UZH Life Sciences Fund

Overview

The UZH Life Sciences Fund (LSF), established in 2016, provides early financing for University of Zurich (UZH) spin-offs in life sciences, biotech, and medtech sectors. The fund focuses on business ideas based on intellectual property resulting from UZH research, aiming to accelerate the development process of spin-offs in their early stages, thereby facilitating the transfer of UZH research findings into practical applications that benefit patients and the public. The LSF is a partnership between the UZH Foundation and the Novartis Venture Fund (NVF), each contributing equal funding. Investment decisions are made by a committee comprising equal numbers of representatives from UZH and NVF. The fund primarily invests in seed and early-stage companies within Switzerland, focusing on sectors such as biotechnology, medtech, diagnostics, eHealth, and digital health. Since its inception, the LSF has supported nine spin-offs, which have collectively raised over 350 million CHF, created more than 100 jobs, and advanced several treatments into clinical trials. Notable portfolio companies include Cutiss, Anaveon, ImmunOS, EraCal, Occlufit, InCephalo, Navignostics, Fimmcyte, and metaLead. The fund aims to establish a capital base of 20 million CHF to further its mission of translating UZH research into clinical practice.

Investment Focus

• Current or future spin-offs of the University of Zurich in life sciences (biotech, medtech, labtech, etc.)

Portfolio Companies