First FemTech accelerator in Switzerland

Have you ever wondered why so few anti-cancer drugs are available for patients, even though you always hear about new promising drugs in development or why so few cancer patients benefit from approved drugs? The sad news is that all these therapeutics work very well in artificial models or mouse models: far from the reality of cancer biology in patients!

Calico Biosystems is addressing the critical unmet need of the poor efficacy of cancer therapeutics for female patients with cancers. Cancer is a leading cause of death which kills one in six women. A main cause is the artificial models currently used for testing anti-cancer drug efficacy; they fail to recapitulate patient tumor complexity. Consequently, most anti-cancer drugs fail to reach approval due to a lack of efficacy and are extremely costly to develop. Further, approved anti-cancer drugs benefit only 10% of cancer patients.

Predicting the efficacy of drugs in patients

Calico Biosystems developed a novel approach capable of predicting the efficacy of anti-cancer drugs at a very early stage. In other words, they can tell pharma and biotech if their drug, for which they spend billions of dollars and years of development, will work for patients. How do they do it? They use the intact and untouched tumor of patients: this unique approach allows them to keep the complexity, the 3D structure, and the cellular components and their interactions of the tumor, which are known to affect the response to drugs. Not only that, but they have spent more than a decade developing a digital tool that simulates and predicts the most effective combinations of anti-cancer drugs to enhance dramatically clinical efficacy in patients. They worked on this platform for the last decade, testing over 250 human tumor samples and validating their results through 7 different studies, in which their predictions matched the clinical outcome of drugs in patients.

Gaining traction through partnering to predict clinical efficacy

Calico Biosystems works as a service provider, in a B2B model, where their customers are biotech, large pharma, and new AI-driven drug discovery companies. Calico Biosystems is a company in creation, with already strong customer traction: over the past 4 months, more than 20 potential customers have shown their interest in their platform and with whom they are negotiating deals while 2 customers have already signed LOIs with them. Moreover, they have been selected for the Tech4Eva cohort 2024 and the >>Venture>> showcase and they have successfully achieved the third stage of VentureKick, while securing 0.25M CHF funds, and gaining the possibility to secure additional funds for the seed A phase up to 0.6M CHF.

About the Team

Two scientists with years of experience in tumor biology and drug development in the public and private sectors, with differentiated and complementary skills.

‍Marie-Agnès Doucey is one of the few female CEO and Co-Founders in MedTech start-ups, with 15+ years’ experience in engineering, biochemistry, oncology, and systems immunology. ‍

Riccardo Turrini, CSO and Co-Founder, has 15+ years’ experience and is highly skilled in innovative and cutting-edge technologies and digital analysis approaches to decode the human tumor microenvironment.

‍In conversation with the Co-Founders:

Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs:

What we have learned, during these 12 months from the inception of Calico Biosystems, is to challenge your idea as much as possible, listen to all the comments and suggestions, and be ready to reshape your strategy at all levels: this is an exciting journey that needs a high dose of agility and openness to change.

About Tech4Eva

Being part of Tech4Eva cohort brought us 2 main opportunities:

1) Gain visibility by participating in showcases, congresses, and competitions

2) Leverage a network of experts to develop our business optimally: the best way to solve issues is by asking our peers and mentors, and Tech4Eva can provide both!

We believe that, in the future, more effective combinations of new or already approved drugs will show dramatic efficacy in patients, and the real turning point will be the adoption of precision oncology: identify the best drug for each patient. Calico Biosystems is at the forefront of these 2 innovations, and we are proud to shape a future where patients will have access to better and cheaper anti-cancer drugs.

More info: www.calicobiosystems.com

Calico Biosystems’ drug testing platform is a game changer in precision oncology