A scientist becomes a start-up leader a new treatment idea and the leadership work behind it

Dr Caroline Kniebs, cofounder and Chief Regulatory Officer at O11 biomedical, represents a familiar trajectory in European deep tech. Trained in research she helped to translate a laboratory insight into a company that has now secured EIC backing and is preparing for clinical testing. Her story intertwines a technical claim that challenges conventional respiratory care and participation in a targeted leadership programme run by the European Innovation Council and partners. The outcome is both a technological bet and a case study in how policy instruments try to move more women into leadership roles in deep tech.

The idea using the gut to remove carbon dioxide

O11 biomedical is proposing what it calls a radical rethink of respiratory support. The company has developed a drinkable formulation containing microparticles intended to capture carbon dioxide in the human gut. The aim is to create an alternative route of CO2 elimination for patients whose lungs can no longer expel carbon dioxide efficiently.

Medical and technical questions that remain

The concept is provocative and merits careful scrutiny. Using the gut to sequester CO2 raises questions about mechanism of action, safety, efficacy and manufacturability. Translating binding observed in controlled laboratory systems into clinically meaningful reduction of arterial CO2 in humans is not straightforward. The gut is a dynamic biological environment with mucus layers microbial communities and continuous transit. Any microparticles introduced there must be proven safe for repeated administration and not to cause local inflammation or systemic absorption of material that could have off-target effects. Regulators will want robust data on pharmacodynamics pharmacokinetics biocompatibility and long term tolerability.

Clinically the key end points will be objective measures of CO2 elimination and gas exchange as well as patient relevant outcomes such as need for ventilatory support hospital length of stay quality of life and adverse events. Manufacturing at scale will bring additional hurdles. Producing microparticles to medical standards ensuring batch consistency and sterile processing are non-trivial tasks for an early stage venture.

O11 biomedical in context funding and claimed impact

O11 biomedical is an EIC Accelerator awardee. The company reports having secured a €2.5 million grant from the EIC Accelerator in 2024. The organization frames its mission as transforming the lives of some 400 million COPD patients worldwide. That figure appears to be a broad estimate of global chronic respiratory disease burden rather than a precise market sizing for the specific patient population who would be candidates for this intervention. If clinical data validate efficacy and safety the treatment could have substantial impact but that is a large conditional statement at this stage.

From the lab to the boardroom personal transformation and leadership training

Dr Kniebs describes her own transition from academic researcher to start-up executive as a sharp shift in responsibilities and mindset. Winning EIC Accelerator funding was a milestone that brought business development duties and external-facing tasks such as pitching to investors. She applied to the EIC Women Leadership Programme to help bridge the gap between scientific expertise and leadership skills needed to run and scale a company.

What the EIC Women Leadership Programme is and what it does

Policy context and metrics what the EIC is trying to achieve

Supporting women innovators is one of the EIC strategic goals for 2021 to 2027. The Commission and implementing agencies report a range of figures to show progress. For example they note that 30 percent of companies supported in the EIC Accelerator in 2024 were women led and that the overall EIC portfolio includes a growing share of projects coordinated by women. These indicators show movement but do not by themselves prove systemic change. Access to capital and representation at later scaling stages remain weaknesses for many women led ventures across Europe.

The EIC Business Acceleration Services offers additional support lines such as investor readiness procurement matchmaking and internationalisation. Taken together these services try to address common failure points in scaling deep tech limited networks lack of commercial experience and investor access. Leadership training is a complementary measure that improves the readiness of potential founders and executives to use those services effectively.

Implications and what to watch next

Three developments will determine whether this story becomes a major medical advance or a cautionary example of early stage hype. First the clinical evidence. Preclinical success will need to be matched by meaningful human data demonstrating safe and sustained reduction in CO2 retention and measurable patient benefit. Second regulatory assessment and manufacturing scale. The product will need to satisfy medical device or drug regulatory frameworks depending on classification and demonstrate consistent manufacturing quality. Third market fit and competitive positioning. COPD care is a complex pathway with many interventions pharmacological and ventilatory and any new therapy must show clear comparative advantages and an acceptable cost benefit profile.

A practical note to other women researchers and founders

Dr Kniebs concludes with pragmatic advice invest in leadership development and build peer networks. Training and mentorship do not replace capital or clinical evidence but they can change the probability that a promising idea survives the difficult translational phase. For women researchers contemplating a move into entrepreneurship these programmes offer tools and contacts. Policy makers and funders should keep tracking outcomes beyond participation numbers follow the cohort alumni for funding outcomes exit rates and clinical milestones to assess whether leadership programmes produce durable change.

O11 biomedical will be among the ventures to watch over the next 12 to 18 months. If the planned clinical trial begins in spring 2026 and produces demonstrable results the technology will face intense scrutiny from clinicians regulators investors and patients. For now the combination of an unusual technical hypothesis and a structured leadership pathway for its founders is a useful illustration of how European innovation policy is trying to couple funding with human capital development.