FimmCyte

The EQT Foundation Holiday Hope Calendar is back for 2024! 🚀 Every day, we’re spotlighting inspiring founders and startups tackling some of the biggest challenges in climate and health. Kicking things off is FimmCyte—a pioneer in women’s health. Endometriosis affects millions, causing chronic pain, infertility, and a significant drop in quality of life. Yet, most treatments only manage symptoms, leaving patients in a relentless cycle of discomfort. FimmCyte is changing that. They’re developing a disease-modifying therapy for endometriosis, targeting the condition’s underlying drivers to deliver long-lasting relief, better fertility outcomes, and renewed hope for a pain-free future. This is more than innovation—it’s a breakthrough for millions. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/ez7GAKbe Founders: Mohaned Shilaih Valentina Vongrad

Welcome to the 4th episode of #WhatWomenWantToKnow - a series where I share evidence-based and data-driven knowledge about women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). This week’s focus is Endometriosis. Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women, but on average, it takes 7 to 10 years to receive a proper diagnosis for it. As women, we know our bodies better than anyone. Yet, too often, our pain is dismissed, and we’re told it’s “just period pain.” I’ve seen this all too often in my advocacy work, and it needs to stop. Early diagnosis is not just important—it’s life-changing. It’s the key to managing pain, protecting fertility, and improving quality of life. For those living with conditions like endometriosis, awareness is everything. When we educate ourselves, we empower ourselves. I urge every woman experiencing debilitating menstrual symptoms to speak up, ask questions, and explore all possible treatments, whether it’s hormonal therapy, lifestyle adjustments, or alternative solutions. Together, we can break the silence, push for timely diagnosis, and demand the care we deserve. It’s time to close the #GenderHealthGap and create a world where women’s pain is taken seriously. #WomensHealth #EndometriosisAwareness #HealthcareAdvocate

Turns out investing in women's health is a GREAT investment. Who knew. It's not just about money - but first the money bits: 💰 "An additional £1 invested in obstetrics and gynaecology services per woman in England could generate an estimated £319 million return to the economy." 💰 "Absenteeism from work due to heavy and painful periods, endometriosis, fibroids and ovarian cysts costs the UK economy nearly £11 billion every year." Two of many startling findings of the NHS Confederation x CF report into the economic case for investing in women's health - reminding us that investment here is important to alleviate intense human suffering AND because it makes financial sense for the economy. But it's not just about money. Putting more money into an officially broken system as Rt. Hon. Wes Streeting MP has pointed out is not the answer. The answer is to invest in new and better ways of supporting women, underpinned by all the tools we have at our disposal today - service design, digital and mobile tech, genetics and science, machine learning, AI. At Aneira Health we believe we need to invest SMARTER as well as MORE. cc Ben Richardson Lesley Regan Lucy Perez Valentina Sartori Dr Nikita Kanani MBE Paula Bellostas Muguerza Cecilia Lindgren Full report here:

The 'missed disease', affecting 10 % of women (5 % of humanity...), clearly needs more attention from the public, the industry, the investors, the politics and the health care systems ! Convincing investors and companies to set up an R&D program to address this huge unmet medical need is a very hard task, speaking from experience ! This editorial comment is welcome !

This is one of the few fact based (but easy to read) comparisons about the state of women’s health funding and research. Most interestingly, they used endometriosis and asthma as two examples of diseases with similar rate of occurrence in the population but which get massively different amount of research and VC funding. #womenshealth

Congrats to the two most recent UZH Life Sciences Fund portfolio companies FimmCyte (4th in Biotech, 28th overall) and Navignostics AG (5th in Biotech, 34th overall) for being recognized in the Top 100 Swiss Start-Ups!

Meet me at the Women's Health Innovation Summit in Boston between 23rd-25th of September and learn about FimmCyte's endometriosis disease modifying treatment and our financing round. #WHIS #WomensHealth

We are beyond thrilled that FimmCyte has ranked 4th in the biotech vertical and 28th overall in the Swiss Top 100 Startups! This recognition is a huge milestone in our journey to revolutionize endometriosis standard of care and improve the lives of the millions affected by this condition. Thank you to everyone who has supported and believed in our mission. The future of women's health is bright, and we’re just getting started! And as always big thanks to the team and everyone who supported and continues to support us! Valentina Vongrad Markus Kalousek Brigitte Leeners Maureen Cronin Janine Vetter BioInnovation Institute BaseLaunch USZ Health Innovation Hub UZH Life Sciences Fund Venture Kick Innosuisse Gebert Rüf Stiftung #Endometriosis #Biotech #WomensHealth #Innovation #TOP100SSU

