Meet deepCDR co-founder Simon Friedensohn and find out how he advances the therapeutic antibody discovery process

11.10.2021 07:35, Isabelle Mitchell

Currently, drug developers searching for new therapeutic antibodies use time-consuming experimental screening processes that can take years to develop a handful of candidates ready for clinical trials. Simon Friedensohn and his deepCDR team co-founders combine gene editing, deep sequencing, and deep learning to accelerate the therapeutic antibody discovery process. Learn more about Simon’s expectations for the Venture Leaders Biotech experience, and find out which of his passions might fuel a second career.

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: Simon Friedensohn
Location: Basel, Switzerland
Nationality: German
Graduated from: ETH Zurich, PhD, 2020
Your job title: Director of research & development at deepCDR
Number of employees: 10
Money raised: CHF 150K through Venture Kick
First touchpoint with Venturelab: In 2019 during the Venture Kick competition

“At deepCDR Biologics, we combine our patented computational antibody discovery and optimization workflows with our proprietary mammalian display platform to drastically reduce development times of therapeutic antibodies.”
 
How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup?
The idea for deepCDR Biologics was born during my PhD studies at ETH Zurich, where I met my co-founders Prof. Dr. Sai Reddy, Dr. Derek Mason, and Dr. Cédric Weber. We realized that our various research interests and expertise in areas such as CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, next-generation sequencing, and computational biology could be combined to drastically improve the discovery and engineering process of therapeutic antibodies. These initial collaborations resulted in a string of publications and patent applications that led to the incorporation of deepCDR.
 
What do you expect from the Venture Leaders roadshow, and how will it help you achieve your vision?
Since its incorporation, deepCDR Biologics has worked on several projects for external partners, which allowed us to grow to 10 people without any large financing rounds. With these previous partnerships completed, we now feel ready to scale up our workflows to serve more clients and start our own internal pipeline. Venture Leaders and its roadshow are the ideal program to identify potential investors that want to step into the future with us.

What is one thing not many people know about you? 
I am an avid collector of board games, especially those that take hours to play. One of my secret plans is to design a board game myself.

What is the one talent you wish you had?
Everybody who knows me is aware that I like to listen to music a lot. Unfortunately, I am not very talented when it comes to playing an instrument—a talent I wish I had.

What is your favorite movie or TV show?
My all-time favorite TV show is Mad Men. I absolutely love the historical setting, and the overall writing and character progression are quite clever.

How did you come up with the name of your startup?
My co-founders and I had a shortlist of names that we considered. In the end, we went with deepCDR Biologics because it incorporates two core technologies that are the foundation of our technology platform: deep sequencing and deep learning.

Where and when are you most productive?
In the morning, after my first coffee.

What do you do when you are creatively stuck? 
I usually switch to other tasks and try to have a good night’s rest. I typically have a different perspective on things in the morning. Also, cleaning my desk or my apartment helps me to free my mind.


For more information and updates on deepCDR 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.