Debiopharm ringfences new seed funding for digital health

Debiopharm Innovation Fund announced the launch of a new seed funding initiative on Thursday aimed at transforming pharmaceutical R&D and advancing digital innovation in cancer care. The strategic investment arm of Swiss drugmaker Debiopharm plans to deploy capital to support up to 15 seed-stage start-ups each year.

Marc Cikes, managing director of the fund, said Debiopharm foresees "a future where data sets the stage for the entire value chain of drug development, from generating novel drug designs to predicting clinical trial outcomes." He said by using the fund's "extensive knowledge and expertise, start-ups will have the ability to grow into scalable, investment-ready companies that will have a lasting impact on patients worldwide."

The fund has invested in 15 artificial intelligence (AI) and digital health companies since 2017. Debiopharm said the new investments will support several areas, including the next generation of pharma R&D, new technology solutions for more patient-centric approaches in clinical trials, along with digital platforms uncovering insights from clinical data for more personalised care pathways. 

Two firms nab funding

The initiative has already kicked off with two seed investments, with two more underway. The fund has backed Swiss start-up Tune Insight, which is offering a privacy-preserving data collaboration platform to train AI models through secure federated learning, and UK-based Neuroute, which is working on a no-code AI clinical development platform to streamline critical processes in clinical studies. Neuroute CEO Livia Lifes said the company is "on track to make monumental progress…which will enable transformative medicines to be brought to patients more effectively and efficiently."

Nicolas Stalder, senior investment associate at the fund, told FirstWord HealthTech that most of its current investments are Series A, which Debiopharm "will keep supporting as [the companies] progress through their path to scale." Meanwhile, the fund will also back the most successful seed-stage start-ups through their subsequent Series A financing in its latest initiative.

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