SunRegen Healthcare was announced as the winner of the BIO-Europe 2018 Startup Slam competition, held in Copenhagen.
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.
Neurodegenerative eye diseases
The winner, 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.
“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,” commented Ingrid Teigland Akay, Managing Partner at Hadean Ventures and one of the judges.
