The Venture Leader Biotech overcoming the limitations of brain cancer therapy – Venturelab

This fall, the Venture Leaders Biotech will represent Swiss innovation in the United States. To select the 10 featured startups, a jury of professional investors and medtech experts reviewed 90 applications. These startups improve diagnostics, treatments, and well-being with innovative solutions that cover artificial intelligence, sensors, smart devices, and robotics. Allow us to introduce you to each of the Venture Leaders Biotech 2022 ahead of the September 2022 roadshow in Boston and Cambridge: Meet Carlo Bertozzi, the CEO of InCephalo.

Name: Carlo Bertozzi

Location: Zurich

Nationality: Swiss and Italian

Graduated from: University of Zurich, Ph.D. (2014); International Institute for Management Development, MBA (2021)

Job title: CEO

Number of employees: 8

Money raised: Undisclosed

First touchpoint with Venturelab: 2013, with my first company idea. That actually never made it beyond the conceptual stage.

Explain in one or two short sentences what your startup does and why: Our Compartment-Locked technology allows the creation of tailor-made molecules for local application to brain cancer – for better treatment outcomes.

How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup?

In 2014, I learned that one of my mentors had developed a brain tumor. So, I started to dive into the field of brain cancer therapies. In my discussions with a preclinical expert for brain cancer diseases, I learned a lot about local medicines for cancers and their limitations. Together we wanted to overcome these limitations and create tailor-made drugs for brain cancer patients.

What do you expect from the Venture Leaders roadshow, and how will it help you achieve your vision?

Increased exposure of our technology and company to investors and potential collaborators.

Who does your product or solution help, and how?

We overcome the limitations of many brain cancer therapies. Often brain cancer therapies do not sufficiently reach the brain cancer due to the blood-brain barrier. Therefore, neurosurgeons usually apply drugs directly to brain cancer. But these locally used drugs do

not stay long enough at the cancer site to make a difference and accumulate in the body. Therefore, we created the compartment-locked technology. They are allowing neurosurgeons to apply tailor-made drugs for local applications.

What are you most excited about at work right now?

The idea that one day our drug candidate could help patients.

How did you build your team? 

We started InCephalo with a clear disease indication in mind. Then we built the technology around it, and as the last step, we are now building a team of world-class advisory and core members. We find members through our own network by being resilient and only working with the best.

Which market are you addressing and what is the potential of your startup?

The brain cancer space has a significant unmet medical need.

What are your key achievements to date?

Build a team and advisors of world-renown experts in their particular fields.

What is one thing not many people know about you? 

I am the father of two beautiful children and the proud husband of a successful book writer and entrepreneur in dietetics.

What is your favorite book and why? 

Hostage at the Table: How Leaders Can Overcome Conflict, Influence Others, and Raise Performance by George Kohlrieser. It allows me to understand certain situations and people’s reactions better.

Who inspires you and why?

Domenico Valerio. A serial entrepreneur who connects science and people to create great companies.

What is the most challenging aspect of being a founder? 

No one pushes or motivates you, which can be lonely at times.

The Venture Leaders Biotech program is co-organized by Venturelab and Swissnex Boston and supported by Debiopharm, EPFL Lausanne, ETH Zurich, EY – Ernst & Young, Swiss Biotech Association, VISCHER, Hansjörg Wyss, and Venture Leaders alum Ulf Grawunder.

InCephalo is a preclinical stage biotech company founded in May 2021. InCephalo’s six (6) founders with various backgrounds came together with the vision of making a difference in the lives of those b… Read more