Researcher in the executive suite
With its MedTechEntrepreneur Fellowships, the University of Zurich helps junior researchers to establish a company—so that medical innovations can be translated into clinical care as quickly as possible. One example is a new way to treat incontinence.
Dr Deana Mohr has changed sides: she swapped the laboratory for the executive suite. And the biologist has no regrets: “I’m discovering a whole new world. I’ve developed a real passion for entrepreneurship.” In September 2020, Mohr officially became a CEO when she founded her company, MUVON Therapeutics, with Dr Jenny Ann Prange, Dr Steve Kappenthuler and Professor Daniel Eberli. The company’s mission is to provide a novel treatment for stress incontinence, a form of urinary incontinence in which people lose small amounts of urine when they sneeze, laugh or otherwise put pressure on their bladders. In Switzerland alone, the problem affects an estimated 400 000 people, mainly women after giving birth or experiencing hormonal changes. The cause is a weakened urethral sphincter, and MUVON Therapeutics wants to help affected persons by implanting muscle stem cells that develop into muscle fibres able to fully close the bladder. The first clinical study started at the University Hospital Zurich at the beginning of 2020. For Deana Mohr, who coordinates the entire project, the novel treatment already represents nine years of hard work. While working on her PhD thesis, she demonstrated that the procedure functions properly and safely in the lab and in animal testing. Following this success, her research group at the University of Zurich received an EU grant of six million euros, “but it became quickly clear that patients would never benefit from the technology unless we established a company and found investors”, says Mohr. The next clinical study alone is expected to cost between 15 and 20 million Swiss francs.
Perfect mix
To prepare herself for the business world, Deana Mohr began learning about founding a company and attended courses on entrepreneurship. Then, in 2018, when the University of Zurich (UZH) launched its MedTech-Entrepreneur Fellowship programme with funding from the Werner Siemens Foundation, Deana Mohr applied. She was awarded one of the 18-month fellowships, which has given her the opportunity to expand her expertise and skill set in courses and in dialogue with other fellowship holders. This includes learning how to communicate with investors, develop a business plan and build a supportive professional network for the project. “What fascinates me most is the range of issues that I can deal with—be it seeking staff, leading teams or addressing regulatory matters,” says Mohr. Through the fellowship, she and her team also have access to the UZH Incubator Lab, which has been equipped specifically for budding biotech and medtech spin-offs—and which also receives funding from the Werner Siemens Foundation. As part of the fellowship award, the selected projects receive funding of 150 000 francs, an amount that has enabled Deana Mohr’s team to employ an additional person. “Financial support plus knowledge sharing: this mix offered by the UZH MedTech-Entrepreneur Fellowship is perfect. And a rare find,” says Deana Mohr.
Female applicants gaining ground
The MedTechEntrepreneur Fellowships are awarded twice a year by a jury of experts from academia and industry. 23 applications have been received since the programme was launched in 2018; Deana Mohr is one of 11 researchers selected as a MedTech Fellow for the period ending in mid-2020. “It’s particularly pleasing to see that more and more women are submitting applications,” says Michael Schaepman, who initiated the fellowship programme and was recently elected President of the University of Zurich. The quality of the submitted projects has also increased—partly due to the feedback the jury gives on projects that show potential but that need a more polished approach. “With this jury feedback, applicants can substantially improve their applications before making a new submission,” says Michael Schaepman. One indicator of the high quality of the selected projects is that they have gone on to attract some one million Swiss francs in additional third-party funding. Moreover, four of the projects supported to date have led to the establishment of a spin-off company. “For many of the junior researchers, our fellowships have been the decisive factor in launching their entrepreneurial career,” says Schaepman.
Well prepared for the executive suite
Deana Mohr has carefully planned her career shift: “I feel well prepared for my role as CEO of our company,” she says. And she knows her project is socially relevant: “Around 150 million women worldwide suffer from stress incontinence. And the number of unreported cases is probably very high, because the condition is often a taboo.” If all goes according to plan, the clinical studies on stem-cell therapy will be complete in the course of 2026. In the meantime, the aim is to ensure that MUVON Therapeutics is established and ready for market entry.
Text: Adrian Ritter
Photo: Oliver Lang
