From Lab Bench to Bell Ring – Marc Gitzinger on BioVersys' road to IPO

08.07.2025 10:00, Rita Longobardi

Marc Gitzinger's path with BioVersys didn't begin on the trading floor—it began in the Swiss startup trenches. As a student at ETH Zurich, he joined the Venture Challenge semester course in 2007 to learn how to start a biotech company. Just over 17 years later, BioVersys is publicly listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange, raising CHF 90 million at IPO with a valuation of CHF 213 million. From its origins in the Swiss startup ecosystem to advancing drug candidates recognized by the WHO, BioVersys' evolution shows what it takes to turn a research-driven idea into a listed company with global reach.

When Marc first sketched out his idea to combat multidrug-resistant bacteria, antibiotic development was already seen as high-risk and commercially unattractive. But he believed in science—and need.
 

---

---

In 2008, the newly formed BioVersys won Venture Kick, securing CHF 130,000 in pre-seed funding. That early support allowed the company to incorporate and begin building what would become a clinical-stage biopharma firm. The same year, Gitzinger joined the Venture Leaders business development and investor roadshow in Boston, taking his first steps toward global expansion. In 2016, he was selected again for a Venture Leaders program, in China, opening up new perspectives in a critical emerging market. Soon after, BioVersys was ranked among the TOP 100 Swiss Startups, a recognition it would receive repeatedly in its growth phase.

"At the time, founding a startup based on a rough idea from the lab was a distant dream. Venture Challenge kind of laid the groundwork to better understand the steps needed to really transform an idea into a venture. The subsequent programs from Venturelab, including Venture Kick, helped us on the path to refine our story, get recognised by investors, continue to learn how to improve our company and grow it."

Fast-forward to February 7, 2025: BioVersys debuted on the SIX Swiss Exchange, raising CHF 90 million by offering over 2.2 million shares at CHF 36 each. Valued at CHF 213 million at listing, the IPO demonstrated strong investor confidence in the company's mission and pipeline. BioVersys now holds two clinical-stage drug candidates—BV100 and Alpibectir—targeting two of the top three WHO priority pathogens.



"There are many turning points between founding a company and going public. Particularly in biotech, it takes some time to get from a research idea at the bench to clinical development and eventually to a data package that allows you to go public. Key inflexion points for us were:

• Building the right team.
• Onboarding sufficient investment and the right investors.
• Generating drug candidates from our technology platforms that transitioned into clinical development and then delivered clinical proof of concept in Phase 2 trials, meaning safety and efficacy data.
• Our Pharma partnership with GSK – our long-term partner we met during one kickers' camps... talking impact of Venture Kick!"

The IPO was not the destination, but a point of continuity in a longer trajectory. BioVersys has raised over CHF 130 million in total, grown its team, and built partnerships across Europe and the US, all while keeping its base in Switzerland.

Most recently, BioVersys entered a major collaboration with Japanese pharmaceutical company Shionogi, which committed over USD 600 million to support the development of BioVersys' next-generation antibiotic program. This partnership represents an important milestone in advancing BioVersys' drug pipeline and broadening its international impact in tackling antibiotic resistance.

As BioVersys enters this new chapter as a public company, its story shows how long-term vision, early ecosystem support, and patient capital can bring high-impact science into the market without leaving its roots behind.