decks and to test scientific and clinical hypotheses with technically literate investors. That said investor interest at pitching events is an early step. For therapeutics the path to commercial deals requires robust clinical data regulatory strategy clarity on intellectual property freedom to operate and realistic manufacturing and commercialisation plans. Many of the presenting companies have promising preclinical or early clinical results but will need significant capital and time to reach inflection points such as pivotal trials or licenceable clinical proof of concept.

Investors are selective in late stage life sciences and often look for combination of strong human data credible biomarkers for patient selection and scalable manufacturing plans. Diagnostics and AI companies may face faster commercialisation paths but regulatory scrutiny of AI models and clinical validation in diverse cohorts are increasingly determinative. Delivery platforms such as Gate2Brain face an additional translational hurdle in demonstrating reproducible distribution and safety in humans.

Practical next steps for the presenting companies

1. Convert early interest into measurable milestones. Use the investor follow ups to secure term sheets or targeted bridge funding aimed at prespecified milestones such as biomarker driven cohort readouts or IND enabling studies. 2. Strengthen regulatory plans. For those claiming Orphan Drug Designation or planning US trials ensure clear cross jurisdiction strategy and early dialogue with regulators. 3. Validate biomarkers and patient selection. Precision oncology investors now expect companion diagnostics or convincing stratification strategies. 4. Prepare scalable manufacturing. Peptide and mini protein therapeutics require supply chain and CMC planning that can become a gating factor for partnerships. 5. Maintain realistic timelines. Drug development remains capital intensive and time consuming. Founders should aim to present clear go to market or partnering scenarios for the next 12 to 24 months.

Event follow ups and upcoming EIC sessions

Organisers reported almost 30 follow up meetings emerging from this pitching. The EIC Investor Readiness and Outreach Programme announced further pitching sessions in 2025 including a deep tech focused session in France on 11 March and a climate tech session on 2 April at the EIC Summit in Brussels. The programme continues to accept applications and to run investor readiness activities for eligible EIC awardees and Seal of Excellence holders.

Full list of investor organisations represented at the pitching

Investor / Fund

Ananda Impact Ventures

Armilar Venture Partners

BioGeneration Ventures

Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund

Bullnet Capital

Clinical Research Ventures

EQT Life Sciences

High-Tech Gründerfonds

Indaco Venture Partners Sgr

Invivo Partners

MIG AG

Panakès Partners

Supernova Invest

V-Bio Ventures

Verve Ventures

XAnge

YAYA Capital

Ysios Capital

Caveats and closing observations

Pitching events are valuable to create visibility and to open channels with investors. They are not substitutes for rigorous scientific validation or for careful commercial planning. Public programmes such as the EIC provide a useful bridging function between European science and private capital. That role is important because Europe still lags the United States in venture capital depth for late stage biotech. Founders should nonetheless treat investor enthusiasm as conditional. The decisive tests remain reproducible human efficacy safety and a clear route to market or strategic partnership.

For innovators and investors following the EIC calendar the next concrete dates to watch are the deep tech session scheduled for 11 March and the climate tech slot at the EIC Summit on 2 April. The EIC Business Acceleration Services also offer coaching matchmaking and procurement support that can complement fundraising activities.