Meet Acthera co-CEO and CSO Pierre-Alain Monnard and discover how he advances innovation in targeted drug release

05.10.2021 09:30, Isabelle Mitchell

Many drugs do not reach their potential and come with systemic side effects and a poor cost-benefit ratio. Therapies miss safe and reliable targeted release technologies to make drugs sufficiently available at the site of need. Pierre-Alain Monnard and his team at Venture Leader Biotech Acthera develop Hard-Shelled Liposomes (HSLs) that enable transformative therapeutic approaches. By releasing the drug locally, the systemic burden to the body will be significantly reduced, and the therapeutic window—the time between injury and effective treatment—of the drug will be improved. Learn more about Pierre-Alain’s expectations for the Venture Leaders Biotech experience, and learn more about the challenges, rewards, and cartoon characters that shape his entrepreneurial journey.

Switzerland boasts one of the world’s most renowned and innovative biotech industries. To do justice to this powerful position, Swiss biotech startups now have their own Venture Leaders program: During their roadshow, the Venture Leaders Biotech will meet international investors and industry leaders and access industry-specific expertise and networks to grow their companies. For the next few weeks, we shine the spotlight on the 10 Venture Leaders Biotech 2021 and introduce you to the inaugural graduates of the program. To learn more about the startups, we asked each entrepreneur to complete a short profile and choose at least six questions from a questionnaire about their personal and professional life.

Name: Pierre-Alain Monnard
Location: Basel
Nationality: Swiss
Graduated from: ETH Zurich, Doctorate, 1998
Job title: Co-CEO and CSO of Acthera Therapeutics, Adj. Assoc. Prof.
Number of employees: 7 (as of 1/10/2021)
Money raised: CHF 6.4 million (dilutive and non-dilutive)
First touchpoint with Venturelab: I participated in the Business Creation Biotech course in fall 2018

“Acthera Therapeutics is developing a novel approach to locally release drugs at the diseased tissue to significantly increase local drug concentration while reducing systemic body exposure.”

 
How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup?
The idea of using alterations of the body physics to induce targeted drug release from nanosystems was proposed about 10 years ago. The idea followed the cognizance that systemic drug administration and the first generation of delivery nanosystems failed in many instances to allow full exploitation of a therapeutic effect of many drugs. Neither approach could target a diseased site efficiently and precisely. Improvements to delivery nanosystems, like the use of recognition agents on their surface, did not increase targeting efficiency notably. Dr. Zumbühl, a co-founder of Acthera, started the early investigation of Acthera’s novel mechanosensitive nanosystems while being a post-doc with Prof. Langer at MIT. The technology of Acthera is the product of these developments.

What do you expect from the Venture Leaders roadshow, and how will it help you achieve your vision?
The Venture Leaders Biotech roadshow will help us obtain broader exposure in the biotech community to discover new ideas for applying our technology, meet future collaboration partners, and attract investors.

What is one thing not many people know about you? 
During my academic career, I have also investigated lipid/amphiphile nanostructures to better understand how cellular life could have arisen in an abiotic world.

What is your favorite podcast? 
Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History. While being very careful on the accuracy of the information, Dan Carlin approaches central questions on historical events from a novel point-of-view—that of individuals caught in the middle of the actions. He tries to surmise how individuals would or could have reacted to various events and situations and, in doing so, he tries to answer a fundamental question often neglected by mainstream historians.

What advice would you give your teenage self?
Life always turns out differently than planned. Enjoy it!

What is always in your fridge?
Chocolate. This sweet has so many possible tastes and textures. It can truly lift one’s spirit at any time.

How did you come up with the name of your startup?
The name is a contraction of words that best summarize our technology: active, activated, or actuated provide the word “act,” and therapeutics provides “thera.”

What do you do when you are creatively stuck?
Get out for a long walk outside, preferably along a river or in the woods. The observation of nature helps me to concentrate on the essentials and marvel at how simplicity arises from complex systems.

What is the most rewarding aspect of being a founder?
The possibility to influence the company development in all aspects. Especially to determine focuses and propose ways of realizing them with a team of like-minded people.


For more information and updates on Acthera Therapeutics and the Venture Leaders Biotech, follow the Venture Leaders Biotech 2021 team with #VLeadersBiotech on social media or subscribe to our newsletter.

Venture Leaders Biotech 2021 is co-organized by Venturelab and Swissnex and supported by EPF Lausanne, ETH Zurich, VISCHER, and the Canton of Zurich.