Pureos has become the first venture capital partner of BaseLaunch Phase II, the Basel area-based biotech venture accelerator and incubator in Switzerland run and financed by Basel Area Business & Innovation, the region’s investment and innovation promotion agency. Roche committed to the second phase of BaseLaunch last month.
Roche had already been a partner for BaseLaunch during its first phase, which during 2018 and 2019 involved the accelerator supporting nine early therapeutic ventures including Alentis Therapeutics, which is developing treatments for advanced fibrotic diseases such as liver fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.
Pureos, advised by healthcare investors Bellevue Asset Management and run by managing partners Martin Münchbach (who had run BB Biotech Ventures since 2004) and Klaus Breiner, co-led Alentis’ series A round in April 2019.
Harmeier said: “The Pureos team worked closely with BaseLaunch during the series A funding of Alentis Therapeutics and has been very impressed by the team and the quality of the selected programs. As the sole Swiss venture capital fund to join, we look forward to developing our partnership further to support and invest in the next generation of innovative drug development companies in Switzerland and beyond.”
