 | Germany is a world leader in life sciences technology development. This arises in part because of the large public investments into technical and scientific education (with the resulting spin offs of technology companies) and because of a well developed medical sector. Europe has approximately 50% of the doctoral and post-doctoral employment in the world. |
Current Portfolio
MPET have acquired an effective controlling interest in Deutsche Life Sciences GmbH (“DLS”), a life sciences fund based in Berlin, Germany, originally established to invest in medical devices and drug development companies from Germany.
DLS has a portfolio of five companies:
- Berlin Heart AG (recently exited)
- Medical Enzymes AG
- Revotar Biopharmaceuticals AG
- Ganomycin GmbH
- SymbioTec GmbH
MillhouseIAG staff work with each of these portfolio companies, usually on a daily basis.
Ongoing management of Deutsche Life Sciences and of the portfolio companies is undertaken by MillhouseIAG resources in Australia, Singapore and Germany.
Berlin Heart AG – Berlin, Germany
The company that today is Berlin Heart AG was founded in 1996 to develop and market the results of leading edge research and development sponsored by government, universities and commercial interests in Berlin over the previous quarter of a century. And today Berlin Heart is a market leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of Ventricular Assist Devices (“VAD”) for end-stage congestive heart failure.
The company has a full product range on the European market, including a 3rd generation, friction-less, miniaturized implantable pump (forecast 2006: €13m sales).
Medical Enzymes AG – Berlin, Germany
Medical Enzymes AG is an innovative biopharmaceutical company founded in 1991. Its platform technology is based on amino acid depleting enzymes, in combination with a range of already proven cancer fighting drugs, to provide targeted delivery of these drugs with minimal side effects.
Medical Enzymes is currently in the Clinical proof of Concept for its leading product GlutaDON®. Medical Enzymes is negotiating with select pharmaceutical partners for large multi-million dollar licencing deals.
Revotar Biopharmaceuticals AG – Berlin, Germany
Revotar Biopharmaceuticals was founded in 2000. It is engaged in rational drug design developing innovative small molecule anti-inflammatory drugs for conditions such as asthma, psoriasis, sepsis, COPD and other inflammatory indications.
Revotar’s advanced drug candidate Bimosiamose has shown promising results in Phase II a (proof of concept) clinical trials in asthma and psoriasis which are continuing. The mechanism of Bimosiamose works extra-cellular and has a completely different mode of action to the anti-inflammatory Cox-2 inhibitors already in the market, such as the blockbuster Vioxx, all of which have proven to have serious side effects now limiting their use.
Ganomycin GmbH
Ganomycin GmbH was founded in July 2000 to extract, analyse, and patent the active ingredients from Ganoderma pfeifferi, a medicinal mushroom. The expert analysis and patenting of the ingredients from this variety of Ganoderma will enable the registration and marketing of pharmaceutical grade products, tested and certified for efficacy, to compete in and against a huge natural products market based on the widely used non-patentable and mostly uncertified products of Ganoderma lucidum.
SymbioTec GmbH
SymbioTec GmbH was founded in 1988. It is engaged in the development of oncolytic protein pharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer. It has isolated Histone H1 a genuine oncolytic protein that has shown good indications in preliminary trials.
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