Winner: Audience Award for Best Pitch at the BIO-Europe 2018 Startup Slam!

Nov 7, 2018

Copenhagen, Denmark, 7 November 2018 / EBD Group / -- BIO-Europe® Copenhagen’s Startup Slam Winner 2018: SunRegen Healthcare AG

  • Winner SunRegen Healthcare is focused on innovative treatments for patients with neurodegenerative eye diseases

  • Eight short-listed life sciences startups pitched to an expert judging panel at the fifth Startup Slam competition at BIO-Europe®

  • Startup Slam sponsor and co-host Johnson & Johnson Innovation recognize high caliber of entries from Czech Republic, Denmark, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States

  • reVision Therapeutics was selected for the inaugural Audience Choice Award

Copenhagen, Denmark, 7 November 2018 –SunRegen Healthcare was announced as the winner of the BIO-Europe® 2018 Startup Slam competition, held in Copenhagen. Dr Yuhong Dong, Director and co-founder of SunRegen presented on how the company’s therapeutic is a potentially transformative healthcare solution for neurodegenerative eye diseases. SunRegen receives a complimentary registration to BIO-Europe Spring® 2019 in Vienna, plus access to a top-tier mentoring program with industry experts from Johnson & Johnson Innovation. Additionally, REVision Therapeutics, focused on repurposed drugs for the treatment of ophthalmic diseases, was selected for the inaugural Audience Choice award.

Eight life sciences startups pitched at this popular session, sponsored and co-hosted by Johnson & Johnson Innovation for the fifth time running. Contestants had three minutes each to present their company and innovation to a panel of experienced investors and potential collaboration partners.

This year’s line-up of innovative startups included digital health, therapeutics, and diagnostics companies, developing novel therapeutics for the potential treatment of diabetes, neurological and ophthalmic diseases, as well as diagnostics for cancer and mental health. The finalists were selected from over 60 applications, the largest number received by the Startup Slam to date.

Sir Harpal Kumar, Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, EMEA*, based in the London Innovation Centre, said: “Today’s world presents new challenges and new diseases—which is why Johnson & Johnson Innovation is committed to accelerating healthcare innovation and supporting great ideas no matter where they come from. The Startup Slam at BIO-Europe reflects the high caliber of life sciences research going on worldwide, and we look forward to providing mentorship to SunRegen Therapeutics as they develop transformative healthcare solutions for neurodegenerative eye diseases.”

Ingrid Teigland Akay, Managing Partner at Hadean Ventures and one of the judges said: “The life science industry is currently offering highly attractive investment opportunities based on unprecedented rapid progress in science and technology. Today’s Startup Slam showcased a number of such emerging companies developing promising new healthcare products. I was very impressed by the high quality throughout and congratulate SunRegen Therapeutics as a very worthy winner amongst fierce competition. It was a great atmosphere during the event and it was a pleasure to contribute as a judge.”

The eight short-listed life science companies that presented at BIO-Europe Copenhagen’s Startup Slam were:

  • Abarceo Pharma, developing novel therapeutics for type-2 diabetes, from Lund, Sweden

  • Braizon Therapeutics, focused on the application and implementation of innovative technology for the delivery of drugs to the brain, from Tokyo, Japan

  • Cambridge Cancer Genomics, using blood tests to guide smarter cancer therapy, from Cambridge, UK

  • Hoba Therapeutics, developing innovative effective, safe and disease modifying treatments to patients living with neuropathic pain, from Copenhagen, Denmark

  • Kutanios, developing a new skincare ingredient to protect skin against ageing, based in the UK

  • Mindpax, with a system for collecting and analyzing data in order to predict mental health attacks, based in Prague, Czech Republic

  • REVision Therapeutics, developing repurposed drugs for the treatment of ophthalmic diseases based in New Jersey, USA

  • SunRegen Healthcare, focused on innovative treatments for patients with neurodegenerative eye diseases, based in Basel, Switzerland

The expert judging panel consisted of Guenter Huhle, Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS, EMEA*; Ingrid Teigland Akay, Managing Partner, Hadean Ventures; Claus Andersson, Partner, Sunstone Life Science Ventures; Dr. Stefan Luzi, Partner, Glide Healthcare; and Anna Gran*, New Venture Lead, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Nordics.

Previous Startup Slam winners were Amylon Therapeutics (Fall 2017), Peptomyc (Spring 2017), EpiAxis Therapeutics (Fall 2016) and QureTech Bio (Spring 2016).


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* Harpal Kumar is an employee of Johnson & Johnson Medical Limited; Guenter Huhle is an employee of Janssen-Cilag GmbH; Anna Gran is an employee of Janssen-Cilag OY.