Home Interviews Sprint Bioscience CEO comments on deal potential

Sprint Bioscience CEO comments on deal potential

Sprint Bioscience CEO Johan Emilsson at LSX

Sprint Bioscience CEO comments on deal potential

9 October, 2024

The LSX Nordic Partnering and Investor Congress is in full swing in Copenhagen, and Sprint Bioscience is one of the attending companies. BioStock met with CEO Johan Emilsson and picked his brain on the market climate, the potential of preclinical partnering, and the development of the TREX-1 program.

Huddinge-based Sprint Bioscience specialises in preclinical drug development with a designated focus on oncology. The company is developing molecules that inhibit target proteins that play a role in cancer, aiming for early out-licensing agreements. The portfolio currently consists of six programs, one of which was licensed by American Day One Biopharmaceuticals in 2023.

Clinical Proof-of-Concept is often considered a prerequisite for Big Pharma investment in the biotech space. In addition, challenging conditions in the capital markets have made the major players increasingly risk-aware, and as a result, an increasing portion of the capital has been allocated to late-stage projects. If you zoom out, however, the picture shows something different.

In fact, the vast majority of signed licensing and partnership agreements cover preclinical projects. An article in Nature states that, during the period 2015-2022, 73 per cent of all licensing deals in the oncology space were for preclinical projects. According to Sprint Bioscience, they get continuous signals confirming that the appetite for innovative research at an early stage is still significant.

– We are targeting the largest market regarding licensing opportunities, says CEO Johan Emilsson to BioStock.

Watch the full interview with him directly from LSX, below:

YouTube video

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