Jerome Van Biervliet

As Flanders healthtech cluster, MEDVIA fosters innovations in healthcare by facilitating and supporting collaborations among companies, research centers, universities and healthcare institutions. An industry-driven network, we fund projects that provide solutions to unmet medical needs.

ExeVir Bio, a spin out of VIB, is harnessing its Llama-derived antibody (VHH) technology platform to generate robust antiviral therapies providing broad protection against coronaviruses. ExeVir Bio is using a highly innovative and clinically validated VHH technology to develop treatments for viral infections that may pose a significant global threat. Our lead compound, an enhanced variant of VHH72-Fc binds to a unique epitope that is conserved in SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 viruses and this binding prevents these viruses from entering the cell. The importance of this approach is that it could be used both as a therapeutic and prophylactic. Therapeutic use could help slow viral replication in the lungs, reduce inflammation, and give patients valuable time to raise their own productive immune response. Prophylactic use could support the ringfencing of an outbreak, protect healthcare workers, caregivers and support those at increased risk of severe illness from Covid-19.

Confo Therapeutics’ unparalleled technology stabilizes functional conformations of GPCRs (G protein-coupled receptors) to uncover a wide range of previously inaccessible GPCRs as drug targets. This technology platform combined with the pharmacologic and biologic insight it provides, allows Confo to build a multi-indication pipeline of drug candidates with the potential to transform therapeutic outcomes for patients with severe illnesses lacking disease-modifying treatments. Confo Therapeutics was spun out of Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and VIB in 2015. Supported by international life-science focused investors and led by an experienced team of entrepreneurial professionals and scientists from successful biopharmaceutical companies, Confo Therapeutics benefits from the rich scientific and innovative ecosystem in Belgium. For more information: www.confotherapeutics.com

Augustine Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on the treatment of neuromuscular, neurodegenerative and cardio-metabolic diseases through its next-generation approach to selectively inhibit HDAC6. Augustine’s HDAC6 inhibitors have been purposefully designed to selectively inhibit HDAC6 while preserving its beneficial non-catalytic functions. Augustine’s lead program, AGT-100216, is the first selective HDAC6 inhibitor for long-term treatment of Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease. With its novel non-hydroxamate, non-hydrazide producing chemotype, Augustine’s HDAC6 approach is selective, avoids the limitations of other chemotypes, and built for chronic diseases. With this novel approach, the Company will also be targeting diseases beyond CMT, including neurodegenerative and cardio-metabolic diseases. Augustine Therapeutics was founded on the ground-breaking research of Prof. Ludo Van Den Bosch from the VIB-KU Leuven in Belgium. ——— *Disclaimer* ——— We wish to caution jobseekers that Augustine Therapeutics, only recruits for the positions that are posted on the company’s webpage and via the channels mentioned there. It will also not charge fees of any kind from candidates during the recruitment process. Any person or organization dealing with unauthorized parties is doing so at their own risk.

Oncurious NV is a Belgium-based biotech company focused on developing innovative oncology treatments derived from a series of promising new targets that are designed to enhance T cell activity, migration and influx into resistant tumor sites, boosting the patient’s own immune response against cancer. The company's lead immuno-oncology asset is a Treg-depleting asset, targeting a protein specifically expressed on Tregs in the tumor microenvironment. The program is in lead optimization. The company's two other programs are focused on T cell migration and are in the discovery stages.

Strada Partners is a European growth-oriented investment firm founded by Bart Wouters and Matthias Vandepitte, who have a combined 25+ years of experience in private equity. The teams track record includes investments across several industries, with a particular focus on software, tech-enabled services and healthcare. We build a concentrated portfolio of companies we can support over the longer term and provide with the necessary tools to compound growth on a pan-European level. We provide patient capital, with impatience to succeed. We are not afraid of the road less travelled, we are in it for the journey. Stay tuned!

As Flanders healthtech cluster, MEDVIA fosters innovations in healthcare by facilitating and supporting collaborations among companies, research centers, universities and healthcare institutions. An industry-driven network, we fund projects that provide solutions to unmet medical needs.

flanders.bio is the cluster organisation empowering a life sciences driven network economy. We help our members to create value by organising networking and training activities, supporting internationalisation, providing services and building expertise.

ExeVir Bio, a spin out of VIB, is harnessing its Llama-derived antibody (VHH) technology platform to generate robust antiviral therapies providing broad protection against coronaviruses. ExeVir Bio is using a highly innovative and clinically validated VHH technology to develop treatments for viral infections that may pose a significant global threat. Our lead compound, an enhanced variant of VHH72-Fc binds to a unique epitope that is conserved in SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 viruses and this binding prevents these viruses from entering the cell. The importance of this approach is that it could be used both as a therapeutic and prophylactic. Therapeutic use could help slow viral replication in the lungs, reduce inflammation, and give patients valuable time to raise their own productive immune response. Prophylactic use could support the ringfencing of an outbreak, protect healthcare workers, caregivers and support those at increased risk of severe illness from Covid-19.

Confo Therapeutics’ unparalleled technology stabilizes functional conformations of GPCRs (G protein-coupled receptors) to uncover a wide range of previously inaccessible GPCRs as drug targets. This technology platform combined with the pharmacologic and biologic insight it provides, allows Confo to build a multi-indication pipeline of drug candidates with the potential to transform therapeutic outcomes for patients with severe illnesses lacking disease-modifying treatments. Confo Therapeutics was spun out of Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and VIB in 2015. Supported by international life-science focused investors and led by an experienced team of entrepreneurial professionals and scientists from successful biopharmaceutical companies, Confo Therapeutics benefits from the rich scientific and innovative ecosystem in Belgium. For more information: www.confotherapeutics.com