Unlocking the biotech blockade through financial support for visionary concepts, rather than collections of data
Deep Science Ventures (DSV) is transforming the biotech startup landscape by adopting a unique approach to early-stage innovation, a "zero-data" approach that fundamentally changes how biotech startups are founded and funded.
Instead of requiring extensive experimental data upfront to justify investment, DSV backs ideas based on strong scientific rationale, first principles, and the expertise of the founding team. This shift treats biology as an engineering problem, assembled from proven scientific components. By doing so, they aim to reduce early scientific risk and drastically speed up innovation cycles.
One of the key elements of DSV's approach is the Zero-Data Biotech Model. This model funds projects before conventional academic proof of concept, relying on rigorous scientific reasoning and existing validated components. This speeds up startup formation and innovation since companies do not have to wait years for academic validation.
Another crucial aspect is the Engineering-Driven Design. By using "battle-hardened" scientific components and modular engineering design, DSV aims for a high (>80%) success rate in achieving proof-of-concept, which contrasts with typical biotech failure rates. This design-led strategy reduces development risk.
DSV also offers Early and Lower-Valuation Investment. Traditional venture capital usually competes for academic spinouts with inflated valuations, but DSV offers a method to invest earlier and at more reasonable valuations, allowing investors to shape startups from the ground up.
The approach emphasizes Speed and Efficiency. Inspired by historical biotech successes like Genentech and Moderna, the approach emphasizes conviction in underlying scientific components for rapid development, allowing startups to move quickly from concept to potential clinical testing without prolonged validation delays.
This approach effectively breaks the early-stage "innovation bottleneck" in biotech by enabling more ideas to be tested and developed rapidly with reduced risk, increasing the flow of viable biotech startups and expanding opportunities for investors and policymakers to foster biotech invention on a larger scale.
Kerstin Papenfuss, the Director of Pharma at Deep Science Ventures, is at the forefront of this revolution. With a decade of experience in therapeutic innovation, she has founded 10 therapeutics enabling tech companies and manages a portfolio of 15 pharma companies. Her expertise includes translating cutting-edge science into investable and impactful ventures, securing significant collaborations from organizations like the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Innovate UK.
The author proposes a shift in mindset in the biotech industry, suggesting that failure rate is not a good measure of ambition, but rather a measure of bad design. Instead, the author suggests a target of an 80% success rate in biotech inventions. To further diversify the funding landscape in biotech, the author suggests supporting "innovation grants" accessible to independent teams, creating dedicated research spaces outside academia, and streamlining regulatory pathways for low-risk biological materials.
In conclusion, Deep Science Ventures is reimagining biotech startups by funding scientifically grounded ideas without requiring extensive early experimental data, using an engineering and modular design framework to increase success rates, accelerate innovation, reduce risks, and address the early-stage funding gap that traditionally slows biotech innovation.
[1] Deep Science Ventures. (n.d.). About Us. Retrieved from https://deepscienceventures.com/about/
- Deep Science Ventures (DSV) is revolutionizing the biotech startup landscape by adopting a unique "zero-data" approach that changes how biotech startups are founded and funded.
- DSV backs ideas based on strong scientific rationale, first principles, and the expertise of the founding team, treating biology as an engineering problem that can be assembled from proven scientific components.
- The Zero-Data Biotech Model funds projects before conventional academic proof of concept, relying on rigorous scientific reasoning and existing validated components to reduce early scientific risk and speed up innovation cycles.
- DSV's Engineering-Driven Design aims for a high success rate (>80%) in achieving proof-of-concept, using "battle-hardened" scientific components and a modular engineering design to reduce development risk.
- DSV offers early and lower-valuation investment, allowing investors to shape startups from the ground up and contrasting with traditional venture capital that competes for academic spinouts with inflated valuations.
- The approach emphasizes speed and efficiency, breaking the early-stage "innovation bottleneck" in biotech by enabling more ideas to be tested and developed rapidly with reduced risk, increasing the flow of viable biotech startups and expanding opportunities for investors, policymakers, and the health-and-wellness sector in general.
