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Life Sciences Startups: Innovations for the Future

19. September 2024

Life sciences in Austria has emerged as a dynamic and future-oriented sector in which startups play an important role. Thanks to their innovative strength and frequently a close cooperation with research institutions, they make a major contribution to developing new therapies and technologies which are applied in medicine and other spheres of biosciences. A brief look at three particularly exciting startups – Solgate, Proxygen and Cellectric – illustrates their innovative strength and the related potential.

Solgate, a spin-off of the Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (CeMM) and the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), is working on the development of drugs based on so-called solute carriers. These transport proteins, which been remained largely unused up until now, should be applied to treat neurological diseases, cancer and metabolic disorders. The innovative concept of the Lower Austrian company promises to yield new therapeutic approaches in areas where conventional therapies have reached the limits of their effectiveness.

Proxygen, a Viennese startup, is pursuing just as ambitious an approach. The spin-off of CeMM is developing molecular glue degraders making protein classes accessible which have been out of reach up until now for classical pharmacology. This technology opens up the possibility of targeting diseases which are difficult to treat. What is highly remarkable is the company’s own “discovery machine” which Proxygen developed. It is designed to enable molecular glue degraders to be identified on a large scale. The strategic partnerships which the startup has concluded with Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), Boehringer Ingelheim and Merck KGaA underline the significant potential of this technology.

Another exciting startup is Cellectric, a spin-off of the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT). Cellectric leverages the electrical charge of cell membranes in order to be able to work with cells in a completely new way. Based on so-called electrodynamics, this technology could have a revolutionary impact on biology and medicine. By researching into and making use of the “electrome” i.e., the electrical properties of cells, the young company is opening up new possibilities in the fields of cell biology and therapy. Established in 2021, the company has expanded to include a team of more than 20 people from 14 nations, with experts from universities such as the University of Cambridge and ETH Zurich.