💡 Erfunden an der UZH: Eine neue Therapie für Endometriose. Der Universität Zürich | University of Zurich-Spin-off FimmCyte entwickelt eine neue Endometriose-Therapie, die erstmals das Potenzial hat, die Krankheit zu verändern. «Der Schlüssel dazu ist ein bisher noch nicht beschriebenes Antigen, das sich auf der Oberfläche der Endometriosezellen befindet», erklärt Mohaned Shilaih, der das Protein zusammen mit Valentina Vongrad entdeckt hat, als beide im Labor von Brigitte Leeners, UZH-Professorin für Gynäkologische Endokrinologie und Reproduktionsmedizin, arbeiteten. Das Antigen wird genutzt, um die Endometriosezellen zu erkennen und mit Immunzellen gezielt anzugreifen und auszuschalten. Die bisherige Forschung mit Mäusen zeigt, dass eine dreiwöchige Therapie zu einem Rückgang der Endometriose um 50 Prozent führt. Eine längere Behandlung mit einer höheren Dosierung könnte die Krankheit ganz zum Verschwinden bringen, hofft Mohaned Shilaih. Bislang wurde Endometriose in der Regel operativ entfernt, begleitet durch eine Hormontherapie, die verhindern soll, dass sie wieder auftritt. Was trotzdem oft der Fall ist. Nun könnte dank der neuen Methode diese häufige und oft schmerzhafte Frauenkrankheit erstmals nachhaltig therapiert und allenfalls sogar geheilt werden. Bis es so weit ist, dürfte es noch acht bis zehn Jahre dauern. Im Moment läuft das Fundraising für die ersten klinischen Studien, die 2026 durchgeführt werden sollen. Benötigt werden 20 bis 25 Millionen Franken. Text: Thomas Gull (Quelle: UZH Magazin 2/24) #uzh #research #entrepreneurship #endometriosis

Join me and vote for the TOP 100 Swiss Startups 2024! 🏆 Public Voting for the TOP 100 is open until July 21, 2024. Eligible are Swiss startups founded on or after January 1st, 2019. Proud to see so many entrepreneurs from the University of Zurich on the voting list who we supported in our UZH Entrepreneur Fellowship Programme or were awared the UZH Startup label. aiEndoscopic | co-founded by Dave Gage (Fellow 2019) AiMorphous Health Aionite Capital askEarth | co-founded by Simon Gruening (Fellow 2022) Blockchain Presence BOW IT&T GmbH CASUS Celerato Clemedi | co-founded by Dr Prajwal (Fellow 2019) cobot solutions AG condenZero | co-founded by Denys Sutter (Fellow 2019) E-VENIO Everon AG FimmCyte | co-founded by Valentina Vongrad (Fellow 2022) InCephalo | co-founded by Michal Beffinger (Fellow 2020) Jurata KOVE medical Ltd | co-founded by Yannick Devaud (Fellow 2019) LifeMatrix Linkster Therapeutics | co-founded by Iwan Zimmermann (Fellow 2017) metaLead | co-founded by Michal Shoshan (Fellow 2023) MGME Neurotech | co-founded by Marcus Grüschow (Fellow 2022) MUVON Therapeutics AG | co-founded by Deana Mohr-Haralampieva (Fellow 2019 Navignostics AG PolygonSolutions GmbH Prometheus Life Technologies QRsens AG Recolony AG | co-founded by Ana Montalban-Arques (Fellow 2020) Reconnect Labs | co-founded by Dario-Alessandro Dornbierer (Fellow 2019) tosoo ag Vector BioPharma VenturePole 👉 Fast-track voting for UZH startups via: https://lnkd.in/dRmffc7K 👉 Overview TOP 100 Public Voting: https://lnkd.in/dCK4n6JT 💡 Learn how the Entrepreneur Fellowship Programme supports researchers to build a science-based company: https://lnkd.in/dBUhXtQ4 💡 Learn about UZH venture stories: https://lnkd.in/dBKPNUha #TOP100SSU Venturelab #SwissStartups #uzh #uzhinnovation #uzhventures UZH Innovation Hub #innovation #translation #prize #Switzerland https://lnkd.in/dApVYRzV